How to Measure Content Quality? Find Out Factors Which Help in Evaluating Content Quality !!

Abstract:

There are several ways to measure the quality of content, including: 

Content marketing metrics

These metrics can help you evaluate your content marketing goals. For example, you can use pageviews and unique pageviews to measure site traffic. 

Engagement metrics

These metrics can help you evaluate how well your content connects with readers. You can use these metrics to see if your content is answering readers' questions and engaging them. 

Content marketing ROI

You can perform a content marketing audit to see if your content is working and if your time and resources are paying off. You can also calculate the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns to see how well your efforts are converting visitors into customers. 

Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

This technique judges quality over quantity by tracking and optimizing how visitors engage with your website. You can use CRO to see how many visitors are buying your product or performing the desired action. 

Google Analytics

This tool can provide data on a piece of content's traffic source, custom events, and goals like page scroll depth, downloads, and purchases. 

Readability

Readability can influence Google ranking, accessibility, usability, and UX. It can also inspire trust in your readers and enhance your brand. 

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Search engines consider backlinks as a measure of the quality and relevance of your content. 

Keywords 

Backlinks, Google Analytics, Readability, Conversion rate optimization (CRO), Content marketing ROI, Engagement metrics, E-E-A-T

Learning Outcomes

After undergoing this article you will be able to understand the following: 

1. How to Measure Content Quality?

2. Common Qualitative Content Quality KPIs

3. Copy Standards

4. Multimedia Standards

5. Other General Content Quality Standards

6. Common Quantitative KPIs for Content Quality

7. Tools to Measure Content Quality

8. Conclusions

9. FAQs

References 

1. How to Measure Content Quality? 

The best way to measure your content’s quality is by building a custom mix of key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on three primary sources of standards:

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of content in digital marketing, but you can’t go wrong starting with metrics like:

• Time on page
• Scroll depth
• Social shares

Gaining an understanding of the type of content your prospects and customers are interested in is the best method for identifying topics that are likely to perform well.

Then it’s a matter of regularly auditing your content, tweaking it as needed, and periodically updating your KPIs to reflect changes in your audience, Google’s latest updates, and your goals.

2. Common Qualitative Content Quality KPIs

Qualitative KPIs (key performance indicators) are outcome-based statements that help measure progress and determine if goals are being met. They can be paired with quantitative KPIs to provide a more complete picture of a process, service, or outcome. Some examples of qualitative KPIs for content quality include: Client comments, Feedback, and Responses to open-ended questions. 

There are two key qualitative ways to measure your content: E-E-A-T and the composition of your copy and media.

E-E-A-T

If we take out the subjective aspects of content quality – what “quality” means in various industries and to individuals – we’re all still bound by one universal standard for online content: Google’s.

What does that mean for your content? 

E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor, but Google says that E-E-A-T does matter because humans want to trust the source of what they read. Therefore, so does the search engine.

In short, having E-E-A-T in mind when planning and creating content can have an impact on how Google perceives your quality, so use it as a framework to guide your work.

Here’s how to use E-E-A-T to create quality content:

• Recognize if your content is the kind that needs maximum proof of expertise.
• Include credentials next to your team members’ names on your About page 
• Make sure that all post authors have a proper bio associated with any page 
• When appropriate, include a line or tag that communicates the level of expertise behind the content 
• Publish a page that outlines your editorial process. 
• Always link to legitimate outside sources 
• Regularly audit your content for broken links 
• Use schema to help Google understand entities related to your content.
• Regularly update the facts and sources in your content.

3. Copy Standards

When it comes to written content, there are actually lots of qualitative ways to measure your quality.

This is more like a yes/no checklist. If your answer is yes, then your content is likely good quality. Is it:

• Written for the target audience – using familiar language, on a relevant topic
• Grammatically sound – the odd typo or intentionally playful spelling is fine
• Accurate – facts are checked, sources cited, no broken links, and information is accurate/current
• Styled for readability – scannable with good use of headings, lists, and media. 
• Right length for topic – provides complete information, not inflated to achieve word count or too short to be helpful
• Accessible – legible type, appropriate language, navigable using a screen reader or voice command
• Optimized – uses correct keywords and search intent to attract the right visitors
• Valuable – not just regurgitated content that can be found in every other search result
• Goal-oriented – relevant to your business, targets the right audience, and either builds brand awareness or moves the reader to a next step

4. Multimedia Standards

Now, here’s a general quality checklist for multimedia. Is it:

• Created for the target audience – a medium they like to consume, on a topic that interests them
• Clear – appropriate dimensions and resolution to look great across multiple devices
• Accessible – images have descriptions, videos have captioning
• Valuable – images or video tell a standalone story or support a larger piece of content
• Goal oriented – if you’re putting the extra time and effort into creating branded images and especially video.

