Interpret the SEO score

In this section, you will learn how each element of the SEO analysis is assessed, how they contribute to the overall score, and what each color and number indicate. 

The overall SEO score

The overall SEO score, which is also shown by small bullets above the editor and next to each topic on the document outline, is calculated based on the results of the fourteen SEO metrics. Each of these components has a separate assessment and score leading to a good or bad result and, in some cases, an average result. 

Each metric's result equally contributes to the overall score. A Green bullet equals 2 points, a yellow bullet equals 1, and a red bullet equals 0 points. The overall score is calculated as an average of all metrics' points and converted to the percentage.

It is then presented both through colors and a number out of 100. You can check the overall score by looking at the SEO bullet or opening the SEO panel to see more detailed results on the graph.

Green

An overall score above 60 results in a green bullet which means you are doing good. However, you can still optimize your topic to achieve 100, which is the best score possible.

Yellow

A score between 30 to 60 results in a yellow bullet which means you need to make some improvements to rank higher on the SERP.

Red

A score below 30 results in a red bullet which means you are far from an SEO-friendly post and need many improvements.

Black

Many SEO assessments are based on keyphrase analysis in the content. Therefore, you should optimize your topic for a specific keyphrase. SEO bullet is black until you set your focus keyphrase. 

Metrics' score

The color interpretation in the metrics' results is the same as the overall result. A green bullet conveys a good result, yellow (not applicable for some metrics) shows an average result where an improvement is needed, and a red bullet indicates bad results meaning there is an error and you need to fix it. However, each metric's numbers and score vary based on their recommended ranges or whether they are quantitative or not.

A factor like having a meta description is a true/false factor showing a good result (green) if you have already specified a meta tag and a bad result (red) if not. While the word count could be any number, there is a recommended range, a minimum, and an optimum.

Qualitative metrics (true or false)

The following metrics are assessed based on true or false, where the true value results in a green bullet and the false value results in a red bullet. Of course, there is not a middle score or a yellow bullet in such metrics. 

Meta description

A meta description or meta tag summarizes your topic, which can provide a good snippet for displaying on the SERP. Not having a meta description can damage your SEO since Google chooses a random part of your topic to show under your topic's title in the search results if you have not specified a meta tag. Sonat warns you if your topic lacks a meta description and helps you quickly set a fine-tuned one.

You can click Set to go to the topic settings and add your meta description.

H1 heading

Having an H1 heading (the title) in each topic is a must, and Sonat has arranged it so that you never forget to specify an H1 tag.

Image

Adding images enriches your content and helps with your SEO. You will be warned if you have not used any images in your topics.

Keyphrase in title

It is essential that your title reflects the content of your topic by containing the focus keyphrase. Sonat checks whether your keyphrase exists in the title or not and reminds you of this issue.

Keyphrase in Meta description

Including the focus keyphrase in the meta description is another important factor in SEO investigated by the Sonat SEO analyzer.

Keyphrase in slug

Sonat has made it quite simple to set and optimize slugs for your manuals and each of its topics. You can improve your topics' SEO by adding keyphrases to the slugs.

Keyphrase in subheadings

Subheadings including the focus keyphrases help search engines understand the content of your topics. Therefore, adding a keyphrase to subheadings is another factor analyzed by Sonat. 

Internal links

Internal links can boost your SEO, and this is another item checked by the Sonat SEO analyzer.

Image Alt attribute

Image alt attributes are important to SEO and provide alternate text for the images if the users can not view the image content or use a screen reader. Sonat checks your images for alt attributes and reminds you of their absence.

Quantitative metrics (Numerical)

The following metrics have numerical values. An optimal range or a minimum/maximum has been recommended for each metric. You get a green bullet if your result falls in the optimal range and a red one if you have not met the minimum. For some metrics, a yellow bullet shows you have met the minimum requirements, but you can do better to reach the optimum. The ranges are also shown on the bar using the correspondent colors. You can move over the bar to see the ranges and numbers. Your result is also shown through a small point on the bar. 

Word count

Since very short articles do not get indexed by search engines, the number of words you use in your topics matters.  Sonat counts the words of your topics and lets you know if you have used enough words to get indexed. 

The number of words is displayed in parentheses, next to the metric title (840 in the example below). You can also see where your result takes place on the bar where colors indicate ranges. Move over the bar to see the thresholds and your result. The bar shows three areas marked by three different colors, green, yellow, and red, showing optimal (more than 700 words), mediocre (300-700 words), and weak ranges (fewer than 300 words), respectively. The small white pointer on the bar shows your result. Like other metrics, the bullet color shows your overall performance concerning a metric. You get advice for improving your score depending on your outcome.

Outbound links

Having outbound links brings balance and authenticity and can help with SEO. Sonat checks your content for outbound links and advises you to add some if you have not. Three to five outbound links are recommended for a topic with 1000 words.

Title length

The optimal SEO title length for a proper preview on the SERP is about 50 to 65 characters. Sonat assesses your title to help you make sure it has the right length.

Meta description length

The meta description length is also essential. Since an optimal size provides a good snippet preview on the SERP, Sonat analyzes your meta tags to help you make them as good as possible. A meta description with 120 to 150 characters has a perfect length. While shorter descriptions still have the chance to appear well on the SERP, concise descriptions may be too general and lack enough clarity to introduce your topic and cover your keywords. This is why you get a reminder through a yellow bullet to let you know you can optimize your meta tag. Longer descriptions might not be shown properly in the search results, so a red bullet indicates a meta description of more than 150 characters long.

Keyphrase density

Your focus keyphrase should be found in your topic frequently so that the search engines understand what your content is about. However, stuffing keyphrases in a topic could hurt your SEO, and Google may punish you. Sonat measures your keyphrase density and lets you know whether it falls into the optimal range of 1% to 3%.

Document's SEO score

Besides each topic's score, Sonat informs you about a document's SEO score as a whole.  Generally, the SEO score at the document level is based on all topics' scores analyses. However, knowing how Sonat calculates this score will help you better understand what this score represents.

The overall SEO score

The overall SEO score at the document level (shown by small bullets next to the document title in your organization's home) uses the same colors, signs, numbers, and the calculation method as the topic level. 

Metrics' scores

The metrics contributing to the document SEO score are the same as what is assessed in the topic's SEO with the same ranges and thresholds. However, the metrics' scores at the document level are the medians or averages of the metrics' scores at the topic level (based on the metric's nature). 

Metrics with a true or false basis are represented as an average of all topics' scores, where topics with the false value (red bullet) are considered zero and those with true value (green bullet) are one.

• Average score ≥ 0.5 results in a green bullet: Good results (Most topics are satisfactory regarding this specific metric).
• Average score < 0.5 results in a red bullet: Most topics have unacceptable scores regarding this specific metric.

Quantitative metrics with optimal, problematic, and/or average ranges/numbers are represented using the median. The median is the middle number in an ordered list of numbers (ascending/descending). Therefore, if a metric's score at the document level falls within the optimal range, at least half of its topics have the optimal score regarding that specific metric. And it results in a green bullet for the metric at the document level. The same logic is behind those scores with yellow and red results.