Medium headline analyzer
Paste one headline — or several versions, one per line — and see how stories with the same style performed on Medium. Based on 18,640 real stories from our latest scan, not on generic copywriting rules.
Data from Oct 20, 2026
What our data says about headline styles
Each style is compared with all other headlines, adjusted for the size of each author’s audience. “Effect” is the change in the chance of reaching 10+ claps; the average headline gets there 37% of the time.
| Headline style | Share of headlines | Reached 10+ claps | Effect | Reliable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Stop…” / “Don’t…” / “Never…” | 1% | 44% | +25% | yes |
| “How I…” / first-person story | 4% | 41% | +17% | yes |
| Starts with a number | 4% | 43% | +17% | yes |
| Question | 8% | 39% | +7% | not yet |
| “Why…” | 3% | 38% | +7% | not yet |
| “How to…” | 3% | 33% | −7% | not yet |
| Colon (two-part) | 23% | 31% | −19% | yes |
| Mentions a year | 4% | 26% | −26% | yes |
Headline length
| Length | Headlines | Reached 10+ claps |
|---|---|---|
| up to 6 words | 4,671 | 38% |
| 7–10 words | 6,560 | 38% |
| 11–14 words | 5,544 | 35% |
| 15+ words | 1,865 | 33% |
The median Medium headline is 9 words long. Read the full study: headline styles and claps · methodology.
Headline style goes hand in hand with topic and format, so treat these numbers as odds, not guarantees. The biggest lever is still where you publish — see publications that accept new writers.