A brutal truth you must realize as a Medium writer:
Many readers are not actually going to read your article.
Many people online are skimmers. They scroll and glance and decide within seconds whether your article is worth their time — especially if you didn’t write an eye-catching intro.
If you want readers to stick then you need to make your article as scannable as possible. Otherwise they will leave and tank your read ratio.
Which drastically reduces your chances of ever going viral.
I should easily get what your article even if I’m just skimming through quickly.
Subheadings will do this for you.
It’s a key reason why listicles have always been one of my best performing article formats.
1. Subheadings make your article digestible
Without subheadings you end with large unreadable walls of text — especially if you don’t use other techniques to structure them properly.
And this only turns potential readers away.
Subheadings break up your content into manageable chunks to make things much easier to scan and read.
2. Subheadings keep your readers hooked
When a reader lands on your article, you don’t just want them to start reading—you want them to keep reading.
A strong subheading creates a mini-hook. It sparks curiosity about what’s next. It signals a new value drop and promises a takeaway.
This is especially powerful if you format your article like a journey, guiding the reader step-by-step. With each subheading, they know there’s more gold to uncover.
That momentum keeps them scrolling, and ultimately more likely to finish your piece—and share it.
3. Subheadings help you write better
Because now you can’t just write about whatever comes to mind at any point in the article.
You can structure your thoughts and distill them into subheadings.
Subheadings aren’t just a gift to the reader—they’re a tool for you, the writer.
If you can’t write a good subheading, chances are you haven’t nailed the point you’re trying to make.
This structure leads to better flow. It helps you avoid rambling. It shows you the gaps in your thinking before the reader ever sees them.
Want to improve your writing instantly? Write your subheadings first, then fill in the content beneath them. It works like magic.
4. Subheadings give you organic views
Subheadings aren’t just for humans—they’re for Google.
Search engines scan your content to understand what it’s about.
And subheadings are one of the best ways they use to find key topics and keywords that your article is about.
And this helps your article rank higher in search results.
And sometimes they pull subheadings into featured snippets — making the first thing people see when searching for answers — assuming space-gobbling Gemini answer doesn’t show up — lucky you.
Subheadings = SEO gold.
5. Subheadings help you stand out in the content crowd
There are literally millions of articles published online every day. Most of them blur together.
You have to be outstanding to get read properly, and shared and saved and bookmarked.
Clean. Easy to navigate. Respecting the reader’s time.
Subheadings will give your work structure and polish and professionalism. They show you care—not just about what you’re saying, but about how your audience experiences it.
And that’s also how you build trust and brand reputation.
Subheadings look like they’re just there for structure but they can make all the difference.