Starting from transient social posts to deep-dive digital guides, I’ve written 1000’s of items of content material for SaaS corporations, small companies, authorities places of work, main nonprofits, and my very own web sites.
These items of content material had been tracked and analyzed to gauge their success, however all utilizing distinctive measuring sticks. How? Utilizing a tailor-made content material scoring course of.
With your personal tailor-made content material scorecard, you may create a data-driven course of for measuring your particular person content material advertising success. I’ve gathered examples from my very own web sites and types throughout industries, plus suggestions that will help you create a strong content material scoring system.
I actually have a metric that one entrepreneur says can affect conversions by 50% — measured utilizing a free device. Excited? Let’s get scoring!
Desk of Contents
What’s content material scoring?
Content material scoring is the method of measuring the success of your content material advertising. Metrics corresponding to views, engagement, shares, and backlinks are tracked to investigate content material high quality and efficiency.
The ensuing scorecard helps steer future content material creation.
Why is content material scoring essential?
Let’s zoom in on the three massive advantages of content material scoring, beginning with the time period each marketer likes to hate: single supply of fact.
Content material scoring helps create a single supply of fact.
93% of entrepreneurs with a single supply of fact for information report that it is helpful for his or her group, however solely 65% of entrepreneurs even have one.
Lack of communication and alignment between departments is a prime concern of entrepreneurs, per our 2024 State of Advertising survey. A scoring system unifies groups and services higher communication, whereas additionally performing as a roadmap for populating your editorial calendar.
Professional tip: Each your gross sales and advertising groups have to be concerned within the creation of the scoring system to maximise its potential.
Content material scoring helps you leverage experience.
I‘m not an knowledgeable in social listening and TikTok content material efficiency.
Guess what? I exploit Later to assist me with that, which implies I don’t have to be. The instruments you utilize to attain your content material will leverage unbelievable quantities of experience and put data-driven insights at your fingertips.
Whereas you need to use generic instruments corresponding to ChatGPT (and I am going to share a immediate in a minute), an enormous good thing about the content material scoring course of is selecting specialised instruments that deepen your understanding of your content material.
Content material scoring helps you show ROI.
Return on funding is at all times a precedence for advertising groups and organizations as a complete. However then, why does a lot information fall by means of the cracks?
The numbers matter: Over half of selling selections are influenced by advertising analytics.
But information’s falling by means of the cracks. 87% of entrepreneurs reported that information was their firm’s most underutilized asset.
Given that fifty% of entrepreneurs plan on growing their content material advertising funding in 2025, advertising groups must quantify content material’s efficiency and show ROI with as a lot element as potential.
The best way to Rating Content material
Let‘s stroll by means of the steps to attain your content material. After explaining every step, I’m going to point out you the way this appears to be like utilizing the instance of a weblog put up from my web site, Stroll The Camino Portugués.
There‘s no one-size-fits-all answer relating to content material scoring. It’s essential so that you can discover a system that works, and you may — anticipate it — truly use it (fortunately, I hope). Use this as your start line.
Step 1: Select which content material you may rating.
Not all content material may be scored the identical means. Social media content material is completely different from e-mail, which has completely different metrics from web site content material. Begin this course of by selecting which content material you are going to be scoring. Choices embody:
Social media posts.
Electronic mail advertising.
Touchdown pages.
Product pages.
Weblog posts.
Movies.
For instance, I‘m going to be analyzing weblog content material for my journey web site. Let’s take a look at which metrics belong on the scorecard.
Step 2: Select your metrics.
It’s best to contemplate key metrics associated to content material high quality AND content material efficiency. There are numerous numbers which you can select from, and so they do not all have to be included on each scorecard (your advertising staff gives you an ear full should you strive).
Select what issues most to your audience and your enterprise aims. Listed here are some options — discover that these embody each optimistic and unfavorable metrics (extra on this in a minute).
Video proportion watched.
Reader satisfaction.
Impressions/views.
Optimization rating.
Follows/unfollows.
Video view price.
Time on web page.
