HeadlineForge

Headline Analyzer heat-test your headline before it goes live

Paste a headline and watch it heat up. Every factor that decides whether people click is scored as you type, with a plain-English fix for each one.

Type a headline and it is scored as you type: word balance, emotion, length, Google fit and more.

Forge better versions

Eight AI rewrites in different formats, each scored by the same analyzer. Only runs when you click.

Awaiting metal

Why one headline gets the click

Readers decide in a second or two, mostly from the first and last few words. The best headlines do three jobs at once: they name the reader's problem, promise a specific payoff, and give a reason to click now rather than later.

Toggle the parts in the builder and watch the score move. Notice that adding everything doesn't win: past about twelve words the headline starts getting cut off in search results and the promise gets diluted.

Fall Asleep

Format
Add a part
  • !Word count: 2 words
  • !Power words: none
  • !Emotional pull: neutral
  • !Specificity: none
  • !Headline type: Generic

Every part is optional, and stacking all of them isn't automatically best: watch what happens to length and Google fit when you add everything.

Compare headline versions side by side

Write two or three versions and see which one scores highest on each factor. It's a fast way to A/B test before you publish, without waiting for traffic.

Warming

  • ~Words 4 words
  • ~Google fit 178px of 600px · 19 chars
  • !Power words none
  • !Emotion neutral
  • !Specificity none
  • ✓Type How-to
  • ✓Clarity clean
  • iReading grade 0.7
Full breakdown

White-hot

  • ✓Words 8 words
  • ✓Google fit 397px of 600px · 43 chars
  • ✓Power words proven
  • ✓Emotion positive
  • ~Specificity number
  • ✓Type List
  • ✓Clarity clean
  • iReading grade 5.7
Full breakdown

What the analyzer checks

Word count

6–12 words. Enough to make a promise, short enough to take in at a glance.

Google pixel fit

Google truncates desktop titles at roughly 600 pixels, not a fixed character count. We measure with Arial glyph widths, the font Google uses.

Power & emotional words

Matched against 150+ trigger words grouped by motive: urgency, curiosity, trust, fear, ease and more.

Specificity

Numbers, years and bracketed qualifiers like [Template] make a vague promise concrete.

Headline type

List, how-to, question, guide, comparison or reason-why. See 12 formulas with examples.

Word balance & clarity

A natural mix of connecting and meaningful words, with no filler, ALL CAPS or known clickbait phrases.

Questions people ask

How is the headline score calculated?

HeadlineForge weighs eight factors: word count, whether the headline fits in Google's roughly 600-pixel title space, power words, emotional pull, specificity (numbers, brackets, years), headline type, the balance of common and uncommon words, and clarity (no filler, shouting or clickbait). Add a target keyword and a ninth factor checks its placement. Each factor is scored 0–1, weighted and scaled to 100.

What is a good headline score?

Aim for 70 or more ("Forged"). 85+ is "White-hot". The score is a checklist, not a guarantee: a 72 that is honest and specific will beat a 95 that over-promises. Use it to compare versions of the same headline.

Is this headline analyzer free?

Yes. Scoring runs entirely in your browser with no sign-up and no limit. The AI rewrite button is also free, with a small per-visitor limit to keep it that way.

How is this different from the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer?

Both look at word balance, length and headline type. HeadlineForge also measures the pixel width Google actually uses to truncate titles, checks keyword placement, explains every factor in plain words, and can rewrite the headline for you with AI. It needs no email or account.

What are power words and emotional words?

Power words trigger a motive such as urgency (now, last chance), curiosity (secret, surprising), trust (proven, tested) or ease (simple, in minutes). Emotional words are the subset that create a feeling like fear, joy or surprise. One or two in a headline lift attention; stacking five reads as spam.

Can I compare two headlines?

Yes. The "Compare headline versions" section on this page scores up to three versions side by side and marks the strongest, factor by factor.

What is a reading grade?

It is the Flesch–Kincaid grade level of the headline, an estimate of the US school grade needed to read it easily, based on words and syllables. For a headline, lower is usually better: most strong headlines read at grade 8 or below.

Does a high score help SEO?

Indirectly. Google ranks on relevance, not headline formulas, but a title that includes the searcher's words near the front, shows in full, and promises a specific benefit tends to earn more clicks, and a better click-through rate means more traffic from the rankings you already have.

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