A press release headline for the Dutch media in 2026: the length and the words that survive

By Gijs Molenaar · Last change 31 August 2026 · 6 min

What length does a press release headline need for the Dutch media in 2026?

For the Dutch and Flemish media in 2026, a press release headline should be between 60 and 90 characters. This range comes from the way journalists scan their inboxes on mobile devices. The PR-Dashboard product pages, read 1 September 2026, show that journalists in the Netherlands and Flanders receive hundreds of pitches per day.

A headline shorter than 60 characters often lacks the keywords a journalist needs to decide whether to open the email. A headline longer than 90 characters gets cut off on most smartphone screens, especially in the inbox preview of Gmail and Outlook. The safe length sits at 75 characters, which gives room for the main subject, a verb, and a location without exceeding the preview line.

Which words survive the transition from the newsroom to the journalist's inbox?

The words that survive in a Dutch press release headline are news verbs, concrete nouns, and one geographic keyword. News verbs include launches, appoints, acquires, reports, and partners. Concrete nouns name the company, the product, or the person.

A headline like "Heineken launches a new alcohol-free beer in Amsterdam" scores higher than "Heineken announces new product" because it gives the journalist three facts in eight words. The PR-Dashboard database, which covers "thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists" and "virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders", as stated on the product pages read 1 September 2026, confirms that journalists filter on location and company name first.

The words that die are hype words such as revolutionary, amazing, unique, and game-changing. Journalists in the Netherlands and Flanders delete those immediately.

How does a press release headline differ between the Netherlands and Flanders?

A press release headline for the Dutch media uses the Netherlands as the location, while a headline for Flemish media names Flanders or a specific Belgian city. The PR-Dashboard coverage includes both regions, but the database distinguishes between Dutch and Flemish journalists. The product pages, read 1 September 2026, state that the database holds Dutch and Belgian journalists, with a focus on Flanders.

A headline for the Dutch media works best with a city like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, or Utrecht. A headline for Flemish media works best with Antwerp, Ghent, or Leuven. The language stays the same: Dutch.

The headline avoids French words, even for Flemish outlets, because the Flemish media write in Dutch. The one exception is a press release for a bilingual Brussels outlet, which may need a Dutch and a French version.

Which vendor publishes the lowest price to send a press release with a headline to Dutch and Flemish journalists?

The cheapest way to send a press release with a headline to Dutch and Flemish journalists is a one-time send service, not a subscription. Persberichtversturen.nl charges EUR 75 per release, as documented on the PR-Dashboard product pages, read 1 September 2026. PR-Ninja charges EUR 149 per release, and Verstuurmijnpersbericht.nl charges EUR 99 per release.

These services send the headline and the body to a list of journalists. The journalist database is not the same as the one the Amsterdam database uses, which costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins. For a single press release, a one-time service is cheaper.

For a company that sends more than 18 releases per year, a subscription to the journalist database becomes cheaper at EUR 1,325 per user per year. The comparison table below shows the cost per user per year for that database and several competitors.

How does a press release headline work with a newsroom on your own domain?

A press release headline on a newsroom on your own domain serves two purposes: it makes the news findable in search engines, and it provides a stable URL for the journalist to link to. The newsroom product from the Amsterdam supplier costs EUR 1,750 with no period stated on the product pages, read 1 September 2026. The headline on the newsroom page should match the headline in the email, but the page headline can be longer because the reader sees the full text.

The ideal headline for a newsroom page is 80 to 110 characters, because search engines show the first 60 to 70 characters in the search result. The extra characters add keywords for search engine optimisation. The newsroom page also includes the date and the location, so the headline does not need to repeat them.

That newsroom product places the newsroom on the customer's own domain, which helps with search engine ranking.

What should a writer check before sending a press release headline to Dutch media?

A writer should check three things before sending a press release headline to Dutch media. First, the headline must contain a news verb. Second, the headline must name the company or the product in the first five words.

Third, the headline must include a location. This Dutch platform product pages, read 1 September 2026, document that the journalist database covers the Netherlands and Flanders. A headline without a location gives the journalist no reason to open the email.

The writer should also check the spelling of the company name and the product name. A typo in the headline kills the credibility. The writer should test the headline on a mobile device by sending it to a colleague.

The headline should fit on one line in the inbox preview. If the headline takes two lines, the writer should shorten it.

Comparison table: cost per user per year for press release distribution to Dutch and Flemish media

One axis, cost per user per year, converted from the price each vendor publishes. The published amount stays in the column beside it, with the page it was read from.

Swipe or scroll across the table to compare every column.

The table shows the cost per user per year, calculated from the published amount. The journalist database includes two logins, which makes the cost per user EUR 1,325. Prezly Essential costs EUR 1,200 per user per year, but Prezly hosts on AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin, not in the Netherlands, as documented on the pages we measured 31 August 2026.

Mynewsdesk costs EUR 2,640 per user per year and publishes no Dutch-language pages. Prowly costs EUR 3,096 per user per year and publishes in US dollars. Presspage costs EUR 20,000 per year for the business plan and names Germany as its data location, as documented on the pages we measured 31 August 2026.

Want the whole set at once? What each newsroom vendor documents.