It's hard to overstate the importance of a headline online. If you don't get it right, no one will click on your story.

Write headings that are clear, compelling and, above all, make people want to read more. Would you click on it?

Keep it brief: no more than a single line in most cases.

Online headings are often displayed out of context: as part of a list of articles, in a search engine's results or in a list of bookmarks. So headings should make sense on their own - or at least enough sense that you'd want to read on.

Headings can be thought of as an "an ultra-short abstract" of the page content. Or, looked at another way, they're a "hook" to reel the reader into the story.

Avoid teasers and puns, because these won't make sense out of context.

Take Upworthy's challenge to write 25 headlines for every story.

Use active rather than passive language. It is far more engaging and inviting.

World Vision is trying to connect the supporter with the person in the field. Passive voice separates them; active voice brings them closer.

Don't say: "Unemployment is a problem that faces many young people".

Say: "Many young people are unemployed".

One tip is to search for "by" and "that". Both words frequently appear in passive phrasing. In the case of "that", there is rarely a circumstance where it can't be cut from the text.

The general reader doesn't want an academic dissertation on the causes of poverty. They want to know what's happening - and how they can help.

Speak with your reader as if from one individual to another. Make it feel personal, but not casual. (This of course, depends a little on the content - and where it's appearing. A campaign message should be more formal and less personal than a blog post.) Contractions are appropriate online, eg "don't" instead of "do not".

The stories that World Vision has to tell are strong enough without unnecessary ornamentation. Use plain English (which is not the same as boring English!). Why say "utilise" when you can say "use"?

Words in prose ought to express the intended meaning; if they attract attention to themselves, it is a fault; in the very best styles you read page after page without noticing the medium. Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are, the more necessary it is to be plain.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Even the cleverest people don't want to get distracted by cumbersome language.

Be on the lookout for jargon and acronyms - they are the enemy!

Every aspect of a story should add to its meaning: photos, titles, body copy, and so on.

Be ruthless. Get rid of unnecessary words and paragraphs. Repetition hurts a good story.

Don't double up content. If a video tells the story, don't reiterate it through words.

Think, we only have one minute of this person's time - how can we convince them to contact us? Is every sentence working to get them to this point?

Studies of content usability typically find that removing half of a website's words will double the amount of information that users actually get. If users don't need it, don't write it. Excessive word count and worthless details are making it harder for people to extract useful information. The more you say, the more people tune out your message. Saying less often communicates more.

Jakob Nielsen

Remember: You don't need to tell the reader everything about the story - you just need to tell them the most important things.

Your active choices about what stays in will improve the content.

Avoid long slabs of text. Serve information in easily digestible "chunks", remembering that people can access the site at any level, and that several short sections are better than one long one.

Think in terms of billboards, where you have to convey a message to someone driving past quickly in limited space.

Use bullet points, headings, hyperlinks and separate pages to highlight key points and break up text.

Use multiple content types to communicate a story. Use videos and images wherever possible - they are often a far simpler, more evocative way to tell a story.

Don't use quotes to tell a story - use them sparingly, and give focus only to the best quotes. Slabs of quotes can make a story difficult to get into online.

Paraphrase where you can (without putting words in someone's mouth).

You've just inspired someone to make a difference with the story. Don't leave them hanging. Show them how to help.

This doesn't just have to be a financial call to action. Provide readers with a related article. Or tell them about an upcoming event that's related.

Make sure that no story has a dead end: online, every page should have a clear pathway to the next step a reader could take. This could be further reading material about the subject, a call to action for an emergency or a way to share the content with their friends.