Summary

The article discusses the impact of Medium's September 2020 design update on headline display, emphasizing the importance of concise headlines for mobile browsing.

Abstract

Medium's dynamic design update has altered the presentation of headlines, with the main headline now being prioritized on the homepage. Despite the update allowing for longer headlines on desktop views, the character limit of 100 still applies, particularly for mobile browsing. The article highlights that while the new design maintains headline integrity on larger screens, mobile views, especially in portrait mode, can truncate longer headlines, potentially losing their intended impact. The author suggests that writers should still aim for brevity in headlines to ensure their stories are effectively communicated across all devices.

Opinions

The author acknowledges the effectiveness of Medium's new front page design in providing a personalized reading experience.
The author prefers using a mobile browser over the Medium app for a better reading experience on mobile devices.
There is a concern that longer headlines may not display fully on mobile devices, particularly in portrait mode, which could lead to a loss of meaning and reader engagement.
The author advocates for trusting one's own judgment in crafting headlines and suggests that the challenge of creating effective headlines will continue.
Despite the new design's ability to accommodate longer headlines on desktop and app versions, the author recommends writers consider shorter headlines to ensure clarity and impact across all platforms.

Will the New Dymaic Design Change How We Look at Headlines? Slightly

Remember when Niklas Göke taught us all how long a headline should be?

This headline breaks all rules already. Will the headline fit in the new dynamic design? What about the headline and the sub-headline combined?

Before the September 2020 update, a headline would get capped at 100 characters. If you needed more space than 100 characters to grab your audience’s attention, you were out of luck.

Niklas Göke taught everyone this in his article The #1 Way to Ruin a Medium Title. Your headline and sub-headline can not exceed 100 characters. It simply won’t be displayed in its original form. Make sure you get the point across right away or lose the reader.

The 100 character rule still applies. Look at the preview of your story before you publish it. The stories at the top of your homepage only have the main headline. The ones coming after the “Popular on Medium” section has both the headline and the sub-headline.

Why does headline length matter these days?

Medium’s new front page is beautiful. It features stories tailored to you and you can choose between reading an endless feed of articles, or you can narrow your read time into people and publications you are following.

It is a matter of personal preference of course, but I like it. Another important feature is how the dynamic layout manages to always help the headline stay intact.

Screenshot of the layout squashed more and more by author

So far, so good. Look at how the headlines are all maintained. Why should we bother then? Because a lot of people browse stories on their phones.

The Medium app works, but I find the reading experience better on the mobile version using the phone browser, e.g. Safari. What’s so special about the headlines there? They aren’t that dynamic.

If you scroll past the popular section on your phone, the articles are listed in a row view with the headline and the photo. This means that space is limited.

Here is the vertical view:

The one, single, solitary lesson the DNC can learn from who? Screenshot by author

Tilting the phone to landscape mode reveals the whole title. Notice how “I Have Never Liked My Body” never had any issues, while “The One, Single, Solitary Lesson the DNC Can Learn from Kanye West” lost its meaning on the way.

Key Takeaways

Headline length has always mattered. I remember reading about headline lengths and experimenting. I never cracked the code and the suggestion made from headline analyzer tools completely broke my story headlines.

I have started trusting my own headlines and some works better than others of course. It will remain a game for a long time.

Even though long headlines seem to survive on the website version of Medium and in the app, the mobile version has some limits.

If you can shorten the headline while still hooking the reader, you might want to consider it.