Gordon Brown sorry over assault arrest. Really?

Headline four in this BBC News widget left me wondering who Prime Minister Gordon Brown might have assaulted:



It turns out that the story was about R&B star Chris Brown... but how was I supposed to know that? I imagine that most UK readers would think of 'Gordon' if they saw the name 'Brown' in a web headline.

I may have to add this to my knol on web print versus headlines to illustrate the point the web headlines are often seen out of context.

Writing web headlines: search and searchability

Just a quick note to say that my second guest post on Pam Robinson's 'Words at Work' blog is now up. It focuses on how to write search-engine-friendly headlines for the web without compromising on quality.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow...

Writing web headlines: web versus print

Pam Robinson, former news editor at the LA Times, recently asked me to write a guest post on web headlines for her 'Words at Work' blog. I got so carried away that I wrote two - and the first one is up now. It focuses on some of the differences between print and web headlines and the reasons for those differences.

My second post will look at how search considerations influence the writing of web headlines, and all being well I'll have it up by tomorrow evening.

After that, no more moonlighting from me for a while - unless someone pays me well or asks me really nicely!