Free tool Headline analyzer for truncation, keywords and wording
Paste a few candidate headlines, one per line. See exactly where each one gets cut off in Google or Baidu results, whether your keyword survives the cut, and whether it repeats words, shouts in caps or leans on clickbait. There is no "headline score" here, because no reliable evidence ties such a score to click-through rate. Each check states its rule and source instead.
- Pixel-width truncation
- Side-by-side comparison
- Runs locally
Analyze headlines
One headline per line, up to 10. Add your main keyword and pick a search engine. Results update as you type.
Blog titles, page titles, newsletter headlines or search ad headlines.
The phrase you want the page found for. Whole words, not case-sensitive.
Truncation widths for Google and Baidu are working estimates; see "How each check works" below.
Each headline
Struck-through text is what gets cut off. "Passed" only counts checks with a clear rule; the style tags are not scored.
Headline 1
7 / 7 checks passedWhat Is Bounce Rate? How to Calculate It and 5 Ways to Lower It
- PassedAbout 584 px wide, within roughly 600 px, so it should show in full.
- Passed"bounce rate" starts at word 3, inside the visible part.
- PassedNo repeated words.
- PassedCapitalization looks normal.
- PassedNo repeated exclamation or question marks.
- PassedNo exaggerated or teasing wording found.
- PassedNo absolute terms that China's Advertising Law clearly bans.
Headline 2
7 / 7 checks passedBounce Rate
- PassedAbout 116 px wide, within roughly 600 px, so it should show in full.
- NoteOnly 2 words. Google asks for titles that describe the page and avoid vague labels; very short headlines rarely say what the page is about.
- Passed"bounce rate" starts at word 1, inside the visible part.
- PassedNo repeated words.
- PassedCapitalization looks normal.
- PassedNo repeated exclamation or question marks.
- PassedNo exaggerated or teasing wording found.
- PassedNo absolute terms that China's Advertising Law clearly bans.
Headline 3
5 / 7 checks passedThe Complete 2026 Guide to Bounce Rate: Definition, Formula,…Industry Benchmarks and 12 Practical Ways to Reduce Your Bounce Rate
- CheckAbout 1226 px wide, over roughly 600 px. It gets cut after "…on, Formula,".
- Passed"bounce rate" starts at word 6, inside the visible part.
- Check"bounce rate" appears 2 times. Google notes there is no reason for the same words to appear multiple times in a title.
- PassedCapitalization looks normal.
- PassedNo repeated exclamation or question marks.
- PassedNo exaggerated or teasing wording found.
- PassedNo absolute terms that China's Advertising Law clearly bans.
Side by side
| # | Headline | Length | Width | Display | Keyword | Passed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What Is Bounce Rate? How to Calculate It and 5 Ways to Lower It | 63 characters · 14 words | 584 px | Full | Word 3 | 7 / 7 |
| 2 | Bounce Rate | 11 characters · 2 words | 116 px | Full | Word 1 | 7 / 7 |
| 3 | The Complete 2026 Guide to Bounce Rate: Definition, Formula, Industry Benchmarks and 12 Practical Ways to Reduce Your Bounce Rate | 129 characters · 20 words | 1226 px | Cut off | Word 6 | 5 / 7 |
Version v1.0Updated Update history
Three things to look at per headline
The analyzer only checks what has a rule behind it: does it display in full, is the keyword there, and does it use wording platforms explicitly discourage. Style tags are listed, not judged.
Where it gets cut
Search results truncate by display width, not character count: "W" is wider than "i", and Chinese characters are wider still. The struck-through part on each card is what disappears. Truncation is fine as long as the visible part already says what the page is about.
Keyword position
Two questions only: is the keyword in the headline, and does it appear before the cut? A keyword near the start lets searchers confirm they are in the right place at a glance. That is about display, not a ranking rule.
Checks passed
"Passed" counts only checks with a clear source: truncation, keyword, repetition, capitalization, repeated punctuation, clickbait wording and China's absolute-term rules. They are not weighted into a score, because there is no data on which matters more.
Style tags
Number, question, how-to, urgency, curiosity, negative and benefit tags simply describe the headline so you can compare candidates. Which style earns more clicks with your readers is something your own data has to show.
Truncation widths are the working estimates SEO tools use: Google publishes no character limit and says title links are truncated to fit the device width; Baidu's webmaster academy says titles keep the first 60 bytes. Fonts, devices and title rewrites all affect the real display. To see the full result snippet, use the SERP preview.
Pick a headline in three steps
Useful for blog posts, page titles, newsletters and search ads.
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1
Write a few candidates
Draft 3–5 headlines for the same content from different angles and paste them one per line.
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2
Add the keyword and engine
Pick the search engine most of your traffic comes from. For Google search ads, choose the ad headline option to check the 30-character limit.
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3
Read the cut-offs and checks
Drop headlines that lose the keyword to truncation, repeat words or exaggerate, then choose among the rest for your readers.
Rules and sources behind every check
Only rules with a clear source count towards "passed"; style preferences without one are tags (sources checked 2026-11-10).
