The art of headline writing and A/B testing

I always think that the headline of a blog post, newspaper article, news release or other piece of written material is the most essential thing to pay attention to when you write that content.

writes Neville Hobson,and in these days of Search engine optimisation, I couldn't agree more.

But have you heard of A/B testing

From direct mail to web design, A/B testing is considered a gold standard of user research: Show one version to half your audience and another version to the other half; compare results, and adjust accordingly. Some very cool examples include Google’s obsessive testing of subtle design tweaks and Dustin Curtis’ experiment with direct commands and clickthrough rates. (”You should follow me on Twitter” produced dramatically better results than the less moralizing, “Follow me on Twitter.”)

The backpages on United's defeat

Jon Slattery does an round up of the back page headlines which accompnnied Manchester United's defeat in Rome on Wednesday night

That's another fine Messi - Daily Mail

Lionel Flair is perfect 10 - Daily Star

Thrown to the Lionels - Daily Mirror

Fergie in a right Messi - Daily Express

Just Messimerising - Daily Record

Catalan v Matalan- The Sun

A lesson in online headline writing

That awful exercise as a student.You have written a good story and it's time to think of a headline.Of course in the real world this will be left to the subs but for that portfolio that has to be in you need a good headline.

It is not one of my hot topics so I was interested in this from Tom Whitwell Assistant Editor of Online at The Times (Ht-Martin Stabe) who says

with the birth of the internet headlines became more important as everything depends on the it. Headlines were separated from stories and hence their importance as without a good headline people won’t click through to read.

These are some of his don'ts

Don’t try to be clever or funny
Play to your niche and don’t over simply or patronise in the headline.
Remember: Print and internet headlines require a different style…some just work in print and others just on the internet.
Right headline will also contribute to people finding it on the net

And on the subject of the end of the World.

Headline of the day must surely come from The Mail which asks

Will beaming songs into space lead to an alien invasion?

It's not as though Nasa is beaming out the Cheeky Girls back catalogue or the collected works of Florence Foster Jenkins.
Nevertheless, scientists warn that transmitting songs into deep space could put the Earth at risk of an alien attack.
They voiced fears that advertising humanity's place in the universe - as happened last week when Nasa broadcast a Beatles track towards the North Star - could attract the attention of aliens who are less friendly than ET.

and yes this is not a spoof

Dr Douglas Vakoch of the SETI Institute, which has been leading the search for extraterrestrials, told New Scientist magazine: "Before sending out even symbolic messages, we need an open discussion about the potential risks."
They voiced fears that advertising humanity's place in the universe - as happened last week when Nasa broadcast a Beatles track towards the North Star - could attract the attention of aliens who are less friendly.

Headline of the day.

Comes from the Sun which has tracked down Osama Bin Laden's son and British wife on holiday.


Under the headline

Laden Zepplin goes Roamin' it tells us

OSAMA bin Laden’s son strolls with his British wife on holiday in Italy – looking like a Led Zeppelin rocker.
Omar, 27, and Jane Felix Browne, 52, wore matching leather jackets and black jeans as they walked around the Colosseum in Rome.
The scrap-metal dealer – fourth eldest of 19 kids fathered by the al-Qaeda warlord, married the Cheshire gran in 2006.
They’ve still got a Whole Lotta Love – but their stylist must be Dazed and Confused.

Leave headline writing to the experts

Keep them simple and play safe was our lecturers advice when talking about headline writing.

The Sun,though that expert in puns and innuendos are triumphed this morning.

IT'S TUTS OUT FOR THE LADS

THE 3,000-year-old treasures of Tutankhamun were unveiled in Britain yesterday — after a pharaoh wait of 35 years.

And on its favourite topic

ANGRY MUCCA IS TALKING CARP

HEATHER Mills’s protest website has flopped – proving as popular as one on carp fishing.
Sir Paul McCartney’s estranged wife launched the internet rant at the media.
But Lady Mucca, 39, has once again failed to win public sympathy.Figures released by internet monitors Alexa, reveal her site was only the 242,174th most viewed in the UK – around the same as specialist carp.com.