A useful headline should make a promise that the article can actually keep. Our job as publishers is to put the topic and benefit into words a reader can recognize, not to maximize the number of adjectives in a title. These principles apply to news, travel, technology, automotive and evergreen explainers.
Start with the article's substance
Before working on capitalization, write one sentence answering: What changed, or what will someone learn? Then remove unnecessary modifiers. A reader should be able to distinguish “How to Resize a Website Hero Image Without Blurring It” from a generic “Amazing Image Tips for Everyone.” Avoid false urgency, exaggerated outcomes and titles that omit the central subject.
Choose a capitalization rule, then use it consistently
Sentence case generally capitalizes the first word and proper names: “How to prepare photos for a travel article.” Headline-style or title case capitalizes many important words: “How to Prepare Photos for a Travel Article.” Publications disagree about short prepositions, compound terms and hyphenation, so treat an automatic case converter as a starting point. Check trademarks such as iPhone or YouTube, abbreviations such as AI and names such as eBay manually.
Make the URL slug stable
A good slug is short, readable and describes the subject. For “How to Prepare Photos for a Travel Article,” prepare-photos-travel-article is a reasonable suggestion. Use lower-case letters and hyphens for common Latin-script routes. Avoid dates unless the date is an intrinsic part of the story; a stable evergreen page should not seem outdated only because of its URL.
If an already-published page has incoming links, do not casually change its URL. If a change is necessary, retain a proper redirect when your hosting supports one. A slug is not an SEO keyword stuffing container, and a good title on its own cannot guarantee rankings.
Check the surrounding preview
Search engines can rewrite how titles appear in results, and social networks can show different text through Open Graph metadata. Use the meta title preview for approximate search snippets and the social card previewer for a separate editorial review.
A five-minute publishing checklist
- The title matches what the article really provides.
- The key subject appears early enough for skimming readers.
- Names, dates, figures and claims agree with the article.
- Capitalization follows one editorial policy.
- The URL slug is descriptive and does not duplicate unnecessary words.
- The page title and social title read naturally on smaller screens.
Try the headline and slug workshop → · Read about title and description snippets →