- Width: Arial glyph widths at build time, or measured with canvas in your browser; Chinese characters count as one em. Truncation thresholds match the SERP preview tool: Google desktop about 600 px, mobile about 680 px, Baidu about 30 Chinese characters
- Baidu bytes: full-width characters count as 2 bytes, others as 1; Baidu's webmaster academy article on writing titles says titles keep the first 60 bytes
- Google search ads: 30 characters per headline, with each double-width character (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) counting as 2 (Google Ads Help)
- Repetition: content words of 3+ letters, or two-character Chinese chunks, appearing twice or more. Basis: Google's title link guidance on keyword stuffing
- All caps: the SpamAssassin test (more than one word, at least 10 letters, all uppercase), or two or more all-caps words of 4+ letters
- Clickbait: Google Discover content policies (no misleading or exaggerated details, no withholding crucial information) and WeChat's February 2024 notice on exaggerated headlines, which names phrases such as 震惊 ("shocking") and 紧急通知 ("urgent notice")
| Check | Passes when | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Truncation | Width fits the chosen engine's display | Google title link docs; SEO tool estimates |
| Baidu 60 bytes | 60 bytes or fewer | Baidu webmaster academy |
| Ad headline 30 characters | 30 or fewer, double-width counted as 2 | Google Ads Help |
| Keyword | Present and before the cut | Display width (as above) |
| Repetition | No word appears twice | Google title link docs |
| Caps and punctuation | Not all caps, no "!!" or "?!" | Google Ads editorial policy |
| Clickbait | No phrases from the clickbait list | Google Discover policy; WeChat notice |
| China absolute terms | No clear violations | Advertising Law Art. 9(3) |
Three candidate headlines compared
The default headlines are all about bounce rate, with "bounce rate" as the keyword, measured for Google desktop.
| Headline | Width | Result |
|---|---|---|
| What Is Bounce Rate? How to Calculate It and 5 Ways to Lower It | about 584 px | Shows in full; keyword at word 3; number and question; 7 / 7 checks passed |
| Bounce Rate | about 116 px | Shows in full but vague: searchers cannot tell if it is a definition, a calculator or benchmarks |
| The Complete 2026 Guide to Bounce Rate: Definition, Formula, Industry Benchmarks and 12 Practical Ways… | about 1,226 px | Cut after "Definition, Formula,"; "bounce rate" appears twice; 5 / 7 checks passed |
The first headline covers what people searching the term usually want: the definition, how to calculate it, and how to lower it. See the bounce rate glossary entry for the metric itself.
Four habits that weaken headlines
Most come from trying to look better at the cost of being clear.
Counting characters
"Under 60 characters" is an approximation. Capitals, digits and wide letters take more room than narrow ones; width is what decides truncation.
Saying the keyword twice
"Bounce Rate: What Is Bounce Rate?" reads worse than saying it once, and Google says there is no reason to repeat the same words in a title.
Buying clicks with hype
"Shocking" or "you won't believe" can win one click, then the reader leaves when the page does not deliver. Google Discover and WeChat both list such headlines as ones to avoid.
Chasing a headline score
Scoring tools use their own word lists and weights, the scores do not agree, and no public study links them to click-through rate. Compare real clicks instead.
Judge a headline by real clicks
The analyzer tells you whether a headline fits. Which one people actually click is only answered by data after it is live.
Search performance
Connect Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster to see clicks, impressions and average position by page and query, next to your analytics. Compare a page before and after a title change.
Learn morePage reports
Visitors, views, time on page and bounce rate per page: did the content hold the people the headline brought in?
Learn moreContent decay alerts
Get told when a page's search traffic starts to slide, so you know which titles to revisit first.
Learn moreHeadline analyzer FAQ
Still have a question?
Chat with the team behind TapCub — we usually reply within a few hours on business days.
How long should a headline be?
There is no fixed number. Google sets no character limit and says title links are truncated to fit the device width; the common working estimate is about 600 pixels on desktop, often 50–60 characters. Put the most important words first so a cut-off does not hide the meaning.
How does this headline analyzer score headlines?
It does not produce an overall score. It counts how many checks with a clear source the headline passes and explains each one. Weighting them into a single number would require knowing which affects clicks most, and no reliable public data shows that.
Why is there no emotional or power-word score?
Those scores come from each tool's own word list and weights, different tools disagree, and no public study shows that a higher score earns more clicks. This tool tags styles such as numbers, questions, urgency and curiosity so you can compare candidates, without claiming one is better.
Do numbers and questions increase click-through rate?
Not in a way that holds for every site. Audience, industry and search intent all change the answer. Test it on your own pages: change a title and compare click-through rate before and after in your search data, or size a proper test with the A/B test sample size calculator.
Should the keyword be at the start?
It should at least appear before the cut-off, or searchers will not see it. Earlier is easier to spot, which is a display fact; search engines have not published a rule that earlier keywords rank higher.
Will Google rewrite my title?
It can. Google says title links mostly come from the title element but may also draw on the main visible heading, other headings or anchor text, especially when a title is too long, stuffed with keywords or does not match the page. An accurate, concise title is the best way to keep yours.
Can I use it for email or social headlines?
Yes for the repetition, caps, punctuation and clickbait checks. The width check is based on search results; for email subject lines use the subject line tester, which models inbox layouts instead.
Are my headlines uploaded?
No. Analysis runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored, added to the URL or sent to TapCub.
Update history
New features, fixes and data refreshes for this tool, newest first.
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· v1.0
LaunchedFirst release.
Missing something or found an error? Tell us — requests that come up often go into the next update. All tool updates
Preview the title with its description
Once the headline is settled, see how the title, description and URL look together in search results.