The #1 Way to Ruin a Medium Title

Summary

The most effective way to undermine a Medium article title is by exceeding the 100-character limit for previews, leading to a clipped title that appears as clickbait and loses its intended context and impact.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of crafting concise titles and subtitles on Medium that fit within the platform's 100-character preview limit. Exceeding this limit results in titles being truncated, which can drastically alter their meaning and appeal, often making them seem like clickbait. The author illustrates this point with an example where a well-crafted title is reduced to a generic and less enticing phrase when cut off, highlighting the loss of specificity and context that makes a title compelling. The author suggests using tools like WordCounter to avoid this pitfall and advises writers to invest time in refining their titles to make the most of the limited space and maintain the integrity of their message.

Opinions

The author believes that the character limit for titles and subtitles on Medium is a critical detail that writers often overlook.
Clipped titles are seen as a significant issue, as they can transform an intriguing headline into something that resembles clickbait, potentially deterring readers.
The author values the elements of mystery, novelty, and specificity in titles and views the inclusion of these elements as essential for drawing in readers.
Context is considered paramount, and the author stresses that losing context through a clipped title can misrepresent the content and reduce its perceived credibility.
The author advocates for the meticulous crafting of titles, suggesting that spending extra time to ensure they fit within the character limit is a worthwhile investment for writers.

It’s a technicality — but not really

The most common way writers hurt their titles’ ability to convince people to read is by clipping them without realizing it.

I’m not sure why people don’t notice it or don’t think it’s important enough to fix, but it matters — a lot. At Better Marketing, we look at 1,000 titles every month, and this is the most common mistake we see.

Let’s say you come up with this title for a story:

I don’t know about you, but I like this title. It has mystery, novelty, and a once-upon-a-time vibe. It makes a bold claim but not too bold for the writer to have a chance to live up to it.

I want to hear about this fascinating woman. I want to know why the Queen had dinner with her. And, of course, I want to know what she told her about Churchill.

There is only one problem with this title: It’s too long. In the previews of your story all around Medium, it will show up like this:

Do you see how this completely transforms the nature of the title? The first part still works, yes, but the second part now looks like clickbait. It looks like the standard “You’ll never believe what she did next…” It looks gross.

This tiny difference, the absence of the word “Churchill” now colors the whole title. What did she tell the Queen about what? I don’t like this fill-in-the-blank game. Food? War? Her husband? Tell me! I want specificity here.

The specificity is the difference between Houdini and a con artist. At the very least, it’s the difference between which one you look like. Context is everything. When your title is clipped, chances are, it’ll now offer too little.

The reason your title is clipped is that Medium has a 100-character limit for title-subtitle combinations in previews.

This means that, combined, your title and subtitle must not exceed 100 characters. You can use a simple tool like WordCounter to ensure your title set does not break this limit.

I often spend ten minutes or more reworking my title. I look up synonyms, shift bits around, and think about what I can cut — all in service of the 100-character limit.

On Medium, you have 100 characters to convince a reader to read your story. Use them. Use most of them, and use them well. But no more. Don’t break the limit. Don’t clip your title, and don’t mess with your reader’s context.

Like who once told the Queen what over dinner, it matters more than you think.