The Headline Mistake Costing You Subscribers
Should I have used an exclamation point? Shouldn't I have capitalized each word? Isn't that title/headline/subject line too long? Read on...
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What’s the difference between a subject line and a headline on Substack?
Should you care about Google search results?
Should you capitalize subject lines? What about headlines?
Given the introduction of beta testing titles on Substack (!), what’s the best workflow to take advantage of this thrilling (truly) new feature?
Read on, my friends, read on…
I was talking with a Substack writer yesterday who used the exact same headline (a.k.a. title) for every post—only his subhead (a.k.a. subheadline) varied.
I gave unsolicited advice (my bad—no one wants that) and mentioned that he might possibly, maybe, maybe want to think about using different headlines.
Why?
In email, people might think he keeps sending them the same email over and over because people are moving quickly, often deleting emails with joy and abandon when they’re cleaning out their inboxes. We say “cleaning out my inbox” for a reason—it feels cluttered.
On his homepage, it did look like the same post over and over again, even with different social previews/thumbnails.
Important (!)
Before we go any further, let’s clarify: subject lines aren’t the same as headlines. Most people treat these as the same thing, and they are in a sense; they’re both your post’s title, but…
Subject lines
Subject lines appear on your subscribers’ emails.
They have some relevance to open rates.
If you’re wondering why people aren’t opening your emails, it has something to do with your subject lines.
Headlines
Headlines appear on posts on the desktop and in the app.
They have relevance to SEO (more on the changes to Google search results below).
If you’re wondering why (perhaps) people aren’t finding your posts via the app, it’s (at least partly) your headlines. (It’s also, perhaps, your social media previews/thumbnails.)
I want you to think of your posts’ titles as having two phases:
They appear as subject lines first via email.
Then they live on the web as headlines.
Back to our Substack writer: He might have excellent results with this tactic—every Substack creator is different.
And now he can test it.
New! Beta test your titles on Substack
Yes, my friends, we can beta test titles on Substack. It’s been rolled out for bestsellers and will soon be available to everyone—not sure when.
I take you through what beta testing titles looks like here.
In a nutshell, here’s what beta testing means for us:
Substack now offers beta testing for subject lines (!). Remember, the title being tested goes out in email and then lives on the web as a headline afterward.
Only the email open rate is tested.
This feature lets you test multiple subject lines with 5% of your subscribers (or whatever percentage you choose).
After testing, the winning title automatically goes out to all subscribers.
I like testing for more than one hour (the suggested timeframe) because people sometimes wait to open our posts.
It’s so addictive—like the best lottery you’ve ever played.
For this post, I tested these three subject lines. Which do you think performed best?
Your Substack headline and subject line are everything! (2025 guide)
Why you may not open this email (but should) (me)
The headline mistake costing you subscribers (Claude/AI)
I’ll post the results in the comments.
Below (!)
What makes a great subject line
How to write a great headline
My super special How to Write Headlines According to The New York Times, Poynter, and NPR cheatsheet (PDF)
How to use AI to write an AI-SEO title (an SEO title isn’t the same as your post headline)
+ Your own Subject-Line/Headline Workflow for posts
Paid subscribers get my full guidance, including how to put all this into practice to grow your Substack. (Be wary of free Substack advice.) Join us by becoming a paid subscriber.