Headline: the pun is dead

The witty, punning headline is finished when it comes to the internet. The greatest headlines of the web era will be the most functional ones and they’re unlikely to be remembered by anybody.

So writes Shane Richmond, communities editor of Telegraph.co.uk in an article on SEO in the British Review of Journalism.

For the web, headlines must be direct, short and obvious. That will ensure they are also search engine friendly and suitable for an RSS feed. Here is how you write a web headline:

1. Condense your story into a single 20-word sentence (if you haven't already done so).
2. Decide which 3 of those words carry the most meaning.
3. Check that the three words are the terms people are likely to search on, looking for your story. If not, find search-friendly synonyms.
4. Put the most significant word first.
5. If necessary, add some other words to create your headline.

For example:

Royal Mail is "bullying" postal workers into walking faster on their rounds in an effort to save money, union officials claimed today.
Key words might be

• faster
• postal
• bullying

Postal is an unlikely search term. Post or postmen are better. Postmen is probably also the most significant word in the story. So the headline might read:

Postmen bullied to walk faster

The original story came from The Guardian whose headline was

Postal workers 'told to walk faster'

Postal workers is a term that people are unlikely to search on but I suppose it removes gender bias. Told carries less meaning than bullied.