Conversions.
Bounce price.
Scroll depth.
Readability.
Feedback.
Backlinks.
Exit price.
Shares.
Clicks.
Saves.
What I am measuring: The metrics that matter most to me with my new journey web site are search engine optimisation rating, web site visitors, readability, and Pinterest saves. Provided that it is a new web site, I‘ll monitor search engine optimisation rating and readability upfront and I’ll measure visitors and saves over a interval of six months.
Step 3: Select instruments to attain content material.
The numbers you‘ll get from instruments aren’t all the identical. Some instruments will rating content material by assigning an goal quantity, whereas others will collect analytical information.
For instance, SurferSEO may assign a weblog put up an optimization rating of 72. This quantity displays how my content material carried out towards platform or trade benchmarks. An engagement device, however, might share that content material’s engagement price is up 5%.
The 72 and 5%, whereas each essential, aren‘t immediately comparable. It’s like evaluating apples and oranges — preserve this in thoughts as you parse your information.
Think about these instruments to attain your content material:
It‘s value noting that some insights gained’t be discoverable utilizing a content material scoring methodology. Some extraordinarily invaluable insights can solely be gathered by means of handbook evaluate of top-performing content material and in search of developments. That is ideally carried out over a interval with vital information, corresponding to a year-end evaluate.
My scorecard: I will be utilizing GA4, SurferSEO, the Hemingway App, and SharedCount to create my content material scoring mannequin.
Step 4: Create a scorecard.
When you‘ve established your scoring standards, it is advisable to retailer your whole scored content material in a single place for straightforward evaluate. This may be carried out in a spreadsheet, Notion, inside a device’s analytics interface — I share choices for this beneath.
For many who’d wish to create their very own scorecard for his or her distinctive scoring system, you may enter information right into a easy desk.
Observe: The numbers you‘ve collected all have completely different values. For instance, a weblog put up’s search engine optimisation rating of 78 is not immediately akin to getting 245 social shares.
Some entrepreneurs will resolve this by rating all of their information factors on a scale of 10, then including these up on the finish. I‘ll present you a screenshot of the sort of desk created with ChatGPT in a minute.
Personally, I’m selecting to simply checklist the unique numbers and consider them individually, as I believe it dilutes the information an excessive amount of to transform every part to a 1-10 scale.
I’ve carried out this beneath with my web site information:
*This can be a new web site, and there isn’t any information for these factors but, so these values are used as fillers.
Step 5: Use to tell content material technique.
Use the insights out of your content material scoring technique that will help you create high-quality content material. When you’ve got greater than 12 months of information, you may take a look at seasonal developments and use these insights to information the creation of your advertising calendar for the 12 months (free template right here).
As a content material supervisor for companies, these insights information 80% of my content material creation for the 12 months.
my very own scorecard, I do know that I want to enhance the readability of all of my items (see extra on this in finest practices). The info on rankings and visitors will prioritize which items have to be up to date first.
Content material Scoring Finest Practices
Let us take a look at a number of the finest practices in your content material scoring course of.
Discover the silent information.
Jake Ward, founding father of Kleo, suggests that you just have interaction along with your silent information along with the everyday (loud) information factors. Listening to the loud and silent information in your enterprise can appear to be:
Engagement + disengagement.
Purchases + deserted carts.
Clicks + hovers.
“Do not simply deal with the plain metrics like clicks or open charges, but in addition on the information that isn’t making noise,” Jake shared.
Select metrics deliberately (new model vs. established).
Key metrics for judging a brand new model are generally completely different from these you’d use for a longtime model. Established web sites can see outcomes for some key metrics a lot quicker, like:
Search rankings.
Social shares.
Backlinks.
A brand new web site may want to attend months earlier than it sees these numbers begin to construct momentum. In consequence, I might pay extra consideration to metrics, like:
Time on web page.
Readability.
Feedback.
One in every of these metrics is way more essential than most individuals (even entrepreneurs) understand — readability.
Do not ignore readability.
