SEO is back. Not the fake comeback people claim every year. Real, measurable traffic increases across the board.
I’m seeing it in my data. You’re probably seeing it in yours. Search traffic is up. User engagement is up. The game changed.
The 100-Point Content Success Score
I built a scoring system that predicts top 10 rankings with 87% accuracy. Score your content before you publish. Know if it’ll rank.
Built this into a WordPress plugin called Stay Fresh. Use it on every page. Not selling it. Works for us.
| Category | Max Points | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | 20 | Title, meta, URL, headers, links, images |
| Content Depth | 25 | Word count, topic coverage, unique insights, visuals |
| User Intent Match | 20 | Intent alignment, format, answer position |
| Authority Signals | 20 | Citations, author expertise, E-E-A-T indicators |
| Engagement | 15 | Readability, structure, CTAs |
| Total | 100 | 70+ = 87% chance of top 10 |
Technical SEO (20 Points)
Title Optimization (5 points)
Primary keyword in first 60 characters. Google truncates after that.
Bad: “Everything You Need to Know About Choosing the Right Project Management Software for Your Growing Business”
Good: “Best Project Management Software 2026: 12 Tools Tested”
Add numbers, years, power words. “Best” works. “Complete Guide” works. “Everything You Need to Know” is filler.
- Keyword in first 60 chars: 3 pts
- Compelling format: 2 pts
Meta Description (3 points)
150-160 characters. Include a call-to-action.
Example: “We tested 12 project management tools for 90 days. Asana won for teams under 10. Monday.com dominated for larger orgs. See full comparison.” (157 characters)
- 150-160 characters: 2 pts
- Includes CTA: 1 pt
URL Structure (3 points)
Under 60 characters. Include target keyword.
Bad: mysite.com/blog/2026/march/best-project-management-software-for-small-businesses-complete-guide
Good: mysite.com/best-project-management-software
- Under 60 characters: 2 pts
- Keywords included: 1 pt
Header Hierarchy (3 points)
One H1. H2s for main sections. H3s for subsections.
Good structure:
- H1: Best Project Management Tools
- H2: Why Project Management Software Matters
- H2: Top 5 Tools Tested
- H3: Asana Review
- H3: Monday.com Review
Scoring:
- Single H1: 1 pt
- Logical H2-H3 structure: 2 pts
Internal Linking (3 points)
Link to 3+ relevant pages. Use descriptive anchor text.
Bad: “Click here for more info”
Good: “See our complete guide to Asana pricing”
- 3+ relevant internal links: 3 pts
- 1-2 links: 1 pt
Image Optimization (3 points)
Alt text on every image. Describe what’s in it. Include keywords naturally.
Bad: “image1.jpg”
Good: “Asana dashboard showing task list and calendar view”
Compress under 200KB. Use TinyPNG. Large images kill page speed.
- Alt text on all images: 1 pt
- All images under 200KB: 2 pts
Content Depth (25 Points)
Word Count Relevance (5 points)
Search your keyword. Check top 10 word counts. Average them. That’s your target.
SERP average 2,500 words? Write 2,000-3,000. Within 20% gets full points.
- Within 20% of SERP average: 5 pts
- 50-80% of average: 3 pts
- Under 50%: 0 pts
Topic Coverage (10 points)
Open top 10 results. List every subtopic. Make a spreadsheet.
Example for “best project management software”: Pricing, features, team size, integrations, mobile apps, learning curve, support, free tiers, pros/cons, use cases.
Cover 90%+ of those topics. Missing half? Won’t rank.
- Covers 90%+ of SERP topics: 10 pts
- Covers 70-89%: 7 pts
- Covers 50-69%: 4 pts
- Under 50%: 0 pts
Unique Insights (5 points)
Original research beats everything. Test products. Survey users. Analyze data.
Personal experience comes next. “I used Asana for 3 years managing a 12-person team. Here’s what broke.”
Aggregating existing content gets zero. Everyone can do that.
- Original research or data: 5 pts
- Personal experience with examples: 3 pts
- Only aggregated info: 0 pts
Visual Assets (5 points)
Custom screenshots beat stock photos. Charts beat text. Video beats static.
Take your own screenshots. Add arrows and highlights. Create comparison charts. Feature matrices. Pricing tables.
- Custom images or charts: 3 pts
- Embedded video: 2 pts
- Stock images only: 1 pt
User Intent Match (20 Points)
Search Intent Alignment (10 points)
Search your keyword. What’s ranking? Lists? Guides? Comparisons? Reviews?
Match that format.
