By Flexo

Shaun Crowly from A List Apart put together an interesting article about writing headlines that points to one of my biggest personal pet peeves: headlines that sound like advertising copy.

The same things that catch the readers’ eyes and encourage people to read an article are what I find annoying. If this article is correct, it’s just me. Here are some of the tips for catch headlines, A List Apart’s example, and why I hate them.

* Reveal facts. “85% of cigarette smoke is invisible.” Statistics out of context are meaningless and often lead to misinterpretation.

* Use “how to” phrases. “How to be the most respected person in your company.” This implies that the author knows what he or she is writing about, and/or the intended audience is searching for this information. Many “How tos” I’ve seen on blogs are not written by experts or even anyone with more than a common-sense knowledge of the topic.

* Use a quote. “‘The best material I have seen at this level’ Professor C. Banks, Milford University.” Quotes are fine, but not for headlines. What material? What level? Who’s Professor Banks? This headline gives me no reason to care about the article.

* Lead with popularity. “Over one million people rely on Realline Web Hosting.” Popularity, if junior high school or Britney Spears are indications, does not correlate with quality.

* Guarantee the product. “Guaranteed! Cut six to eight strokes off your game… or your money back!” Catchy, but I’m already skeptical and looking for the “catch.”

* Give a direct command. “Make $1000s working from home.” Well this example flashes the word, “scam” in my mind. I would never accept any command from an article headline.

* Create a need — then show a product that fulfills it. “Everyone knows showers are more efficient than baths. So why do dishwashers work like baths?” Do people actually fall for this? A headline doesn’t create a need for me. Either the need exists or it doesn’t. I’m not going to realize, “Hey, I need gourmet cat food!” after reading an article.

There are several more in the article, some with which I don’t have a specific problem. I’m just not a fan of hype… but it does attract readers. This is not a fun part of blogging for me, but I feel that if I want to “compete,” I have to create headlines like this once in a while.