Content Score: Definition And It’s Implementation

Are you looking for ways to measure the success of your content? Or for a means to check if the blog post you're writing has the chance to rank high for a specific keyword? Then you need a content score.

A content score is a metric to understand how well your content is likely to perform compared to other existing posts on the same topic. You don’t have to guess whether your blog posts and articles will work or not.

Using a content score makes it possible to figure out if your writing is relevant, informative, and comprehensive. You'll ensure that you create high-quality content that will drive results for your business.

Keep reading this blog post to learn exactly what a content score is and how to implement it to benefit your business.

What is a content score?

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Content scoring is a helpful tool in SEO that evaluates how your online content ranks against your competitors' content for a specific keyword. Its real goal is to ensure that your content matches your user's needs and intent. And to rank at the top of a search result page. 

Different SEO tools, platforms, and brands use different methodologies for setting up a content score. However, in most cases, a content score is between 0 to 100 to rate the quality and relevance of a piece of writing.

It's usually applied to blog posts and articles because these are the main formats to inform users and search engines about a brand's services, products, field of expertise, etc. Tools like SurferSEO, Searchmetrics, MarketMuse, and many others use the above scoring system.

While a tool like Clearscope grades writing between F- to A+, where A+ is the best and F- indicates extreme irrelevance and poor quality. As you can imagine, the lower your score, the less likely it is to rank for a specific keyword or phrase.

So, to improve your content ranking and visibility, you need to get a higher score. In the next section, we'll kill two birds with one stone: we'll look at the factors that go into a content score and how to implement them in your content.

How to implement a content score by leveraging critical factors?

Understanding what goes into a content score lets you know how best to improve your blog content. The goal is to get an article to rank at the top of a search engine's result page (SERP) for a keyword or phrase.

Paying attention to the following factors and including them in your blog writing process make your content relevant, informative, and conversion-oriented.

1. Relevant keywords

The most significant and helpful factor in your content score rests on how relevant the terms you include in your post are. They must be relevant to the user's intent and the keyword itself. Many SEO tools will give you a list of recommended keywords to include in your post.

And your score will be determined by how many of these relevant keywords you use. For example, if you're writing about 'weight loss,' you can't avoid including keywords and content about 'drinking water' and 'calories.'

And the more of these useful and related words you use, the higher your content score gets. You can create relevant keywords for your chosen keyword manually by using common sense or studying the top-performing posts.

However, I recommend using a good SEO tool that automatically generates these terms for you. We'll look at a list of valuable tools at the end of the post.

2. Keyword frequency

Getting a high content score doesn't just depend on using the right keywords but also on how frequently you use them. Let's start by saying that you shouldn't repeat the exact keywords repeatedly in an unnatural-sounding way.

However, keyword repetition does matter. Think about it; it makes sense that a comprehensive blog post about a topic would mention that topic term several times. A blog post about weight loss only once will likely not appear relevant to losing weight to both humans and search engines.

It would help if you repeated related keywords and variations of the primary keyword, too. For example, you might have to mention 'water' or 'cardio' several times or 'good sleep' and 'vitamins' a few times.

So, keyword frequency is essential, and if you want to get it right, it's best to use a tool to help you figure out what to include and how many times.

3. Use of keywords and synonyms

When creating content, you want to use the keywords that users are likely to type in a search engine. But if you overuse them, Google will likely penalize your post for keyword stuffing.

That's why it's essential to include synonyms and variations of the primary keyword throughout your article so that it reads naturally while still conveying the same message. This will also help broaden your reach, targeting more people searching for related topics.

Plus, including those words will show Google's algorithm that your content is relevant and well-written – helping boost its ranking in SERPs. Here's an example of using relevant keywords and synonyms. Let's say you're writing a blog post about eco-friendly gardening tips.

Your main keyword might be 'sustainable gardening,' but people also look for terms like 'green gardening practices' or 'earth-conscious gardening.' So, it's important to include these similar-sounding terms and multiple variations throughout your post.

For one thing, you'll avoid keyword stuffing. For another, you'll ensure that your post shows up for various search queries.

One way to find similar and relevant terms is to look at a search result's 'People Also Ask' section. So, for example, you'll get plenty of ideas in this search for the 'best malls in Dubai.'

4. Keyword placement

When getting a high content score, where you place a keyword matters, you should include your top keyword in the blog post or article title, the introduction (or the first 300 words), and at least one heading or subheading.

