How does the blog post score in the Writer work?

Beside every post in the Writer is a live score out of 100: the Outline score while you plan and the Draft score once the text is written. It updates with every edit, shows a row for each part of the post, and gives one Next step, the single change that would add the most points. It is worked out in your browser and costs nothing.

#Where to see it

On a computer the score sits to the right of the post. On a phone it is a bar at the top: tap it to open the full panel.

#What is scored

On the outline:

• Searches covered: whether each search the post should win is given to a heading.
• Headings: the searches appear in your headings, some phrased as questions, with the exact main search in no more than two.
• Title and meta: the title starts with the main search, the meta title is 50 to 60 characters and the meta description 140 to 160 and uses the main search.
• Outline shape: 5 to 8 headings and 4 to 6 FAQs work best.
• Internal links: at least 3 of your own pages ticked to link to.

Once the draft is written, Outline shape gives way to:

• Length: the right number of words for the kind of post.
• Main search use: in the title, the first paragraph and a sensible number of times in the text.
• Answer-ready: the first paragraph answers the search in 40 to 60 words, which is what Google and AI answers like to quote, plus FAQs and a bulleted list.
• Easy to read: short sentences and plain words.

#The Next step

One line, such as "Give boiler cost to a heading" or "Make the meta description 140 to 160 characters (now 118)", with the points it is worth. Do it and the next one appears. When nothing is left it says Nothing left to fix.

#The searches panel

Under the score, Searches lists the searches this post targets with their Monthly searches, marked Used, Partly used or Not used yet in the text. A line says where the figures came from: your Search Console searches, Google Ads monthly searches, or the searches you chose.

#Questions people ask

#Is this the same as the score on Results?

No. This score is about how well the post is written for its searches. The score on the Blog Plan's Results is about how the published post is doing in Google. See the blog calendar and Results.

#Do I have to reach 100?

No. It is a guide to what to improve first. A clear, useful post matters more than the last few points.