"Ever thought it was not you but your diet that failed?" OR "Have

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

As the title describes it’s about the necessity of using “have you” before “thought it was not you”. The full story it’s like that:

I am writing an article about weight loss and dieting in general and I was willing to title it “Ever thought it was not you but your diet that failed?” then a friend of mine suggested that the correct version of my title should be “Have you ever thought it was not you but your diet that failed?”.

He also added that it would be really difficult for my readers to understand the meaning of my title without the “Have you” and only poor english writers (and not talking here about their financial situation:D) would say “Ever thought it was not you but your diet that failed?”.

Now I might add a few more things regarding this matter.
My article/title/text in question would be read by web users located mainly in US so it should somehow follow US english rules.
I am exposing my article to people with very low to very high education - basically people who have weight related issues.

2

Your title is fine. It’s conversational and very typical of headline writing. I prefer it as a title. In fact, the only change I would suggest is “wasn’t.” The use of “ever” and the past participle “thought” immediately convey the present perfect.