5 min read
SEO Scoring: How to Grade Your Blog Posts Before Publishing
Publishing without an SEO check is like shipping without tests. Learn the scoring criteria that predict whether content will rank.
R
ruben
The SEO Scorecard
Every blog post should pass a quality gate before publishing. Here are the criteria and their relative importance:
Title Tag (20 points)
- 50-60 characters (10 pts)
- Primary keyword included (5 pts)
- Compelling for clicks (5 pts)
Meta Description (15 points)
- 120-155 characters (5 pts)
- Keyword included (5 pts)
- Clear value proposition (5 pts)
Content Quality (30 points)
- 1,500+ words for guides (10 pts)
- Clear H2/H3 heading hierarchy (10 pts)
- Original insights or data (10 pts)
Technical SEO (20 points)
- JSON-LD structured data (5 pts)
- Internal links to 3+ related posts (5 pts)
- Image alt text on all images (5 pts)
- Clean URL slug (5 pts)
Readability (15 points)
- Short paragraphs (5 pts)
- Bullet points and lists (5 pts)
- Scannable with subheadings (5 pts)
Automated Scoring
Manually checking all these criteria is tedious. RankFlo's built-in SEO scorer evaluates your post in real-time as you write, showing a score from 0-100 with specific recommendations for improvement. Posts scoring above 80 consistently outperform those below 60.