In class last week, we talked about writing for the web and how it differs from writing for print. We also touched on the importance of headlines on web stories. Readers often skim stories on the web and a headline literally has only a second to grab a site visitor's attention, according to Steve Outing, a journalist and online media pioneer. Howard Finberg, of the Poynter Institute, wrote an interesting column a few years back on boring web headlines. The conclusion: If you want people to read what you write - online or in print - you need to have an interesting headline that includes keywords and cleverly captures the story. As evidence, check out the most emailed story on today's New York Times web page. It's a column by Maureen Dowd. I'm guessing the headline - Should Hillary Pretend to be a Flight Attendant? - has something to do with why it's the most emailed story today.
Do you agree? Do you decide what you'll read based on the headline? Did the Hillary headline pull you in?
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