Jakob Nielsen's latest Useit article gives yet another reason to write brilliant headlines: headlines are crucial on sites designed for mobile devices.
After being optimized for use on a mobile phone, a simple web site displays complete headlines instead of just the first 2-3 words.
Showing longer headlines may seem counter-intuitive when space is so limited. Why 'waste' precious screen space on a complete headline?
Actually, a well-written headline is worth its weight in titanium. On mobile, it gives readers more clues about the information they're chasing, and a bigger target for the finger tap that takes them straight to that information. On all web sites, a well-written headline is juicy food for search engines, a boon to the CMS, and an instant summary for busy human readers.
One thing doesn't change with the environment: the usefulness of headlines depends entirely on the skill with which they're written.
To learn more about the secret life of headlines and to gain the skill of writing brilliant headlines for today's electronic world, go straight to our one-hour online writing course:
Brilliant Headlines on the Web
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