Member Avatar for blue ocean sky

Hi all, first post here.

I was wondering if anyone knows how to format H1 headlines (titles of blog posts) when they are long.

The problem is, if the headline goes onto two lines, it appears all scrunched up and squished.

I could jsut make them all h2 tags instead, but I think I need at least one h1 tag for SEO purposes, per post, and it's probably best to have this as my headline of my post, right?

So, the question is: Is there any way of having a long title (h1) display better?

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Long headlines wrapping to a second line often look “scrunched” because the visual rhythm (line length, line-height, and the headline’s scale) isn’t tuned for multi-line flow. Changing the tag to H2 just to get different default styling sacrifices semantics; and are on the right track—style the H1 in CSS and keep the markup meaningful. Below are practical, implementable refinements that preserve semantics and improve readability across viewports.

A compact, modern approach is to combine a fluid font-size with a sensible max line length and relaxed line-height. Example CSS (adapt class names to the theme) shows one safe pattern:

h1.post-title {
  font-size: clamp(20px, 3.5vw, 36px);
  line-height: 1.15;
  max-width: 70ch;
  margin: 0 auto;
  hyphens: auto;
  overflow-wrap: break-word;
}

When editorial control is available, insert soft break opportunities so long words break cleanly (use <wbr> or the soft hyphen &shy; at logical junctions). For small screens, either scale the headline down with a media query or provide a shorter variant (CMS field or trimmed excerpt) so the headline doesn’t crowd the layout. Avoid forcing uppercase or heavy letter-spacing for long multi-line titles; these make wrapped lines feel tighter.

Quick troubleshooting checklist:

  • Ensure line-height > 1.0 for multi-line headings.
  • max-width in ch units keeps lines within readable character counts (~60–75 chars).
  • hyphens: auto needs a correct lang attribute to work reliably.
  • Test with the actual webfonts — different font faces need different sizing/spacing.
  • Keep H1 semantic; if a layout needs a different visual hierarchy, use CSS classes rather than changing tag level.

Combining a bit of editorial trimming, a few well-placed soft breaks, and the CSS pattern above will make long H1s breathe without losing semantic value.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for irish luck

Change the font size and spacing in the CSS style sheet this will allow you to keep your H1 without you having to change it to a H2.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

I would not recommend using H2 just for the default formatting. Apply a style to the H1 elements. The best approach is adding the style in your external style sheet.

For example,

h1 {font-size:1em;}

Substitute 1 for the value of your choice that best suits your pages.

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