How To Write Press Release Headlines for the Web

By Sunny Nash

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Your headline takes about ten seconds to read. That's how long it takes for a person to decide whether or not they want to read more of what you have to say, making your headline the most important few words of your press release.

Did you know an article can be placed under a different headline and get a different response from the same reader?
In his article, "Headlines That Pull, Persuade and Propel," Michel Fortin says, "A headline is meant to do two vital things. First, it needs to grab your reader's attention. That's the primary and most important job of the headline. It's not meant to summarize an offer or be a paragraph in and of itself. It's not meant to make a sale, either. Second, it needs to pull readers into the copy and compel them to read further. It must create curiosity and be interesting enough to pull the reader in. To keep the reader's attention, it must be sufficiently pithy (not necessarily short, but straightforward) to do its job with the fewest words," Fortin says.
Headlines, which cannot be taken for granted, determine the likelihood that an article, story, letter, advertisement or paper will be read. Time and thought must be given to this important section of your press release to assure the desired results of your efforts. Two reasons I write press releases are 1) to market my books and 2) to secure speaking engagements about my book and services I might offer for a fee.
Whether you are writing a press release or other type of message, a good place to start is with some accepted industry headline writing rules. Make the headline sound personal, connecting emotionally on some level with the reader. I do not mean a tearjerker. I mean, appeal to most people's interest in their personal needs. A headline that appeals to this condition in readers will attract or target readers in a particular group. When targeting an audience, assess the problem the audience may be facing and offer a solution, which your headline could reflect.
'Remove Unwanted Facial Hair,' comes to mind from a commercial I saw on television. Of course, this advertisement didn't attract me because I have no unwanted facial hair (right...), but I could see how it would target an audience that may be plagued with the problem. Your message announcement, title or headline can deliver the same result by asking a question, 'Do You Have Unwanted Facial Hair.' In both cases, the reader is likely to read past your title.
Another approach is to make the headline of a press release sound like a news item without exaggerating the strength of the message. That would be considered misleading or even inaccurate. Readers do not like to be misled or lied to. This could affect how readers accept what you have to report from now on, costing you your credibility with them. People remember when they have been deceived or think they have been deceived. In response, they will dismiss your messages in the future.
Try to make your headline as clear as possible. One self-imposed problem some writers face is trying to be too clever, which comes off like an inside joke that no one gets. Use plain unadorned language to be sure as many readers as possible can understand at a glance what your message is about. Take precautions against confusing readers if you want them to read past the headline.
There are several types of headlines an author can use to target readers. Some offer readers a gift or benefit. That is the reason so many messages include the word 'free' in the headline. Others may mention a complementary offer to participate in an activity. Do not underestimate the value of words like 'sale' or 'discount.' People are attracted to articles that offer them time and money savings.
Many articles announce a self-improvement feature that can be gained by reading the press release. 'Learn How To Do Whatever.' Successful self-improvement headlines also can show a guarantee or testimonial, such as 'Thousands Swear by Whatever.' Guarantees are more than just money back, but those can work, too. 'How To' articles should include 'how to' in the headline because people need to be told they will learn a new skill, especially if you stress that learning the task is easy, as in 'How To Learn Whatever in Five Easy Steps.
Without being too wordy, twelve words or less, headlines should briefly express what your press release is about. Most professionals agree that a headline should be short, accurate and descriptive. This has been a time-honored rule that dates back to the earliest newspapers in the New England states of America in the 1700s. Since that time, newspapers have evolved with the needs of the reading public and are currently going through a digital transformation as more publications go online. Note that some online press release distribution services use character count rather than word count.
One thing has not changed in writing for newspapers, magazines and other publications. The headline still plays an integral role in enticing readers to read more. What has changed about the industry is the need to pay attention to the new technologic guidelines being advanced in response to internet writing requirements, which have increased significantly in number. When I write a headline, I test it by typing it into the browser to see if any other items show up with the same title. Then I type in a few variations to check what comes up in the search. I can then tweak my headline.
Writing a good headline is a little like selecting a title for your book. When my publisher, I wasn't thrilled at first because I didn't understand how much the title would target the audience the publisher was seeking and how much the title would enhance book sales. Unlike writing headlines for my articles, I was too close to my book manuscript to maintain my objectivity. My book editor explained that the title was intended to target an audience with a certain interest.
In order to achieve maximum exposure in search engines, which are a response to browsers on the web, headlines must contain keywords that illustrate the subject of your article and tell the browser the content of your article or what your article is about. Subject and content may sound like the same thing but they are not. The subject is a large and general category of topics and content is a specific abstracted description of your article. Subject and content construction requires the process of stating your announcement simply and to the point so that search engines such as Google will find your article. Use of keywords in the headline and throughout the press release is integral to search engine optimization (SEO). SEO leads traffic to your press releases, articles, blogs and websites.

