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What is a good SEO score?

A good SEO score depends on what the score measures, since a page checklist score of 75 means most basics are in place while an authority score only means something next to your competitors.

Published by PageRanker

At a glance

  • Google does not publish an SEO score
  • Each report scores something different
  • Checklist scores reward fixing basics
  • Authority scores only matter by comparison

First, Know Which Score You Are Looking At

Google does not give websites an SEO score. Its guide Do you need an SEO? says Google does not evaluate or endorse third party SEO tools. Every score you see comes from a tool, and each tool scores something different. A 75 in one report and a 75 in another may have nothing in common.

Most scores fall into one of three kinds.

  • Page checklist scores. These add up points for things like a good title, one clear H1, alt text and a canonical tag.
  • Speed and quality scores. Google's Lighthouse test grades a page on performance, SEO, accessibility and best practices, each from 0 to 100.
  • Authority scores. These estimate how strong a whole site's links are. The PageRanker Score is one of these.

Checklist Scores, and Whether 75 Is Good

A checklist score tells you how many basic on-page items a page gets right. Our page checker scores a page from 24 checks. A pass earns full points, a check earns half and a fix earns none, and every check is listed with its reason.

On a score like that, 75 is a decent start. It usually means the main pieces are in place and a few items need work. The useful part is not the number. It is the list of what lost points. Fixing a missing description or a skipped heading level is quick, and the score shows the change right away.

Do not chase 100 for its own sake. A perfect checklist does not mean a page will rank. It means nothing obvious is holding it back.

The Home page section of a report. It shows pass marks for title, meta description, H1 heading, word count, canonical tag, sharing image, response and load time, with two items marked to check.
From a real PageRanker report. Each check shows pass, check or fix, so you can see what lost points.

Speed and Lighthouse Scores

Lighthouse colors its scores in three bands. 90 to 100 is green, 50 to 89 is orange and 0 to 49 is red. Each audit we run includes a mobile Lighthouse test of your home page.

The performance score moves the most. It changes between runs, which the Lighthouse scoring page says is mostly down to changing conditions, and it depends on images, scripts and the server. The SEO score in Lighthouse only covers a short list of basics, such as whether the page can be indexed and has a title, so many sites score high there. Look at the timings beside the score too. Largest Contentful Paint shows how long the main content takes to appear on a phone. Google's guidance on LCP says to aim for 2.5 seconds or less.

Lighthouse score bandsLighthouse colors scores 0 to 49 red for poor, 50 to 89 orange for needs improvement, and 90 to 100 green for good. A score of 75 lands in the orange band. Lighthouse score bands 75 050100 0 to 49, poor 50 to 89, needs improvement 90 to 100, good
Lighthouse score bands, from the Lighthouse performance scoring page.
The Speed section of a report. It shows mobile Lighthouse scores of 100 for performance, 100 for SEO, 93 for accessibility and 100 for best practices, with every load timing marked good.
From a real PageRanker report. Four Lighthouse scores from a mobile test, with the load timings beside them.

Authority Scores Only Make Sense Side by Side

An authority score has no pass mark. The PageRanker Score runs from 0 to 100 and is built from link data, meaning how many sites link to a domain and how strong those sites are. Like most authority scores, it is steep at the bottom and flat at the top, so each step up is harder than the last.

That means a score of 20 can be strong for a local shop and weak for a national brand. The only fair test is against the sites you compete with. Audit the sites ranking above you for your main search and compare. As a worked example, if they score 30 and you score 12, links are a real gap. If you are level, look elsewhere.

How to Raise Each Kind of Score

  • A page checklist score rises as soon as you fix the items that lost points. Start with the title, the description and the headings.
  • A speed score rises when the page gets lighter. Shrink large images, remove scripts you do not need and let text show before fonts finish loading.
  • An authority score rises slowly as real sites link to you. There is no quick fix, and shortcuts like bought links can backfire.

Run the same check again after each change. Seeing the number move tells you the fix worked.

What Actually Matters More Than Any Score

  • Do you rank for the searches your customers use? The keyword section of an audit lists the searches you show up for and where you rank.
  • Is traffic going up or down? Check over months, not days.
  • Can search engines reach your pages? The crawl lists broken pages and redirect chains, worst first.
  • Do your pages answer the search? No score can fully measure that. Read your page as a customer would.

Scores are a fast way to spot problems and track progress. Use them as a guide, not a goal. Our list of common SEO mistakes covers the fixes that move scores and rankings most often.

Sources

Common Questions

Is 75 a good SEO score?

On a page checklist score, 75 is a decent start that means most basics are in place. On an authority score, it depends entirely on your competitors. Always check what the score measures first.

Does Google use SEO scores to rank sites?

No. Google does not publish or use third party SEO scores. They are estimates made by tools to help you find problems and compare sites.

Why do different tools give my site different scores?

Each tool measures different things and uses its own data. Link scores also depend on how much of the web each link index has found. Compare scores within one tool, not across tools.

How fast can I raise my SEO score?

Page checklist scores can rise the same day you fix titles, headings and tags. Authority scores rise slowly, as real sites link to you over months.

See where your own site stands. Links, Google rankings, a site crawl, mobile speed and your home page, checked in one report.

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