Why the headline carries 80% of the work
David Ogilvy used to say five times as many people read the headline as the body. In a Twitter, LinkedIn or Google feed, the headline is all most readers will ever see. If it doesn't catch attention and promise something clear, you've lost the fight before starting. That's why headlines deserve more time than any paragraph in the body.
What this analyzer checks
- Length โ 40 to 70 characters tends to convert best.
- Numbers โ headlines with concrete digits perform better.
- Power words โ strong verbs and emotional adjectives.
- Specificity โ concrete vs. vague promises.
- Clarity โ no convoluted phrasing or double negatives.
- Structure โ known formulas (how, why, lists, questions).
Formulas that work
After decades of testing, certain structures dominate. How: "How to write a headline that doubles your CTR". Lists: "7 mistakes you make writing headlines". Why: "Why nobody opens your newsletter". Question: "Are your headlines killing your CTR?". Negative: "The mistake that ruins 80% of headlines". Not magic recipes, but they work because readers parse the format instantly.
English power words
Certain words measurably lift CTR: "free", "fast", "ultimate", "essential", "proven", "secret", "easy", "now", "new", "best", "avoid", "warning", "incredible", "tested", "guaranteed", "simple", "powerful", "key", "urgent", "exclusive". Use them carefully: overuse devalues them. One or two per headline is plenty.
The magic character count
For Google search, the sweet spot is 50-60 characters (more gets truncated in SERP). For Twitter/X, 70-80 works well. For newsletters, subject lines under 40 chars perform better on mobile. LinkedIn tolerates up to 100. If your headline is 120 chars chaining three ideas, you probably want to split into headline and subhead.
Common mistakes
- Generic โ "Tips for founders" vs. "5 tips that saved my client $10K".
- Long and tangled โ 80+ characters with two commas: trim it.
- Clickbait without substance โ over-promising kills trust.
- No promise โ the reader must know what they get from clicking.
- Ambiguous โ if it isn't clear in two seconds, it isn't clear.
How to use the score
The score is a guide, not a verdict. A headline can score 95/100 and flop, or 50/100 and break records. The real test is an A/B with your audience. But if the analyzer warns "110 characters and no number", the issue is probably real. Use it as a first filter, not a final call.
Write 10 before picking one
Pro copywriters write 10-20 versions of the same headline before choosing. The first is always the obvious one; the tenth is usually the best. Run each candidate through the analyzer, drop the worst and test the top two or three. That discipline is the difference between a blog that grows and one that stalls.