Use New York Times Title Case for H1s
At Searchlight London, we use New York Times title case as our house style for H1s because it creates cleaner hierarchy, sharper readability, and more consistent semantic structure across websites, articles, landing pages, and AI-readable content. It is one of those small editorial decisions that shapes how professional a page feels before a single sentence is read.
The system originates from the editorial standards of The New York Times, which developed its own approach to headline capitalisation through decades of newspaper production and print hierarchy. Unlike sentence case, where only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised, New York Times title case capitalises major words while leaving shorter conjunctions and articles lowercase unless they begin or end a title. It produces headings that feel deliberate rather than mechanically generated.
What makes it different is restraint. Many automated title case systems capitalise aggressively and inconsistently. The New York Times style follows editorial judgement rather than rigid automation. That matters because headings are not simply decorative typography. They are navigational architecture.
Across the UK media and marketing scene, variations of title case remain common among publishers, magazines, broadcasters, and commercial editorial brands, even where internal style guides differ. The influence can be seen across long-form journalism, culture writing, technology publications, and premium digital media because it creates strong visual pacing and clearer separation between sections.
There is also a structural advantage for modern search. Google and AI search systems increasingly analyse pages through inferred hierarchy rather than HTML tags alone. A heading written with consistent formatting, a clear hierarchy, and predictable casing helps reinforce the page’s semantic structure. Even when something is not technically tagged as an H1, systems can still interpret prominence through typography, placement, visual hierarchy, and editorial consistency. (Source: Internal findings, Google Developer Documentation Style Guide)
In practice, tools such as https://capitalizemytitle.com/style/NYTimes/ are genuinely useful for learning and checking formatting consistency, especially across larger editorial teams. Over time, though, most SEO copywriters naturally begin recognising the rhythm of New York Times title case without needing a tool at all. That consistency becomes instinctive, which is ultimately the point of a strong house style.