Sunny Nash, an award-winning writer, public speaker, photographer and independent producer. Author of the family memoir, Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's, Sunny Nash is creator of Shopping For Hope, a black-and-white photographic study of storefront churches across America. Her writing and photography appear in the African American National Biography by Harvard and Oxford; African American West, A Century of Short Stories; Reflections in Black, A History of Black Photography 1840 - Present; Ancestry Magazine; Companion to Southern Literature; Black Genesis: A Resource Book for African-American Genealogy; African American Foodways; Southwestern American Literature Journal and other anthologies. Nash is listed in references: The Source: a guidebook to American genealogy; Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies; Interdisciplinary Journal for Germanic Linguistics; Ebony Magazine; Southern Exposure; Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places; and others.
http://sunnynash.blogspot.com/2010/10/you-can-write-amazing-headlines.html
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Headlines in Internet Marketing

By Dale W Williams  

HEADLINES
- Advertising vs Salesmanship
Back in the 1980's I was given the opportunity to take computer courses offered by the local university. The purpose of the courses was to certify students in business applications of computer technology. There were a few basic programming semesters teaching from Cobal to Fortran but I found the ones on system design to be the most helpful. I was able to use the concepts to develop sales proposals, customer manuals and training material for my staff. More recently I found I was not as comfortable with the Internet Marketing world so I started researching the subject.
I discovered an interesting article in an old advertising manual that discussed some differences between advertising and salesmanship. The information is still pertinent today:
Salesmen try to have personal contact with prospects. They tend to:

• waste much of their effort on prospects who are not interested in the offer.
• can't sell unless they are in front of the prospect.

Advertising can be ignored. Nobody reads everything. However, good copy will:

• only read by interested prospects - it reaches the audience you care about.
• pick your audience from the crowd.

How does advertising get to the right people and catch their attention?
HEADLINES shout out to those people. They must:

• show what the interest is. draw in the right readers.
• pick them out of the crowd.
• make it worth the readers' while to read more.

How does this fit in with what we are doing online?
Substitute "Internet Marketing" for "Advertising".
Substitute "Subject" for "Headline" to move the discussion into the e-mail part of the Internet Marketing world.
Substitute "Keyword" for "Headline" to affect search results.
Writing headlines is a marketing art. Millions of surfers may see your message - only a few may be truly compelled to respond. The aim of a great "Headline" is to convince those few to open your link.
The quality and quantity of your responses depends on how many people find the topic appealing. Focus on the right readers. What are the solutions your product delivers?
Adjusting the headline can vastly change the number of responses to it. Your favourite headline may not be the best - you do not know what people are looking for until you conduct keyword research. The competition for keyword ranking compels us to be creative in our wording to catch the readers' attention. It is still a matter of trial and error to find out which combination of words and phrases get to your target audience.
However - a misleading headline defeats the purpose of bringing in high quality readers. People lead busy lives and have huge amounts of information in front of them. Good headlines give them efficient pointers to items they find interesting. The content of the message must reflect the topic of the headline.

Dale Williams lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
He began taking computer applications in business courses in 1985 and has been applying systems design information to create proposals and customer guides in a sales setting ever since.
For your FREE step by step BEGINNERS guide to making money on-line - please visit http://www.easywebdeals.com/.

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Internet Marketing Tips - Choose A Business Model To Build Your Profitable Online Business

By Connie Ragen Green  

You must choose a business model in order for your online business to take off and succeed. I have now observed most of the models available, including the coaching model, membership sites, information product creation, and affiliate marketing. The only one of these that I do not recommend for the long run is the coaching model, where it is completely dependent upon you being there in order to make any money. Instead, I prefer business models that can lead to both passive and residual income while you are doing other activities that are important in your daily life.
One of my favorites is affiliate marketing. This is where you recommend and promote other people's products and services in return for a commission on each sale. Make sure to purchase the product before you ask anyone else to buy, and have a good reason for doing so. There are so many products out there that you will have your pick of what to recommend with your community. Once you get your systems in place with your affiliate links, this can be an excellent and ongoing source of revenue.
Membership sites continue to be an excellent online business model. I particularly like this one because it encourages me to create new content, training, and other resources each month for the people who are depending on me. These members also give me wonderful feedback on how they are benefitting from what I include, as well as what else they would like for me to add. You can also sell annual memberships to your sites, making it cost effective for members to pay in advance for the upcoming year.
Information product creation involves creating new products to sell online for years to come. It took me one full year to create my first product, and now I can do this in about 48 hours or so because I have more experience. Start with simple products at first, such as eBooks or audio recordings. Then you can add to these to offer more value at a higher price. I like to have digital products on a variety of topics and price points so that people can enter my product funnel at any point that works for them.
You can see that there are many ways to run your online business profitably. I would encourage you to explore each one of these business models to see which ones make sense for what you are working to achieve. Over time you will learn more and be able to create the perfect mix to make working on the Internet the best way for you to earn a living.

Remember that the reason to start an Internet business is to give you the time and financial freedom to live the life you choose. Download free training on building your online business by visiting Getting Started Online to learn how to write viral short reports, blog, become involved in social networking and learn the technology needed to build a profitable online business.

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