How to write Twitter-friendly Headlines

Posted By: Marshall

Newspapers will have to adapt to social media to survive and thrive in the future. Luckily, it seems that some social media tools have adapted to newspapers as well. Twitter is the best example. It’s a rapidly growing microbloging site where people write one-liners to share links and ideas. What could be more perfect for newspapers? There is just enough room for a headline and a link to a story.

Most major mass media outlets have jumped on board, including the New York Times, NPR, BBC, Anderson Cooper, and many more. It’s great to see. And as a media consumer, I find it’s amazingly convenient to get real-time, yet unobtrusive updates from my favorite news sources. I’ve noticed, however, that most of these news organizations could greatly improve their Twitter effectiveness by writing better headlines.

Here are a few tips on Twitter-optimized headline writing:

1. Keep it short.

Twitter gives you 140 characters to get your message out, but don’t feel obligated to use every space. The print versions of newspapers are so constrained by space that when journalists move to the relatively unrestrained web, they sometimes have a tendency to go overboard. Don’t use 140 characters if you can get the same point across with 139. I suggest using only about 30 characters for a headline, then add the URL to the story.

2. No puns.

We all love a good pun, especially headline writers who are trying to spice up an otherwise mundane story. But cute words games are death on Twitter. If I don’t know immediately what a story is about there is no chance I will click on the link. In many ways, this is a return to the purism of just-the-facts journalism. Puns are coy, and coyness wastes time. Cut it out.

3. Focus on keywords.

Practitioners of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) put a heavy emphasis on identifying and using keywords. Newspapers could take a cue from them. Identify the most important words from the article and put them in your Twitter-optimized headline. Try to imagine you’re a news consumer looking for a certain story, what phrases or words would you Google to find it? Those are your keywords.
(Right now, I’m obsessed with Gaza. If I see a tweet with “Gaza” in it, I read it. But if it says something like “attacks continue,” there’s a good chance I’ll ignore it.)

4. Use Hashtags

A hashtag, or a pound sign, #, is a way to categorize tweets by content instead of friends and followers. For instance, if you have a story about Darfur, you should put #darfur at the end of the tweet. This way, anyone who is instested in that topic can find your story, even if they aren’t following your updates. You may need to search Twitter a bit to find the most appropriate hashtag for your story

5. Don’t consolidate stories.

Use one tweet for each story you put out. Don’t confuse people by putting two or three different stories into a catchall post. These consolidated tweets often sound like advertisements or shameless plugs. Remember, Twitter, is much more unobtrusive than other new media, like text messaging. It’s OK to put out a lot of content as long as it’s pertinent and helpful to readers.

6. Link directly to the story.

Don’t waste a reader’s time by putting a headline for a specific story and then a link that goes to your main page. Remember using Twitter is a service to help your customers find the news they want faster. Don’t jerk them around in a silly attempt to get more page views.

7. No subheads.

This is related to the first point, keep it short. As a general rule, if you’re using a colon, you’ve already screwed up. Just use the headline. Also, don’t give the section of the paper where the story appears in print. It doesn’t matter. The content matters.

Twitter is an amazing tool for daily newspapers and can be a key to their survival in the future. You’ve only got one line to sell your story to the readers, follow these tips and make it count.

- Marshall has been a reporter and newspaper editor in Kosovo, Korea, Iraq, Jerusalem and the U.S. He is currently the P.R. and Social Media Director at Advent Creative.