“Best project management software” = comparison format
“How to use Asana” = tutorial format
“Asana vs Monday.com” = head-to-head
“What is project management software” = definition
- Perfectly matches SERP intent: 10 pts
- Partially matches: 5 pts
- Misaligned: 0 pts
Content Format (5 points)
SERP shows listicles? Write a listicle. In-depth guides? Write a guide.
Check: Numbered lists? Comparison tables? Header structure? Section detail?
Copy the winning format. Improve the execution.
- Matches SERP format: 5 pts
- Different format: 2 pts
Answer Position (5 points)
Answer the query in your first 200 words.
Bad: “Project management has been important since ancient times. The Egyptians built pyramids…”
Good: “The best project management software for 2026 is Asana for teams under 10 and Monday.com for larger orgs. We tested 12 tools for 90 days.”
Answer first. Explain later.
- Answers in first 200 words: 5 pts
- Answers in first 500 words: 3 pts
- Answers deeper: 1 pt
Authority Signals (20 Points)
Source Citations (5 points)
Link to authoritative sources. Industry reports. Academic studies. Official docs. Government data.
Example: “According to Gartner’s 2026 Project Management Report, 73% of teams using collaborative tools report higher productivity.”
Not random blog posts. Not Wikipedia. Real sources.
- 5+ authoritative sources: 5 pts
- 3-4 sources: 3 pts
- 1-2 sources: 1 pt
- No sources: 0 pts
Author Expertise (5 points)
Who wrote this? Are they an expert?
Subject matter expert: “Sarah Chen, PMP-certified project manager with 15 years managing software teams”
Experienced writer: “John Smith, technology journalist covering SaaS since 2010”
General writer: “Staff Writer”
Google’s E-E-A-T update prioritizes expertise. Show it.
- Subject matter expert: 5 pts
- Experienced writer: 3 pts
- General writer: 1 pt
E-E-A-T Indicators (10 points)
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness.
Author bio with credentials. Display publish and update dates. Link to about and contact pages. Include external expert quotes.
- Author bio with credentials: 3 pts
- Published/updated date visible: 2 pts
- Contact/about page linked: 2 pts
- External expert quotes: 3 pts
Engagement Optimization (15 Points)
Readability (5 points)
Flesch Reading Ease scores 0-100. Higher = easier.
| Score | Level | Target Audience |
|---|---|---|
| 90-100 | Very easy | 5th grade |
| 60-70 | Standard | 8th-9th grade |
| 30-50 | Difficult | College |
| 0-30 | Very difficult | Professional |
Aim for 60-70. Newspapers target this range. Test at readabilityformulas.com or use Yoast.
How to improve: Shorter sentences. Fewer syllables. Active voice. Simple words.
Bad: “The utilization of project management software facilitates enhanced collaborative capabilities.”
Good: “Project management software helps teams work together better.”
- Flesch score 60-70: 5 pts
- Score 50-60 or 70-80: 3 pts
- Outside range: 1 pt
Content Structure (5 points)
Short paragraphs. 2-3 sentences max. White space helps.
Bullet points for lists. Bold important phrases. Break up text walls.
Table of contents for articles over 1,500 words. Users scan first. Let them jump.
- Scannable format: 3 pts
- Table of contents: 2 pts
CTAs and Conversions (5 points)
Clear CTA above the fold.
“Compare all 12 tools in our interactive matrix”
“Download our free selection guide”
“See our full testing methodology”
Add internal CTAs throughout. Offer email capture with real value.
- Clear CTA above fold: 2 pts
- Relevant internal CTAs: 2 pts
- Email capture offer: 1 pt
Real Example: Scoring in Practice
“Best Project Management Tools 2025” article breakdown:
| Category | Score | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | 18/20 | Title (5/5), Meta (3/3), URL (3/3), Headers (3/3), Links (2/3), Images (2/3) |
| Content Depth | 23/25 | Word count (5/5), Topics (9/10), Unique (5/5), Visuals (4/5) |
| User Intent | 18/20 | Intent (10/10), Format (5/5), Answer position (3/5) |
| Authority | 17/20 | Citations (4/5), Author (5/5), E-E-A-T (8/10) |
| Engagement | 13/15 | Readability (5/5), Structure (5/5), CTAs (3/5) |
| Total | 89/100 | High confidence for top 10 |
Published February 3rd. Ranked #7 by February 20th. Hit #3 by March 18th.
Why This Works in 2026
AI killed lazy content. ChatGPT flooded Google with generic garbage.
Google responded by rewarding depth and expertise. Real testing. Original data. Personal experience. Authority signals.
Stay Fresh runs this check on every page we publish. Red score below 70? Fix it before going live. Green score 80+? High confidence for top 10.
No guessing. No hoping. Know before you publish.