Headline analyzer
What is headline skimmability?
Skimmability is a binary headline check: the primary topic — target keyword or first recognised entity — must fall in the first or last 3 tokens of the title. 1 well-placed topic word passes the check; a topic buried in the middle fails.
Seeklyn shows the skimmability result in the headline dimension panel on every analysis at /dashboard/headline.
What does skimmability mean for a headline?
Skimmability measures whether a headline's main topic appears at the first or last 3 words. Readers scanning a results page fixate on the edges. Placing the subject at either end lets a reader confirm relevance in under a second, lifting click-through rate and helping an answer engine anchor on the right entity.
Seeklyn detects the topic in priority order: target keyword first, then first proper noun, then first content noun, then first non-common alphabetic token. If that token starts at position 0–2 or ends at position (n−3) or later — where n is the total token count — the check passes.
How does Seeklyn calculate skimmability?
3 positions on each end define the skimmable zone. The check passes when the topic starts at index 0, 1, or 2 or ends at index n−3, n−2, or n−1. "ChatGPT Prompt Guide for Beginners" passes because ChatGPT is at position 0; "A Beginner's Guide to ChatGPT" also passes because ChatGPT ends at the last token.
When no target keyword is supplied, Seeklyn falls back to part-of-speech tagging: a proper noun is preferred, then any common noun, then any non-common alphabetic token. A headline of only function words gets a not-found result and fails.
Why does topic position matter for AI answer engines?
Answer engines use the title as a retrieval signal. A title that surfaces the entity early gives the retrieval model a clear anchor. Google's title-display guidance and eye-tracking studies show the first 2–3 words receive the most fixation. Leading or trailing the entity satisfies human scanners and retrieval models with 1 structural move.
Frequently asked questions
Does the skimmability check penalise a score?
Skimmability is reported as a pass/fail dimension inside the headline panel. It contributes to the overall headline analysis, but its primary role is diagnostic — it tells you where your topic sits so you can move it if needed.
What counts as the "topic" for skimmability?
Seeklyn resolves the topic in priority order: (1) the target keyword you typed, (2) the first proper noun detected by part-of-speech tagging, (3) the first common noun, (4) the first non-common alphabetic token. Only one word is needed — a single proper noun at position 0 is enough to pass.
A 3-word headline should always pass — is that correct?
Yes. In a headline of 3 or fewer tokens, every word is simultaneously in the first 3 and the last 3, so any identifiable topic passes automatically. Very short headlines face other trade-offs (word-count score, character-count score), but skimmability is satisfied by default.