Think back to the best headline you’ve ever read… or, for that matter, the worst. Here are three of my favorites (which are also the favorites of the American Copy Editors Society as recognized in their 2020 National Headline Contest):

Benefits of Eggs That Will Leave You Shell-Shocked (Martin Henderson, Over The Top Marketing)

Graze Anatomy, Herd Mentality (Dave Bowman, Los Angeles Times)

Fireflies Have a Mating Problem: The Lights Are Always On (The New York Times)

What do all of these headlines have in common? They’re pithy, they’re pun-filled (and fun-filled), they make you half-smile… and they’re formatted consistently.

However, they’re not formatted according to AP style. This is all to say that whether or not your company is adhering to the AP Stylebook’s guidelines, you need a consistent and clearly defined set of formatting rules. If you’re not sure where to start, the AP Stylebook is a great place to look. AP style is standard across most journalism and media sources and therefore is the perfect stylistic starting point for most company and personal blog posts, online articles, and web content. (If you already know your company’s style takes some departures from AP’s guidelines and you want those guidelines delineated and formalized, feel free to reach out to talk about creating a unique stylebook specific to your brand.)

Think about it like this… How do you tell a junk website from a legitimate one? I’ll tell you: It’s the copy. Whether it’s a product description, a blog post, a mission statement, or a headline (the subject of this post), the quality of your brand’s copy is part of the first impression visitors to your site form about your brand. So you’re going to want to make it good. And in this case, good means consistent. With that in mind, here are five of the most important formatting tenets of AP’s headline guidance.

1. Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns in headlines.

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, group, place, or thing — and it always begins with a capital letter. Proper nouns are nouns like Quinn (it’s me!), United Nations, Missouri, and George Foreman Grill. Proper nouns are NOT nouns like student, team, country, and lampshade.

Here are a few examples of headlines that are capitalized properly according to AP style.

Wrong: Rogue Bear wreaks Havoc on New York city Right: Rogue bear wreaks havoc on New York City

Wrong: have You Heard what this Ketchup company is up To? Right: Have you heard what this ketchup company is up to?

Note: There is an exception to this rule! The first word that comes after a colon is always capitalized in headlines following AP style.

Wrong: Breaking news: a ferret on the loose! Right: Breaking news: A ferret on the loose!

2. Headlines don't need end punctuation.

End punctuation is punctuation that ends a sentence, including periods, question marks, and exclamation points (some style guides consider colons end punctuation as well, although this is less typical). You can include end punctuation in your headlines, but you don’t have to. And if a headline can’t stand alone as a sentence, it should not end with a period.

Wrong: The mayor’s big decision. Right: The mayor’s big decision

But these three are all acceptable…

Right: NASA makes a galactic error Right: NASA makes a galactic error. Right: NASA makes a galactic error!

3. Don't use periods in abbreviations.

It’s NASA, not N.A.S.A. It’s USA, not U.S.A. It’s FBI, not F.B.I. You get the point.

Wrong: U.S. banks worry about coming recession Right: US banks worry about coming recession

4. Use numerals – don't spell out numbers.

Normally, AP style calls for spelling out numbers under 10 and using numerals for numbers 10 and over (e.g. nine months, 14 days, five pitches, seven bottles, 83 flowers). In headlines, however, use numerals for all numbers unless they’re spelled out as part of a proper name. Use numerals for ordinals too — that is, 2nd, 4th, 19th, etc.

Wrong: Best hamburger award goes to 5 Guys Right: Best hamburger award goes to Five Guys (Write out “Five” here, because “Five Guys” is a proper name.)

Wrong: Seabiscuit in first place! Right: Seabiscuit in 1st place!

Wrong: Five-car collision on the highway Right: 5-car collision on the highway

5. Use single quotes rather than double quotes.

This is an easy one.

Wrong: “Why so serious?” Right: ‘Why so serious?’

Wrong: Orioles win was “out of left field” Right: Orioles win was ‘out of left field’

Make Yourself Look Good

Consistency across your headlines makes your brand look good. It makes it clear that you’re professional, detail oriented, and thoughtful. Do yourself a favor and formalize your brand’s style guidelines — whether you use AP style or not.

At WriteHQ, we can help you do just that. Reach out to us to schedule a free consultation and find out what we can do for your business.