The powerful writing tool inexperienced writers forget to use

The theme of the month at A Thousand Monkeys is headlines – if you haven’t heard, we’re running a free webinar on the subject on March 3rd. But there’s another, less recognised tool that can be just as useful in your writing. The subheading.

One of the first things we do if we’re working on an editing job is to add in subheadings if they’re missing. Casual writers often miss that crucial step of dividing up their content and the result is a big block of imposing text with no sense of order.

Subheadings organise thoughts

No one wants to read a long, rambling, disconnected string of thoughts. Including subheads forces you, the writer, to organise your content into neat boxes for the reader.

Subheadings are like signposts

Very few people will read every word of your content. The sooner you come to terms with it, the sooner you can get to work helping people get what they need. Subheads describe your content for skim readers so they can jump to the bits they want to read.

Subheadings are creative opportunities

Perhaps you have a theme running through them. Or they share a common format. Or maybe you just want to use a few ideas that didn’t make the cut for the main header. Subheads are very prominent on the page so not using them to their best is a missed opportunity.

Subheadings look good

Many people are visual learners. Contrasting colours and fonts send a signal that here’s a break or a new thought. And that different formatting will nicely set off your body text, making it look less like a dense novel and giving your readers’ eyes a rest.

Subheadings are essential for accessibility

Properly nested headings allow assistive technologies to navigate digital content. If your content is accessible, more people will be able to read it – and it won’t get penalised on search rankings.