5. Other General Content Quality Standards

• Use links strategically: don’t include too many links, try to earn quality backlinks, audit for spam or low-quality backlinks, audit for broken links, and plan internal linking 
• Informational, non-sales content should be free from sales pitches
• Headlines and meta descriptions should directly reflect the content, and be enticing
• There should be minimal or no intrusive interstitials 
• Google rewards sites for freshness, so a good way to measure your overall website quality is if you regularly add new content.
• Bonus quality points if copy is supported by helpful data visualizations, infographics, or interactive elements 

6. Common Quantitative KPIs for Content Quality

Now that we’ve waded through the hard part, let’s get to the fun stuff!

Here’s a list of popular quantitative quality KPIs:

• Average number of pages viewed per session
• Increased traffic from the desired source or channel
• Percent of visitors who read 75% or more of the page/post
• SERP position of content for target keyword(s)
• Rankings movement related to the content
• Increased click-through rate (CTR)
• Earned backlinks
• Social media shares
• Good page speed score from core web vitals or other tools
• Achieves mobile-friendliness in Google Search Console
• On page actions (like playing a video or downloading a PDF)
• Conversions after viewing content
• Increased brand awareness (direct traffic, mentions, tags, etc.)

Here’s the thing: your average session duration figure includes all of your bounced sessions, which are logged as zero seconds. Even if the person spent five minutes reading a post, if they took no other action before exiting, it’s logged as a big, fat zero.

• If your engagement rate is 45%, that means that the 65% of the session durations logged by Google Analytics and used to calculate the “average” were ZERO SECONDS
• If one person spent 3 minutes looking at 2 pages before exiting your site (engaged), another person spent 5 minutes looking at one page (not engaged), and another spent 2 minutes looking at a page (also not engaged) – Google Analytics will calculate 3+0+0/3, which is an average of only one minute!
• If you have a popular blog or other standalone content, there’s a good chance your engagement rate is much lower – so your average session duration is even less accurate

7. Tools to Measure Content Quality

The best part about quantitative content quality measurement is that not only is it easier to wrap your head around, but you can also make tools do all the work.

• Google Analytics is the long-standing, go-to tool to measure content quality. From a piece of content’s traffic source data to custom events and goals like page scroll depth, downloads, and purchases.
• Google Search Console is great for tracking your content’s average position for target keywords, your CTR, and mobile usability.
• SEO tools are where to look for new rankings relating to a piece of content, and changes in your ranking. 
• Page speed tools are also a great way to ensure you’re delivering a great experience, and get a score 
• Social media analytics are a fantastic way to measure how a piece of content performs. 
• Reporting tools like DashThis can pull data from all of these sources and more into one place, where you can create widgets that reflect your chosen content Quality 

8. Conclusions 

So, quality content should:

1. Satisfy user intent—provide the information or solution the user is seeking.
2. Provide original information, research, or analysis.
3. Reflect the creator's expertise and first-hand experience on the subject.
4. Be relevant and comprehensive enough to answer users' questions effectively.

6 ways to evaluate content are

1. Usability. Usability determines how easy it is to engage with content. ...
2. Readability. Readability determines how easy it is to read and comprehend content. ...
3. Searchability. ...
4. Navigability. ...
5. Accessibility. ...
6. Tone and voice.

9. FAQs 

Q. How do you measure the value of content?

Ans. :

To improve the health and efficiency of your content production cycle, here are some key metrics to start tracking right away.

1. Average Length of Production. ...
2. Delivery Rates. ...
3. Content Coverage Gaps. ...
4. External. ...
5. Internal. ...
6. Clearly Define and Get Cross-Team Alignment on the Buyer's Journey. ...
7. Assign Scores to Key Content Types.

References 

Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pullizi

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

They Ask, You Answer by, Marcus Sheridan

The Content Code by Mark Schaefer

Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by, Gary Vaynerchuk

Conversation Marketing by Kevin Lund

Marketing Rebellion by Mark Schaefer

Superfans by Pat Flynn.

www.google.com