Every hero on this site is set at 160 to 220 pixels. At that size, a title of five words wraps, and a wrapped title looks like an apology. So we made a rule: four words or fewer.
The rule sounded like a design constraint. It turned out to be a strategy constraint. When a client cannot say what they do in four words, the problem is rarely the layout.
What the limit does
It forces a claim. "We build brands" is a description. "Bend the light" is a position. The first one fits any studio in the world. The second one belongs to one.
It also protects the proof. A short claim leaves room for one number underneath, and one number is all a visitor will remember. Norvane's page says "Two Hundred Grams" and then "a jacket lighter than a phone". Nothing else is needed.
How we test a title
We read it out loud in one breath. If we need to pause, it is too long. Then we cover the image and ask a colleague what the company does. If the answer is wrong, the title goes back.
Last year we ran this test on eleven client headlines. Seven failed on the first pass. After the rewrite, all eleven passed, and the three pages we measured raised their click-through to the contact form by an average of 24%.
When to break it
You can break the rule when the page is a document. A legal page, a long case study, a price list: these can use full sentences. A hero cannot.
Try it on your own front page. Count the words in your biggest title. Then cut one.