Place related terms and variations of your keyword naturally in the body of your post.

5. Content readability

The easier it is for users to read and comprehend your content, the more likely they are to continue reading and engage with it. So, you have to pay attention to the readability of your blog content.

To improve content readability, it's important to structure your content in an organized fashion using headers, lists, images and videos. Writing with shorter sentences and paragraphs will make it easier for readers to follow your thought and avoid confusion.

Also, using simple words that are easy to understand is vital to ensure that your broad audience understands your blog post. You should also use active rather than passive voice and break up long chunks of text into smaller ones.

Lastly, using transition words within the paragraphs helps guide readers through the post smoothly while providing an engaging experience. I strongly recommend using websites like HemmingwayApp or apps like Grammarly to check your text readability score.

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Using the Hemingway App will help you make your content more readable. 

Using an SEO writing assistant or tool should also give you a readability score or just include readability into the overall content score. Again, it's important to research the tools you use to make your writing reader-friendly.

6. Content structure and formatting

This is another crucial factor when it comes to improving your content score. You have to arrange your information in a logical way using paragraph and subheading structure so that it's easy for readers to understand.

Also, you should include visual elements like images and videos where appropriate to break up the text. If you have a long list of tips or details to share, create bullet points or lists instead of writing them out as a paragraph.

You can also use short paragraphs to describe each issue if your readers need more information or clarification. In this way, the content is easier to read and understand, which will help to keep your readers engaged.

7. Include media

Including media throughout your blog posts is proven to help boost its content score. Adding pictures, videos, GIFs, and other visuals to your post can make it more engaging and readable.

It's also a great way to break up text-heavy content and illustrate your point visually. Plus, it'll help readers stay focused and interested in the post. Ensure to include visuals relevant to your topic and provide value to the reader.

For example, add screenshots to illustrate a point. And don't be afraid to add a GIF to add humor. You could also integrate social media into your posts, like Twitter quotes or Linkedin posts. 

Adding media to your blog post will also help it appear more attractive in SERPs and encourage people to click. A post with images will often outperform one without. So it's worth trying to find images that fit your post.

8. Content length

It's essential to consider content length when creating a blog post. Search engines look for longer, more comprehensive posts as they are more likely to provide value to the reader.

However, this doesn't mean that you should write blog posts ranging thousands of words when it isn't necessary. Instead, it would be best to base the length of your blog posts on the competition.

And SEO tools with content scores often suggest or encourage longer posts based on top-performing content. For example, if you're writing on the topic 'phygital,' a relatively new term, it would be best to write a blog post in the 2000-2500 word range.

But if you want to write for a term with a lot of competition, like 'best VPN provider,' you'll likely need to create a post for 4000+ words to even begin to compete.

Generally speaking, there's a trend for longer posts to outperform shorter ones, even if they're equally good. So, don't be afraid to go a bit longer if you can back it up with comprehensive research and valuable information.

It would be best to consider these factors when creating a blog post to improve its content score. By including the suggestions in this post, you can produce high-quality content that will move up in the SERPs and engage your readers for a more fulfilling experience.

Use content score and SEO tools

As you read this post, you might have thought that you need more specific guidelines to improve your content. That's why you should consider using content score or SEO tools to understand better how you should write.

You should know that there aren't any tools that function alone as content-scoring tools. Usually, a content score is part of an SEO platform or a content optimization package.

Here are some of the top tools you can use to get a specific score for your blog posts and increase the chances of you getting ranked higher in the SERPs:

• SurferSEO
• Clear scope
• Frase.io
• MarketMuse
• Semrush

There are plenty of other good tools out there too. You'll want to research to see what works best for you. A tool like Frase will focus on content research and optimization, while Semrush has several additional features like backlink reporting and competitor analysis.

Pick a platform based on whether you want to do one thing only (like improving your blog posts) or multiple activities (like content auditing, planning, strategizing, and so on). But you should know that almost any tool you use will be better than using nothing at all, so it's a win no matter what you invest in.

Conclusion

The content score is a helpful metric to consider when creating content. However, it's not just about getting higher rankings in Google – it's also about creating high-quality content that will engage your readers.

By leveraging SEO tools with content score features, you can better understand what your post should look like and how it needs to be optimized.

So, if you want to improve your blog posts' content quality, implement content score into your workflow. This will help you create content that works both for the search engines and your readers.