Headlines are our best weapon out there on the interwebs… a snappy, well-written headline will help catch clicks and get our content in front of the people who we want to read it.
Her’s a great tool to help you correctly capitalize your headline (thanks Courtney Hurtt): Capitalize your Title. Cho
ose the first option for AP style.
Some style notes on headlines from our guidelines:
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Capitalize. WDET capitalizes headlines. Do not capitalize conjunctions (and, the, etc.) and prepositions (in, of, for, etc.) Here’s some guidance on what to and what not to capitalize.
Tone. Identify the tone: serious, light-hearted, matter-of-fact, over-the-top?
Angle. What is the point of the story? Why will people be interested in it? What is the unique angle?
Strong verbs. Use short, staccato, muscular verbs. Seize, not gain. Urge, not request.
Active voice. Not passive, unless appropriate.
Present tense. Unless past is necessary.
Accurate. Make sure the headline accurately reflects the content of the piece.
Avoid “to be” and to have” Usually headlines are more concise without “is, are, were, been, has” etc
Multimedia element: Let people know if there is a compelling multimedia element at end of headline Example: Michigan’s Poverty, City by City [Map+ Infographic]>>