Content Grading Definition & Strategy

not to be confused with a content score

Definition:

Content grading is the process of evaluating the quality of content based on various criteria such as readability, complexity, and relevance.

The process itself does not and shouldn’t have to be exact or time consuming for the most of us.

Let’s run though an example:

1. You have a goal to capture 100 leads.
2. You have 2 lead-magnets — both are eBooks.
3. You can gate one of the two, but not both.
4. You are good at what you do and know you need to add as much value as possible right out of the gate, so the next time you have a content offer your people trust it has value worthy of their info swap.

With a grade — even with a basic lower school methodology applied — you can objectively choose the one with the highest value to gate for your lead-gen efforts. Give them an A.

The other—with a slightly lower grade— is well suited for a free, ungated download. Offer up a B.

Gates aren’t bad. Gating bad content is bad. — me

Here’s a general content grading strategy that you can use:

1. Determine your grading criteria: Identify the criteria that are important for your content, such as readability, accuracy, relevance, and tone.
2. Choose a scoring system: Decide on a numerical scale or grading system that you will use to rate each criterion. For example, you could use a scale of 1–5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
3. Evaluate your content: Apply your grading criteria to your content to determine its overall quality. Use your scoring system to assign a score to each criterion and an overall score to the content.
4. Analyze your results: Look for patterns and trends in your scores to identify areas for improvement. For example, if readability is consistently low across your content, you may need to simplify your writing style.
5. Revise and improve: Use the insights from your analysis to revise and improve your content. Make adjustments to improve the quality and relevance of your content.
6. Repeat the process: Regularly review and grade your content to ensure that it meets your quality standards and continues to engage your audience.

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CR Rollyson is a Digital UX & Web manager for a S&P 500 FinTech company and is the COO of Side Role, a marketing agency in Charlotte North Carolina partnering with In-house Teams & Agencies, Non-profits, and Start-Ups. Learn more about Side Role here.