LanguageCold email checker
Paste a cold email and check length, reading level, spam words, links, questions and the ask.
Check your cold email
Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored. No score, just the rules and where they come from.
Copies the checks and fixes, not your email. Checks update as you edit.
Your checks show here
Each check says Looks fine or Worth a look, with what we found, the rule, where the rule comes from and one fix.
- Word count
- Reading level
- Spam words
- Links
- Booking link
- Images and attachments
- Personalisation tokens
- Questions
- The ask
- Subject length
- Fake reply
A cold email that gets replies is short, easy to read, asks one clear question and carries no link.
The checker looks at:
- Length: 50 to 125 words (Boomerang).
- Reading level: under Flesch-Kincaid grade 7, our house threshold (Boomerang, formula).
- Spam words: phrases from HubSpot’s list, ALL CAPS, !! and $$.
- Links, booking links, images and attachments: none in a first email (Ignura house rule).
- Questions: 1 to 3 (Boomerang).
- The ask: a call, asked for in plain words at the end (Ignura house rule).
- Subject: 3 or 4 plain words, flagged over 6, and no fake Re: (Boomerang).
- Personalisation tokens: one style, none left unfilled (Ignura house rule).
The figures, from Boomerang’s study of over 40 million emails: emails of 50 to 125 words all had response rates above 50%; a 3rd grade reading level got 36% more responses than college level and 17% more than high school level; subjects of 3 to 4 words got the most responses; and asking 1 to 3 questions made a response 50% more likely than asking none. Boomerang’s data covers all email, not only cold email.
These checks look at the words. Whether an email lands in the inbox also depends on your sending setup, which the deliverability checklist covers.
Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored.
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How it works
Each check is a plain rule, run on the page. You get one of two states, Looks fine or Worth a look, with what we found, the rule, where the rule comes from and one fix. There is no total score, because none of the sources back one.
Before counting, the checker strips quoted thread lines and anything after an “On … wrote:” line, and leaves out what looks like your signature. You can put the signature back with one tap.
| Check | Worth a look when | Rule source |
|---|---|---|
| Word count | Over 125 or under 50 words | Boomerang |
| Reading level | Flesch-Kincaid grade 7 or higher (our house threshold) | Boomerang, plus a house threshold |
| Spam words | Any phrase from the list, an ALL CAPS word, !! or $$ | HubSpot’s list |
| Links | Any link in a first email | Ignura house rule |
| Booking link | Any cal.com, Calendly, HubSpot meetings or Google Calendar booking link | Ignura house rule |
| Images and attachments | Any image, or the words “attached” or “attachment” | Ignura house rule |
| Personalisation tokens | Mixed token styles, or a token that looks unfilled | Ignura house rule |
| Questions | No questions, or more than 3 | Boomerang |
| The ask | No ask in the last three sentences | Ignura house rule |
| Subject length | Over 6 words, empty or ALL CAPS (first emails only) | Boomerang |
| Fake reply | A first email whose subject starts with Re: or Fwd: | Ignura house rule |
Reading level formula
Flesch-Kincaid grade = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59 (source). Syllables are counted with a simple vowel rule, so treat the grade as close, not exact. Merge tokens are left out of the maths, and emails under 10 words or mostly not in English skip this check.
Cold email spam checker: the spam words check
The checker matches 81 phrases picked from HubSpot’s list of email spam trigger words, whole phrase and any case, plus ALL CAPS words, !! and $$. Each match is shown so you can swap it for a plain word.
Spam words alone don’t decide where an email lands. Your sending domain, authentication and list matter more, and the cold email deliverability checklist covers them.
How long should a cold email be?
Between 50 and 125 words is a good guide. In Boomerang’s study, emails in that range all had response rates above 50%. Say who you are, why them, and ask one clear question. If it needs scrolling on a phone, cut it.
The figures behind the checks
| Source | Sample | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Boomerang, “7 tips for getting more responses to your emails (with data!)”, Feb 2016 | Over 40 million emails sent by Boomerang users (all email, not only cold email) | Emails of 50 to 125 words all had response rates above 50%. |
| Boomerang, “7 tips for getting more responses to your emails (with data!)”, Feb 2016 | Over 40 million emails sent by Boomerang users (all email, not only cold email) | Emails at a 3rd grade reading level had a 36% lift in responses over college level, and 17% over high school level. |
| Boomerang, “7 tips for getting more responses to your emails (with data!)”, Feb 2016 | Over 40 million emails sent by Boomerang users (all email, not only cold email) | Subject lines of 3 to 4 words got the most responses. |
| Boomerang, “7 tips for getting more responses to your emails (with data!)”, Feb 2016 | Over 40 million emails sent by Boomerang users (all email, not only cold email) | Emails asking 1 to 3 questions were 50% more likely to get a response than emails asking none. |
Questions
How long should a cold email be?
In Boomerang’s study of over 40 million emails, emails of 50 to 125 words all had response rates above 50%. That data covers all email, so treat it as a guide. Short enough to read on a phone is a good test.
Should cold emails be short or long?
Short. Boomerang’s 50 to 125 word range is a good guide: say who you are, why them, and one ask. If it needs scrolling on a phone, cut it.
Should a cold email include a link?
We’d leave it out of the first email. Ask your question in words, and send the link once they reply.
Do spam words really send my email to spam?
They’re one signal among many. Your sending setup matters more, which the deliverability checklist covers. The checker flags words from HubSpot’s list so you can swap them for plain ones.
Is my email stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored, and the checker never sends email.
What should a cold email ask for?
One clear thing. We ask for a call in plain words, like “Worth a 15-minute call next week?”
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