Crafting compelling headlines that capture attention and inspire action is both an art and a science. As a blogger or content marketer, you likely spend significant time writing posts that provide value to your audience. However, even the most insightful content will fall flat without an intriguing, click-worthy headline.
Fortunately, there are some excellent headline tools available to spark ideas and analyze the strength of your titles. When creative block strikes or you simply need a nudge in the right direction, these headline generators and analyzers can give your content the extra edge it needs to convert readers.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the top 5 headline tools to help take your titles to the next level in 2023.
Why Headlines Matter
Let‘s first highlight why headlines carry so much weight when it comes to content marketing success:
- Headlines make first impressions – Readers decide whether to click on an article based largely on the headline.
- Headlines boost social sharing – Intriguing, emotional headlines tend to get shared more on social media.
- Headlines impact rankings – Relevant, compelling titles can improve click-through-rates, helping pages rank higher.
- Headlines represent your brand – Well-crafted headlines reflect the quality and voice of your content.
In essence, headlines have an outsized influence on content performance. The extra time invested into sharpening your headlines pays dividends across critical marketing metrics.
Now let‘s explore some stellar headline tools to add to your content creation toolkit.
1. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
The CoSchedule Headline Analyzer is a free tool that allows you to copy and paste any headline to receive an in-depth analysis. Specifically, it looks at:
- Headline Type: What type of headline is it (list, how-to, question, etc)? Certain headline types naturally garner more clicks.
- Character Count: Analyzes headline length, with 55 characters earning the highest click-through rates.
- Word Count: Identifies the number of words, with 6-word headlines receiving maximum engagement.
- Prominent Words: Calls out words that stand out when skimming the title.
- Sentiment Analysis: Detects whether the headline exudes positive, neutral or negative sentiment.
- Suggested Keywords: Recommends potential high-value keywords to include based on the headline content.
The tool then assigns an overall grade from A+ to F based on these factors. This allows you to pinpoint exactly where headlines excel or have room for refinement.
For instance, let‘s analyze the headline "5 Easy Steps to Start a Blog That Drives Traffic and Revenue":
We can see that this is an excellent list headline that strikes the right tone and length. The promiment words like "Easy Steps" and "Drives Traffic and Revenue" are clear reader benefits.
But to make it even stronger, the Headline Analyzer suggests incorporating the keyword "Blogging" which is certainly relevant.
The ability to dissect headlines and compare versions is invaluable when determining the highest performing option.
Key Features
- In-depth headline analysis
- Side-by-side headline comparisons
- Completely free to use
- Easy to copy and paste headlines to test
- Suggestions to optimize headlines
2. Impact Blog Headline Generator
Sometimes, staring at a blank page struggling to come up with headline ideas can sap creativity. Enter blog headline generators that can present fresh, unique headlines with just the click of a button.
The Impact Blog Headline Generator offers an intuitive dashboard to help spark headline ideas and even beat writer‘s block.
Simply enter a relevant keyword related to your blog post topic. You‘ll then be presented with a constantly-updating stream of catchy headline suggestions. When you see one you like, click the heart icon to save it for later review.
The tool pulls headlines from a variety of categories including:
- Numbered lists
- Questions
- Quick tips
- ‘Reasons why‘ constructions
- Benefit-focused
- Problem/solution oriented
This variety allows you to see your content from different angles and determine which headline type best fits your blogging objectives.
For example, when I searched for "content marketing", here are some generated headlines that caught my eye:
The combination of benefit-driven and intriguing questions stand out as compelling options.
To fully defeat writer‘s burnout, the Impact Blog Title Generator also includes a virtual "doodle board" for some fun mindless creating when you need a break.
Key Features
- Huge variety of dynamic headline styles
- Easily save favorites for later
- Doodle board for sparking creativity
- Completely free to use
3. HubSpot Blog Topic Generator
In addition to sharpening headlines, many content marketers struggle with developing captivating blog post ideas in general. This is where HubSpot‘s stellar Blog Topic Generator comes into play.
Rather than focusing solely on headlines, HubSpot allows you to enter broad keywords to inspire entirely new blog topics to cover.
For example, you may choose to brainstorm ideas related to "small business", "marketing", or "health and wellness". The tool will instantly offer a big picture overview of potential topics to guide your content roadmap.
You can filter suggestions based on different categories like:
- List posts
- How-to tutorials
- Industry analysis
- Product updates
- Case studies
- Success stories
The tool even recommends specific blog post types like comparison articles, reviews, interviews, and podcast topics tailored around your keyword.
So if you feel completely blocked in developing new ideas, the Blog Topic Generator provides that spark you need to discover your next breakthrough article. Those high-level topics then inform the laser-focused headlines you‘ll create.
It essentially works backwards from the headline crafting process to alleviate writer‘s block at the initial creative phase.
Key Features
- Brainstorms wider content ideas
- Various categories and post types
- Easily filter suggested topics
- Completely free to use
4. Portent‘s Content Idea Generator
Portent offers a robust online Content Idea Generator tool, providing another excellent option to uncover "big picture" blog topics to tackle.
Simply enter 1-3 seed keywords related to your niche to reveal 10 new blog post ideas built around your core focus.
For example, when inputting "content marketing", here are some thought-provoking ideas provided:
You can then refine and customize the suggestions or use them as jumping off points to inspire your own ideas.
Once you‘ve identified enticing topics, Portent then allows you to seamlessly transition into headline creation.
Clicking on any content suggestion brings you to detailed inputs around crafting the perfect headline for that blog post. Features include:
- Snippet preview of the post with your headline
- Relevant focus keyword identification
- Adjustment of headline type and style
- Tonal variation from urgent to fun to shocking headlines
- Auto-generated headline ideas
- Expert tips on headline formulations
This end-to-end concept allows you to leverage Portent‘s idea generation to nail down winning topics and headlines in tandem.
Key Features
- 10 fresh blog ideas from seed keywords
- Customize and filter suggested topics
- Built-in headline crafting framework
- Various headline types and tones
- Free 14-day trial (then paid)
5. Coschedule Headline Suggestions
While the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer focuses on evaluating existing headlines, its Headline Suggestions capability generates completely new titles.
To access the suggestions, visit Coschedule‘s free Blog Post Idea Generator. Enter in 1-3 keywords related to your target article topic.
You‘ll immediately see recommended titles along with other ideas like:
- Focus keywords
- Related keywords
- Featured image ideas
- Content section recommendations
For example, when brainstorming around "working from home", Coschedule provided these excellent headline suggestions:
The combination of declarative and question-based headlines prompt readers to instantly recognize the value being offered.
You can then use the full suite of idea generation tools to develop the rest of your blog post around these high performing titles.
Key Features
- Dynamic headline suggestions
- Additional content prompts
- Free to use
- Easy keyword entry
Put These Headline Tools to Work
It takes immense creativity, insight and research to develop truly great content. Yet all that effort will get lost without an equally exceptional headline to capture interest.
Leveraging tools specifically designed around generating and optimizing headlines saves content creators time while providing value to their audiences.
The very best experimental tools combine ideation capabilities to beat writer‘s block while offering the analytical components needed to engineer high-converting headlines. Coschedule, CoSchedule, HubSpot, Portent and Impact all deliver fantastic blended solutions.
At the end of the day, compelling content supported by strategic headlines acts as a catalyst for business growth. Master these fundamental elements with help from the headline and idea-generation powerhouses highlighted above.
Now it‘s time to put this guide into practice as you build content that educates, entertains and empowers through the use of magnetic headlines.
