Excerpts aren't summaries of everything the post says

The excerpt runs before anyone commits

An excerpt appears in lists, feeds, search results, and social shares. It's the text that decides whether someone clicks through to read the full post. That's a completely different job than summarizing what the post contains.

A summary assumes someone finished reading and needs the key points restated. An excerpt assumes someone hasn't started and needs a reason to begin. Mixing these up produces excerpts that give away the conclusion or try to compress every section into two sentences. Neither makes anyone want to read more.

Write the excerpt as an invitation

Start with what the post helps someone do or understand. If the post explains how to structure image fields in a CMS, the excerpt might say: "Image fields need constraints before users upload anything. Here's what to define first." That tells someone what they'll learn and implies the post has specific steps.

Don't open with the post's first paragraph reworded. Link previews already show how you introduced the topic in the body. The excerpt can approach from a different angle or zoom in on the practical outcome.

Avoid excerpts that just restate the title in a complete sentence. If your title is "Image dimensions belong in your content model," the excerpt "Image dimensions should be part of your content model" adds nothing. Say what happens when you do it: "Set width and height constraints in your content model so uploaded images fit your layout without manual cropping."

Keep conclusions out of the excerpt

If your post walks through three ways to handle draft content and recommends one, don't put that recommendation in the excerpt. Someone reading "Draft mode means someone else will publish it" in a list doesn't need to know your conclusion before they click. They need to know you're comparing options.

Same with posts that diagnose a common mistake. The excerpt can name the problem without explaining the fix. "Empty state text that just says 'No results' wastes the space" works better than "Empty state text should guide users toward their next action." The first creates a question. The second resolves it too early.

Match the excerpt length to where it appears

Most systems truncate excerpts after a character count or line limit. Write knowing that cut-off exists. A 300-character excerpt that gets truncated at 150 mid-sentence looks unfinished. A 140-character excerpt that fits everywhere looks intentional.

Check how your excerpts display in your actual post list template, not just in the CMS field. If your layout shows two lines of text at a specific font size, write two lines. If it shows four, use all four. Excerpts that end naturally at the visible limit feel designed. Ones that get cut off feel accidental.

Test the excerpt without the title

Pull the excerpt into a document by itself. Does it still make sense? Does it still create a reason to click? If the excerpt only works when someone has already read the title, it's doing half the job. Excerpts appear in contexts where the title might be truncated or reformatted, especially in feed readers and social cards.

You're not rewriting the title. You're adding the next piece of information someone needs to decide whether this post is worth their time. Think of the title as the subject line and the excerpt as the preview text. Both matter, but they shouldn't repeat each other.

Write excerpts after you finish the post

You can't write a useful excerpt until you know what the post actually covers. If you write the excerpt first, you're guessing. If you write it while drafting, you're summarizing an incomplete argument.

Finish the post. Read it once. Then write the excerpt as if you're recommending this post to someone who asked a related question. What would you say in two sentences to explain why they should read it? That's the excerpt.