Spacing is built into heading styles in most templates. Close proximity between the heading and the text thatįollows it communicates to the reader that they're related. Typically have extra space above them and often less space below Use vertical spacing to make headings stand out. If you can't fit a headline on two lines, rewrite it. Keep hyphenated words and multiple-word proper nouns (such as New York) on the same line.īreak naturally, at the end of a complete phrase, if possible. Keep adjectives and prepositions with the words they modify. (Shift +Įnter inserts a manual line break in many authoring tools.) That makes sense and balances the length of the two lines. Unless you're writing content for a responsive design (whichīreaks lines dynamically to fit the screen), break the heading in a way Use italic if it would be required in body text. A question mark or (rarely) an exclamation point can be used if it's needed for meaning.

To learnĬan a search engine predict the World Cup winner?īlock party: Communities use Minecraft to create public spacesĭon't end headings with a period. That means that you capitalize the first word,Īny proper nouns, and the first word after a colon (if there is one). Use sentence-style capitalization for headings. In resized windows or mobile devices, they can result in awkward line breaks. For headings that aren't related to tasks, use a noun phrase such as Headings, if possible.ĭon’t use ampersands (&) or plus signs (+) in headings unless you're referring to UI that contains them or space is limited.Īvoid hyphens in headings if you can. Examples Source dataĬonsider infinitive phrases, such as To create a heading, for headings and titles related to tasks. Infinitive phrases for headings in instructions. For example, use noun phrases forįirst-level headings, verb phrases for second-level headings, and On what customers can achieve or what they need to know. In most cases, don't talkĪbout products, features, or commands in headings. Second-level heading should be more specific than a first-levelĬhoose words they'd use themselves.

This is especially critical in blogs and social media.īe even more detailed with lower-level headings. Keep headings as short as possible, and put the most important idea at the beginning. For example, this guide uses four heading levels. For long content, you might need to use additional heading levels. One heading level is usually plenty for a page or two of content. The heading should introduce the topic in an interesting way. But don't insert filler text just to separate the headings.Įach new heading represents a new or more specific topic. Organization or that the headings are redundant. If you can't findĪt least two distinct topics, skip the second-level headings.Īvoid having two headings in a row without text in between-that might indicate a problem with More distinct topics, and use second-level headings (subheads) toīreak up the large section into more scannable chunks. There's a lot to say under a top-level heading, look for two or Make them as specific as you can to catch the Headings communicate what's most important and divide content into If readers don't read the headings, they probably won't read the text that follows, either. Think of headings as an outline, only more interesting-pithy, even. In any type of content-whether it's UI, web content, marketing, or advertising-use headings consistently. Will help readers scan content and find entry points. Spacing and distinct fonts associated with headings You can break text logically into smaller sections, the extra Headings provide both structure and visual points of reference to help readers scan content.

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