Articles
SEO score and originality
The 8 SEO checks behind the score, how each is measured and fixed, and what the Wording and Topic originality checks compare.
Every article carries a 0–100 SEO Score in the editor, made up of 8 checks, plus two separate checks for how original it is compared with the rest of your site.
The 8 checks
| Check | Weight | What it measures | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword | 18 | The focus keyword appears in the title, and at least twice in the body. | Add the focus keyword to the title, and make sure it appears naturally a few times in the body. |
| Word Count | 15 | The body is at least 1,300 words. | Expand the article — competitive topics need the length. |
| Headings | 13 | At least two H2 sections, with no skipped heading levels (e.g. an H2 followed directly by an H4). | Add more H2 sections, or fix the heading hierarchy. |
| Readability | 12 | Average sentence length, aiming under 25 words. | Split up long sentences — short ones score best. |
| Meta Description | 12 | 50–155 characters and contains the focus keyword. | Rewrite the meta description to fit the range and include the keyword. |
| Title | 12 | 20–60 characters. | Shorten or lengthen the title so it won't get cut off — or look too thin — in search results. |
| Featured Image | 8 | Whether the article has a cover. | Add a cover image. |
| Links | 10 | At least 2 internal links (to your own pages) and 1 external link (to an outside source). | Add internal links to your own content, and cite at least one outside source. |
The score is the sum of the weights of every check that passes — a perfect article scores 100.
- 90 and above — SEO Optimized: "Your article scores well on SEO factors."
- Below 90 — Needs work: "A few improvements left before publishing."
Click any check in the editor's SEO Score panel to see its hint — exactly what's wrong and how to fix it for that specific article.
Originality
Below the score, two separate rows check how original the article is — because "original wording" and "original topic" are different questions, and an article can pass one while failing the other.
Wording
Compares the article's phrasing against your own site's other articles (not the open web).
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 85–100% | No other article on your site reads like this. |
| 70–84% | Some passages read like an article you already have. |
| Below 70% | Large parts read like an article you already have. |
When there's real overlap, a See the closest one link points at the article it resembles. Articles written before this check existed show a dash — never checked, not a low score.
Topic
Checks whether another article on your site already targets the same subject — independent of how either one is worded.
- Yours — no other article on your site targets this topic.
- Taken — another article covers the same ground; a See that article link points at it. Two articles on one topic compete with each other in search, so this is worth fixing even when the Wording score is high.