Headline Analyzer

What makes a headline work

Three things: clarity, curiosity, and value. If a reader doesn't instantly know what the content is about, they skip. If it doesn't spark curiosity, they skip. If the value isn't obvious, they skip.

This analyzer scores four dimensions: length, power words, emotional value, and structure. It's a heuristic, not a guarantee — but the feedback is real.

Length by format

• Blog posts — 8–12 words. Long enough for clarity, short enough to scan.
• Email subject lines — 6–10 words. Mobile inbox truncates around 6 words.
• YouTube titles — 6–10 words. First 5 words matter most.
• Social posts — 5–9 words. Shorter is fine on social.

Power words that lift click-through

Power words are not clickbait. They're specific, emotional, and honest:

• Free, instant, fast — promise of value
• Proven, tested, real — proof of credibility
• Hidden, secret, overlooked — curiosity
• New, 2026, updated — timeliness
• Stop, avoid, before — urgency or warning
• How, why, what — search intent

Use one or two. More than three and the headline reads like spam.

Emotional value

Neutral headlines get ignored. Emotion drives clicks. The most common emotional triggers:

• Curiosity — "What most people miss…"
• Surprise — "The opposite of what I expected…"
• Warning — "7 mistakes to avoid…"
• Aspiration — "How to hit $10k/month…"
• Belonging — "What every Etsy seller knows…"

Structure

Strong headlines follow recognizable patterns:

• Number + noun + benefit — "7 tools that save 10 hours a week"
• How to + verb + result — "How to price products without losing money"
• Question — "Is Etsy still worth it in 2026?"
• Contrast — "Most sellers guess. Here's how to know."

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