Alex Hormozi, founding father of Acquisition, shared the facility of bettering readability in one among his “Mozi Cash Minute” e-mail blasts. He recommends simplifying your language to the third-grade degree (age 8 or 9) utilizing the Hemingway App.
“I as soon as ran all my emails and internet pages by means of this course of and obtained a everlasting 50% enhance,” Hormozi shared together with his e-mail subscribers. “There are only a few issues that at all times work. However, this tactic is about as shut because it will get.”
I‘d by no means used the Hemingway App earlier than, and I assumed my article’s content material rating could be positive. I used to be stunned to find that my article was given a grade 6 readability rating and would require edits to 84 sentences to maximise the readability per Hormozi’s recommendation.
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Leverage these optimistic metrics.
Having content material that performs effectively ought to do extra than simply trigger high-fives within the advertising division — it also needs to be leveraged as social proof. I spend plenty of time reviewing advertising supplies on-line and I discover that that is neglected on 90% of internet sites.
This is an instance of how Forbes leverages their optimistic metrics by publicly sharing article views:
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Why does it matter? Engagement begets extra engagement. Faucet into this self-fulfilling prophecy by displaying optimistic metrics in your web site. Listed here are some methods to characteristic your optimistic metrics:
Webpage backlinks: “As featured in” part
Weblog put up views: Share whole variety of views (tutorial)
Weblog engagement: Show remark rely
Product downloads: Share the variety of lifetime purchases or downloads
Web page shares: Show shared rely (Social Warfare Professional plugin)
Video views: Pin high-performing movies (TikTok tutorial, Instagram tutorial)
Social followers: “Be a part of X followers” web site widget
Content material Scoring Instruments
I shared plenty of particular person instruments above, and I do know that the variety of choices may be overwhelming for novices. To assist simplify it, I’ll spotlight a number of highly effective instruments beneath that may clear up most content material scoring wants.
Essential observe: Whereas I do not spend time on them, Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console are non-negotiable monitoring instruments that each web site will need to have arrange.
WordPress
Worth: Free, with one paid device featured beneath (Social Warfare Professional, $29 per 12 months).
With a number of normal plugins, WordPress customers can customise their dashboard to incorporate a lot of essential scoring metrics. This allows you to analyze your web site content material proper inside your web site dashboard, with out throwing a dozen extra steps into your workflow.
Right here, you may see 5 highly effective metrics at a look proper throughout the “posts” web page of my WordPress dashboard:
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This is a key for the boxed icons above:
Stats: Jetpack (free).
Feedback: WordPress (free).
Social shares: Social Warfare Professional (paid).
Visitors gentle: search engine optimisation rating by Yoast (free).
Feather: Readability rating by Yoast (free).
Your complete staff will have already got entry to the web site, which avoids further prices of getting to pay for “seats” on subscription-based platforms.
You possibly can even kind content material primarily based on sure metrics, like shares or feedback. You possibly can see how that appears right here on my predominant web site, the place I’ve sorted my weblog posts so as of most feedback to fewest feedback:
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WordPress does have limitations, although. Knowledge cannot be separated and analyzed by date, which might make discovering particular related data troublesome. Google Analytics is way more highly effective for these superior options however is overwhelming for novices in search of at-a-glance information.
search engine optimisation Writing Assistant by Semrush
Worth: Free plan, then $139.95 per thirty days.
That is one other device that focuses on written web site content material, like articles, touchdown pages, product listings, and so forth. search engine optimisation Writing Assistant has a document-like interface the place you may write content material from scratch or paste in current textual content. This device has a scoring system that evaluates your content material’s:
Readability (free).
search engine optimisation (free).
Originality (paid).
Tone of voice (paid).
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It gathers information for these 4 metrics and assigns a single rating to your web site content material. This enables content material belongings to be simply in contrast and ranked.
I don‘t depend on this device for my very own content material or my shoppers’ content material, however I do assume it‘s an excellent useful resource for individuals with straightward wants who aren’t model loyal to different extra particular instruments.
Later
Worth: Free plan, then $16.67 per thirty days when billed yearly.
