Word placement is important in Headlines.
Cynthia Marinakos drew the illustration. The first 3 words and the last 3 words are popular with readers.
How do you find news websites and articles? What do you do when you receive emails and social posts?
You probably skim through the headlines to get the full story. If you have time, click on the ones that call out to you. Are you going to click on each one?
Eight out of ten readers will only read your headline copy, according to Copyblogger. Users pick out the first three words and the last three words of a headline. Bnonn recommends keeping a headline to six words.
I came across several websites with headlines that hovered around six words, but it doesn’t mean we need to stick to only six words. It is worth paying attention to word selection and word placement.
It’s too long if it won’t fit in a tweet. You should not worry about length but about making every word count. The first and last three. The first three words and the last three words are important.
There are examples of headlines with six words and six and more words where the first three words and the last three words have been carefully chosen. There are helpful resources to help you with word selection. You will discover a simple way to assess your headlines.