Headline Analyzer

How to use it

1. Type your headline. Add up to four more variants to compare them.
2. Optionally enter a target keyword to check that it appears near the start.
3. Read the checklist for each headline: length, search-result width, readability, format, wording and clarity.
4. Compare the variants in the side-by-side table, then edit and watch the checks update.

What each check looks for

• Words and characters: 6–12 words and 35–65 characters are general guidance for headlines that are specific but quick to scan, not hard rules. Characters are counted as you see them, so an emoji counts as one.
• Search width: the headline is measured in your browser in 20px Arial, as the Meta Tag Generator does. Titles wider than about 600px may be cut short in Google's desktop results. This is an approximation; Google doesn't publish a fixed limit.
• Readability (approximate): average word length and an estimate of syllables per word, using a simple English vowel-group rule that can be off for some words. Up to 1.5 syllables per word reads as plain, up to 1.9 as moderate, and above that as dense.
• Format: question (ends with ? or starts with a question word), how-to (contains “how to”) and list (starts with a number, such as “7 ways…”, but not a year).
• Power and emotional words come from a short list shown in full on the page, and the matching words are highlighted. More isn't better: several in one headline can feel like hype.
• Clarity flags: ALL CAPS (most letters upper case), shouty words (all-caps words of five or more letters), repeated punctuation such as !!, ?! or ..., and phrases from a published list of clickbait clichés.
• Keyword placement: if you give a target keyword, the tool checks whether the headline contains it as a whole phrase and whether it starts within the first three words.