I don't know if you notice it, I'm sure many of you do. I'm sure many of you do. I do it frequently. I am referring to the most read of the digital editions of the media. Yes, that little box which shows which news items are the most read by Internet users.
And I always look for it because that information says a lot about the kind of media it is, about what readers read, and, for me as a journalist, it also says a lot about what stories are engaging by its headlines, by its presentation. Yes, both aspects are key to not passing by a piece of information. And that explains why often the most read news item has little or no relation with the news. What's more, they often the most read news continue to retain that label beyond one day.
Let's leave aside the
he stories that hook you in because of the morbidity (usually the relationships with sex, as happened a few days ago in El País with the news "White tigresses: the goddesses of oral sexThe most read article was the one that remained the most read for several days) or the most topical ones (such as the case of the release of the ETA member Inés del Río or the deaths in the mine in León due to the "egas leakage).
Let's look at the stories that, without arousing morbidity or being attached to current affairs, hook readers because of a good headline, because of a good presentation. If we analyse them carefully, we can draw good lessons in communication for these times, for the 21st Century Communication which, despite what some people insist, has little or nothing to do with what it was just 10 or 15 years ago. Lessons that should not only be heeded by the journalistsThe same is true of companies, which are sometimes obsessed with launching press releases with headlines that may be headlines and big news for them, but are certainly not for anyone else. Y, Therefore, they are not going anywhere.
So, if I may, I'd like to share some thoughts on what I think would make a good headline which, if it also carries good content The fact that it has a good presentation at the back and a good presentation at the front would make it likely to make it onto the list of the most read news items.
Suggestive. Don't tell all. Don't give away all the mystery. Leave something for the reader to want to know more and click on (if we are talking about a digital medium) or go beyond the headline and the lead (if we are talking about a printed medium). If the headline is all there is to it, why would the reader want to read more? 
Surprising. If the headline leaves me the same as before I read it, too bad. Try to provoke some emotion in me. The less I expect it, the more it goes against logic, the more it will grab my attention. Yes, I'm talking about the old journalistic theory of "man bites dog" but not with the same narrow-mindedness. What I mean is that a headline takes a lot of thinking to make a really good headline. Come up with another approach, turn it upside down and see what happens... "Do youIs it really worth hiring an intern?"(Expansion)
3. Forget figures and technicalities. Leave them for the content of the text. What the headline has to suggest is a story, an engaging story. The days when journalists thought that without a number they had no headline - unfortunately, many still do - are long gone. Look at the most read stories in the mainstream media and you will understand what I am saying. Few - the ones we are talking about, i.e. those not linked to current affairs - have a number in their headline.
4. Give the protagonists a voice. If there's a chance that the headline could be a quote from one of the people in the story, don't hesitate. Take that to the headline. Nothing has more power than the words of a person. "¡Quick, everyone to the seventh floor!" o "It is unthinkable to work in Switzerland without having all your papers in order."(both from El País)
5. Play with wordsWe have to use the ideas, with simple metaphors that everyone understands. Common language, like feelings, reaches many more people. "Pickaxe threatens ghost buildings". (El País)
6. Get the
nter through the eyes. I like to say that the media should think in terms of gastroIn order for someone to eat something, it has to go in through the eyes first. That, applied to the media, simply means better design, something that magazines - some magazines - know how to do very well and that newspapers are learning. I leave you with here a link to the best designed newspapers in the world according to the Society for News Design (SND). Some of the designs are truly brilliant. And if that's happening in the print world, in the online world the innovations are incredible. A striking case is that of the New York Times, whose project Snow Fall, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with and which later had some imitations such as the case of NewsWeek.
In the In the online world, getting in through the eyes means not only good design, but also a good multimedia component: photo, video and infographics. In infographics, some really spectacular things are also being done.
So you know, whether you're a journalist or a communication managers and you want your story to be among the most read, look for all the ingredients (content and visual elements) to cook a dish that appeals to the eyes and spend a lot more time thinking about that headline so that it is not flat, linear, but at the same time understandable, not all-saying and surprising.
@consuelocalle_
Director of Proa Comunicación