Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 8, 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

It happens even to the best of writers. You write a compelling post and expect it to go viral. After all, you wrote and researched every word with your heart. But days soon turn into weeks. For some reason, no one wants to even give your content a chance. Why is that?

It could be your headline.

Browse through popular online publications like BuzzFeed, Upworthy, or The Huffington Post and you’ll see long yet emotionally-powerful titles. You know most of it is fluff – yet you can’t help but click it. It’s no mystery that a good headline can mean the difference between being read and getting your work lost in the deep Web. But with several selections out there, which one should you trust?

Headline Analyzer Tools: An Introduction

Maybe you like writing titles last; just to make sure you get it right. But after crossing out words for the nth time, you wonder if there’s a better way to craft headlines that really work. Here’s where headline analysis tools come in. There are several variations out there: from tools that measure emotional content to advanced services that calculate effectiveness based on word usage.

But there are two services that stand out from the rest:

• headline analyzer tool by Advanced Marketing Institute; and
• the headline analyzer by CoSchedule

Both are FREE and very easy to use. Let’s take a look at each.

AMI’s tool is an Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer, which determines the EMV or emotional marketing value of your title. Why is this important? We all understand how emotions play a crucial role in the choices we make. But it’s more evident every time we pick a piece of content to engage in.

According to Copyblogger, using emotional benefits above logical ones will increase your chances of being read. Thus, headlines like “Laughing Fox Sounds Like He’s Having Way More Fun Than You” do a LOT better than “8 Ways to a Better Headline That Sells”. That’s because they focus on emotions than practicality – and people just can’t help but click to find out more.

So how does AMI’s tool work? The Headline Analyzer operates using special software that measures EMV through the use of words with more emotional impact. All you need to do is put in your proposed headline, pick the industry it belongs to, and then click on the submit button.

You will then receive an analysis of which predominant emotion your title is likely to evoke.

For this article’s headline, the tool reported that it gears more towards the intellectual and spiritual aspect. This means our copy would be a good fit for people in the business, education, and related markets.

The CoSchedule headline analyzer on the other hand, offers more insight. Simply type in your headline, wait for a few seconds, and it will show you in-depth results based on your choice of words. First, it will show the Headline Score followed by a word balance analysis. Remember: you want more emotional and power words to grab readers’ attentions.

Next you will see your Headline type (Generic, Question, How To, List, etc.) followed by length analysis.

Why does this matter? Longer headlines tend to get cut in search engine results (SERP) and email subject lines; so there’s a chance that people won’t click on something they can’t read all the way through. Lastly, CoSchedule will show keywords along with possible user sentiment towards your headline.

Their Headline Analyzer also displays tips and suggestions, in case you need more reading material for picking the right blog post titles.

How Precise Is a Headline Analyzer Tool?

Let’s see how well these free headline analyzers are with a quick test. For this short experiment, we pulled up another online tool to help us: BuzzSumo. It will gather the best content from the Web, so we can evaluate their headlines. Using the keyword ‘content marketing’ and last month’s most popular content, we picked five random headlines (within the top 10), then put them in the tools for review.

**NOTE: Headlines were picked based on context. Articles about gadget reviews and/or those containing infographics were not included. Each title is from a different online publisher.

Here are the results of the test conducted on the headline analyzer by CoSchedule:

The highest score was 70, with a Question Type of headline. The same title scored an EMV of 60 percent with a focus on the Empathetic emotional impact on the headline analyzer tool by Advanced Marketing Institute.

Meanwhile, the lowest performing title that scored a 48 on CoSchedule received an EMV of 33.33 percent on the other tool, with a focus on the Spiritual emotional impact.

So what does this mean?

As both headline analyzers examine how words are used in context, the results show how important emotions are in crafting the best possible title for any content. However, factors such as your target audience, your industry, and your content type also play a role in writing the perfect title.

Is There Such a Thing as a “Perfect” Headline?

In general, there are three factors that influence a title’s effectiveness:

• Type of Headline. There are all kinds of headlines, but from our short study, the best ones to use are: Lists (4 Essentials to Wring Results From Your Content Marketing Budget), How To’s (How to Create a Content Management Process With Trello), and Questions (Want To Be Successful With Content Marketing? Teach, Don’t Sell).

• Choice of Words. Certain words encourage people to take action – others, not so much. It is said that the best copywriters in the business take DAYS to craft a one-liner. That makes sense; considering that each word should count. Based on our little experiment, users love verbs and adjectives in their headlines.

• Length. Nothing kills interest faster than length. Make your headline long enough to be precise, yet short enough to look good on search results. The best headlines are between 35 to 60 characters (spaces included) long.

Digital marketing expert Neil Patel has a cool formula anybody can use to craft great headlines.

The formula is NOT absolute! Remember to play around with your titles until you find the right one that suits your audience as well as your objectives. The most important thing: deliver on your promise. Avoid creating a great headline that boasts of something that’s not found in your content. Be truthful!

Conclusion

Remember that there is NO single trick to perfecting headlines.

Know how to listen to what the market wants – and deliver that. Headlines are much more than catchy titles. Observe your competitors’ content and you can gain an insight into the kind of strategy they are using. Headline Analyzers are awesome: they could help us break down our titles and improve them for better blog traffic, but remember that the final decision still rests with you.

If your headline feels wrong, change it – no matter what your online tool says. Don’t forget: it only takes less than 3 seconds to make a good first impression. So a strong headline could mean the difference between getting online traffic, or losing it.

How about you, are you currently using headline analysis tools? Which one is your favorite?

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