Serving a Full Sentence

This is the second in a four-part series on press release headlines continuing through March.

In last week’s post, Assembling Headlines I mentioned how readers want to see details in press release headlines. We also briefly discussed one of the key ingredients in your headlines – your organization’s keywords. This week we will be exploring a few ways to craft gripping headlines.

As you begin putting together your headline, keep in mind it should be a coherent and complete thought. Always make your headline a complete sentence. Imagine your reader as an everyday newspaper reader, and think of your headline as a headline in the paper they’re looking at.

Here are a few examples of press releases with informative headlines:

SUNY Plattsburgh Moves Up in Kiplinger's 'Best Value' Rankings

NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council Awards $49,000 to the Consortium on Innovative Practices

Bridge Demolition to Close PA Turnpike for Six Hours Early Sunday

Secretary of State Convenes First Meeting of Amistad Commission

Each of these headlines gives the reader a clear sense of the material that follows in the body of the release. They also clearly incorporate the organization's name and a few important keywords.

While writing your headlines, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Even though your headline should be a complete sentence, avoid unnecessary punctuation. Never end your headline with a period, and try to steer clear of commas and other punctuation unless you need them to make your point or your headline looks awkward without it.

• Headlines should be one thought and read smoothly. If yours consists of two sentences (for any reason), break it up immediately. Remember, your headline should only cover one main point. Feel free to use part of your original headline as a subheadline.

• Keep your headline short and to the point. Ideally, it should be shorter than 110 characters, and here’s why:

Press releases often get distributed through micro-blogging platforms (like Twitter). When a release goes out on one of these platforms, the recipient receives the story’s headline along with a link to the article online. Twitter limits these messages to 140 characters. Because of this, most users transform their links into Tiny URLs, which average between 20 and 25 characters. If you want your full headline to appear in a ‘tweet’ alongside your link, keep your headline under 110 characters.

Always make sure your headlines are informative. Remember your reader has a choice about whether or not to follow the link to your story. Make the decision easy for them by putting the information they want in your headline.

We’ll be diving deeper into the headline pool next week as our four-part series on news release headlines continues.