4 tips for writing subheadings

Subheadings allow readers to see at a glance what a web text is about, whether the content is interesting or relevant to them, and make the text more appealing to read. In short, subheadings are absolute must-haves in your web content if you want your texts to be read from start to finish. Do you want to create brilliant subheadings? In this blog, we share 4 tips!

Effect of subheadings

Do you scan a web page before you start reading it? Most people do this before reading a web page word for word. They want to decide first whether it’s worth reading the text. You’ll probably recognise this: you want to quickly look up a restaurant’s opening hours or you’re searching for an answer to your question. One way visitors scan texts is by looking at subheadings.

Tip 1: Keep it short and to the point

The reader should immediately get an idea of what the text under the subheading is about. A subheading is a condensed summary of your text and should be short but powerful. Ensure that the reader understands the subheading and does not have to read it twice. The more specific, the better; for example:

“20% off summer dresses” rather than “big discounts on summer dresses”.

Tip 2: Answer the reader’s question straight away

Help your visitor get started more quickly by answering their question directly in the title or by clearly describing in your title what your advice is about, for example:

“5 tips on writing subheadings” rather than “writing good subheadings”

Tip 3: Engage your visitor with a question

A question gets your visitor thinking and encourages them to read on. For example, use your question to describe a scenario that the visitor can relate to and would like to know more about. Or pique your visitor’s curiosity with a ‘did you know’ question, such as:

“Do your blogs have a high bounce rate?” or “Did you know that 87 per cent of your visitors only skim your text?”

Tip 4: Ensure that subheadings meet these 5 criteria

A good subheading stands or falls on the right punctuation, language, length and layout. So, before you start writing your text, bear in mind these key requirements for effective subheadings:

• Don’t make your subheading too long; keep it to the length of a single sentence at most.
• Write your subheading at B1 level. Use simple words that everyone understands so that your subheadings are easy to scan.
• Use correct punctuation, and pay attention to spelling and grammar. Spelling mistakes in your writing have a negative impact on your authority as an author.

Use visual cues to clearly distinguish between a heading, subheading and paragraph.

• Make sure Google can index your content more easily by including relevant keywords in your subheadings.

 

Need help writing good content?

Do you also want to make a strong impression on your visitors and rank highly in Google’s search results? After reading these tips, you’re sure to be a lot wiser. Of course, you may still have questions on this topic or on, for example, general optimisation, link building or content optimisation. Please feel free to contact us. We’d be happy to tell you more about copywriting and optimising your texts for Google.