Clever vs. Descriptive Headlines: Which Works Better?

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I have a confession.

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I completely love clever word play.

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Puns, turns of phrases, neologisms, Spoonerisms, etc… I love them all.

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I just don’t use them in headlines.

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Browsing through the latest issue of Wired (yes, the actual paper magazine!), I noticed the title of the feature article by Dan Pink on Manga, the Japanese illustration style for comics.

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Japan, Ink.

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Now that’s a really clever title. The use of a homonym to make reference to the corporate dominance Japan enjoyed in the 1980s in the context of Manga made me smile. And I would anticipate no less from Mr. Pink.

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But you wouldn’t want to use that as an attraction headline on the cover. And that’s why Wired didn’t.

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Instead, they went with:

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Manga Conquers America: How Japanese Comics are Reshaping Pop Culture

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A nice descriptive headline in the “how” format gives the reader a adequate promise of what’s to come (the Manga illustrated female didn’t injured, either). It also provides the necessary context for more people to enjoy Pink’s clever article title.

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It just shows you once again that Fight Club can instruct you all you need to know about online marketing:

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\nTyler Durden: How’s that working out for you?

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Narrator: What?

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Tyler Durden: Being clever.

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Narrator: Great.

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Tyler Durden: Keep it up then.

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If your goal is to have a few readers who think you write clever headlines, keep it up then.

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If your goal is to enlighten lots of people with what you have to say, be descriptive instead.

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P.S. Yes, descriptive titles work better for SEO as well. What a happy congruence.\n

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