Medium Formatting

Medium Titles, Subtitles, and Kickers

How to format the size and style of Medium article titles, subtitles, and kickers

One of the most important elements of your Medium post is the title. Titles play a large role in determining whether a reader clicks on your story.

Medium titles that are not formatted properly can render an article ineligible for curation. This is also true for the article subtitle or kicker if you choose to add these elements to your article.

Below is an image illustrating the three potential elements in the header section of a Medium article:

Medium Article Title

Only the first line of a Medium article is considered the title. To create a title, select the text and click the large “T” icon on the pop-up Medium editor to format the title.

Medium Article Subtitle

Writing directly below the title is considered the subtitle. Select the text and click the small “T” icon to format the subtitle. It can be any length, and is bound by hitting “return” on your keyboard.

Medium Article Kicker

A kicker is a short phrase that precedes the title of the article. Kickers can be used as hooks or to further explain titles and they can be used to present a section or classification of content.

For example, in my publication, Medium Blogging Guide, I have a number of sections which are grouped by article theme. This article you are reading covers Medium formatting, so I used this as the article kicker.

Creating a “Kicker” is slightly more confusing than a title or subtitle. My suggestions would be to start with a formatted title and subtitle. Next, using the example seen below, click in front of the the letter “T” in the word “Title” and click enter, creating a new line. Now type the text for your kicker on the top line (which should be blank). Highlight your kicker and click on the lowercase t icon. This is demonstrated below:

— Casey Botticello

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Casey Botticello is a partner at Black Edge Consulting. Black Edge Consulting is a strategic communications firm, specializing in online reputation management, digital marketing, and crisis management. Prior to founding Black Edge Consulting, he worked for BGR Group, a bipartisan lobbying and strategic communications firm.

Casey is the founder of the Cryptocurrency Alliance, a Super PAC dedicated to cryptocurrency and blockchain advocacy. He is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. in Urban Studies.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or by visiting his website, Blogging Guide.