About

A headline determines whether content gets read or ignored. Research from Copyblogger indicates 80% of visitors read the headline, but only 20% proceed to the body. This analyzer evaluates your headline across multiple dimensions: word balance ratio (proportion of common, uncommon, emotional, and power words), character and word count against optimal CTR ranges identified by Outbrain and BuzzSumo (6 - 8 words, 50 - 60 characters), sentiment polarity, readability via syllable density, and structural type classification. The composite score S weights these factors against empirically derived benchmarks. Note: this tool analyzes English-language headlines. Results approximate editorial quality. No algorithm replaces A/B testing with real audiences.

Formulas

The overall headline score S is computed as a weighted sum of normalized sub-scores:

S = 0.30 ⋅ B + 0.20 ⋅ L + 0.15 ⋅ P + 0.15 ⋅ E + 0.10 ⋅ R + 0.10 ⋅ T

Where B = word balance score (how closely the common/uncommon/emotional/power ratio matches ideal benchmarks), L = length score (penalized quadratically outside the 6 - 8 word / 50 - 60 char window), P = power and emotional word density score, E = sentiment clarity score (strong positive or negative outperforms neutral), R = readability score derived from average syllables per word, and T = structural type bonus (listicles and how-to patterns receive higher scores). Each sub-score is normalized to the range [0, 100].

Word balance sub-score uses deviation from ideal ratios:

B = 100 − 14 4∑i=1 |r_i − t_i| ⋅ 100

Where r_i is the actual ratio of category i and t_i is the target ratio. Syllable count uses a vowel-cluster heuristic: count groups of consecutive vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y), subtract silent-e endings, enforce a minimum of 1 syllable per word.

Reference Data

Factor	Optimal Range	Weight in Score	Source / Benchmark
Word Count	6 - 8 words	20%	BuzzSumo (100M headlines)
Character Count	50 - 60 chars	Included in Length	Outbrain CTR study
Common Words	20 - 30%	30% (combined)	CoSchedule Headline Studio
Uncommon Words	10 - 20%		CoSchedule Headline Studio
Emotional Words	10 - 15%		Advanced Marketing Institute
Power Words	10 - 15%		CoSchedule Headline Studio
Sentiment Polarity	Positive or strong negative	15%	Outbrain: negative superlatives +30% CTR
Power & Emotional Density	≥ 20% combined	15%	AMI EMV Score
Readability (Syllable Density)	≤ 1.5 syllables/word avg	10%	Flesch-Kincaid adaptation
Headline Type	How-to, Listicle, Question	10%	Content Marketing Institute
Title Case	Title Case preferred	Advisory (no weight)	APA Style / AP Style
Number in Headline	Present = bonus	Included in Structure	Conductor: +36% preference
Google SERP Display	≤ 60 chars	Advisory flag	Google SERP truncation
Email Subject Line	≤ 41 chars	Advisory flag	Mailchimp optimal open rate
Twitter/X Post	≤ 100 chars (with link)	Advisory flag	Buddy Media engagement study
Facebook Post Title	≤ 40 chars	Advisory flag	Jeff Bullas CTR study

Frequently Asked Questions

Conductor research found that headlines containing numbers are preferred by 36% of readers over other headline types. Numbers set concrete expectations for content scope and reading time. The analyzer awards a structural bonus when it detects a leading numeral pattern because such headlines consistently outperform vague alternatives in CTR studies across platforms.

The CoSchedule methodology classifies every word as common, uncommon, emotional, or power. A headline using only common words ('The Way to Do Things') lacks impact. One overloaded with power words ('Incredible Shocking Ultimate Secret') feels spammy. The ideal balance is approximately 20-30% common, 10-20% uncommon, 10-15% emotional, and 10-15% power words. The analyzer penalizes deviation from these ranges proportionally.

No. Outbrain's study of 65,000 paid link headlines found that negative superlatives ('worst', "never", 'stop') generated a 30% higher CTR than positive superlatives. The analyzer rewards sentiment clarity - strong positive or strong negative both score well. Neutral, bland headlines score lowest because they fail to trigger an emotional response.

Google truncates SERP titles at approximately 580 pixels, which corresponds to roughly 50-60 characters depending on letter width. The analyzer flags headlines exceeding 60 characters with a SERP truncation warning. The headline may still score well on other metrics, but you risk losing critical words in search results. For email subject lines, the threshold drops to 41 characters (Mailchimp data).

The tool uses a vowel-cluster heuristic with silent-e correction. It handles most English words within ±1 syllable accuracy. Edge cases include borrowed words (e.g., 'résumé'), compound words, and proper nouns. For headline-length text (6-12 words), the aggregate average syllable count remains reliable. The readability sub-score contributes only 10% of the total, so minor syllable miscounts have minimal impact on the overall score.

Title Case (capitalizing major words) signals professionalism and is the dominant convention in publishing (AP Style, APA). Sentence case is acceptable for informal contexts. ALL CAPS triggers spam filters in email and reduces readability by eliminating ascender/descender variation. The analyzer detects capitalization style and provides advisory feedback but does not penalize sentence case directly in the score.

The word dictionaries (emotional, power, uncommon) are English-only. Syllable counting uses English phonetic rules. Applying this tool to non-English headlines will produce unreliable word classification and readability scores. Length-based metrics (character count, word count) remain valid across languages, but the overall score should not be trusted for non-English text.