Whereas the primary two instruments centered on owned content material by yourself web site, Later analyzes social media content material. That is an extremely strong social scheduling platform that pulls big quantities of information so that you can sift by means of and analyze your content material’s efficiency.
I‘ve been utilizing Later for years, however I can’t share analytics screenshots with out revealing personal consumer data. As an alternative, right here‘s a abstract of the analytics capabilities as described on Later’s web site:
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A number of options I really like:
Content material sorting primarily based on whichever metric you worth most.
Discovering your viewers’s most lively occasions on-line.
Social listening.
I’ve labored on groups that use different scheduling instruments — generally very dear ones — however Later is my most well-liked platform. It has an pleasant interface and places a ton of analytics information at your fingertips (with out being overwhelming).
ChatGPT For Scoring
Would I depend on ChatGPT for my complete content material scoring course of? No, I personally would select instruments which can be specialised and retailer my information for me in a extra handy means.
However perhaps you‘ll discover ChatGPT to be a quick and handy method to consider your content material. Observe that ChatGPT can’t scrape content material from social media, so it is best used by yourself web site or XLS information.
This is a immediate for scoring web site content material:
You are a content material marketer attempting to attain the beneath [blog URLs/pages/product listings] primarily based on readability, search engine optimisation, and skill to retain readers. Please generate a rating on a scale of 1-10 for every of the above key metrics, then consider and rating every bit of content material beneath. Present your information in a desk.
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Scoring AI-generated content material.
AI content material may be invaluable in your model, but it surely must be leveraged rigorously. Listed here are a number of insightful statistics from our State of Advertising developments report:
Solely 6% of entrepreneurs report utilizing AI to provide complete items of content material for them.
95% of entrepreneurs who’re utilizing generative AI to write down copy should edit the textual content, with 44% saying they make vital edits.
60% of entrepreneurs worry the priority that AI can hurt their model’s status by means of plagiarism or bias.
Whenever you’re rating AI-generated content material, assess it upfront for inaccuracies and plagiarism. Whenever you’re gauging its efficiency, assess time spent on web page, bounce price, and conversion price. Let content material intelligence be your GPS.
If you are going to select AI instruments, go for respected instruments that prioritize high-quality content material, just like the HubSpot AI Content material Author device.
What’s an excellent content material rating?
There are mountains of information accessible on content material efficiency. Have to know what the typical X (beforehand Twitter) engagement price for the finance sector is? Three %. However, discovering and leveraging that information for each single platform and trade could be tedious at finest and unattainable at worst.
Some software program, like search engine optimisation Writing Assistant by Semrush, will use their very own proprietary scoring system to mix a number of scoring components into one quantity. No single software program gives an entire image, although.
How you may get probably the most worth from content material scoring: Figuring out above or below-average content material efficiency can solely come from having month-over-month, year-over-year analytics and evaluating your personal datasets.
My Scoring Instance
A superb instance is my Portuguese Camino baggage switch information. My article obtained a rating of 6.9 out of 10 with Semrush’s device, which earned it the label of “good.” Nonetheless, after I checked out why it was on condition that rating, I disagreed with it for a number of causes.
I selected to write down a extra in-depth information. My article is 1,975 phrases lengthy, whereas this device is telling me to trim it again to 617 phrases. I am an intensive author, not a short one (have you ever observed?).
The device additionally mechanically assigned key phrase targets from my article, lots of which had been incorrect. After I manually edited the key phrases, my content material’s rating mechanically went as much as 7.7 out of 10.
Instruments may be highly effective, however preserve prompting and tweaking them to personalize and tailor the outcomes.
Ultimate Ideas
After I examine on the content material‘s efficiency, I’m excited. I am going to both uncover trigger for celebration or a chance to enhance.
Talking of enchancment, I’ve my work minimize out for me by simplifying my vocabulary and shortening my sentences to enhance my readability rating. I hope that these instruments present that very same enthusiasm and route for you (even when it implies that you continue to have some work to do, like me).