Content Effort audit
Visible work on the finished URL, scored — not hours spent, not keep/refresh/prune.
- CMS / live URLs
- Google Sheets
- Linear
Audit these 8 URLs for Content Effort. I need the six-signal table and what to add.
- Classified purpose6 listicles, 1 explainer, 1 comparison
- Scored visible evidenceTwo URLs at 9–11/12; five at 2–4/12; one at 0
- Separated origin from effortThree AI-assisted pages; only the one with dated screenshots scored High
- Named the addsFirst-party pricing worked at two seat counts on the five Low pages
Five of eight URLs are Lowest-risk evidence: interchangeable with the current SERP. The fix is not more words. It is one real workflow, dated screenshots, and a failure the vendor docs omit. The comparison page already scores High — leave it.
A content quality audit decides whether a page stays in the library. A Content Effort audit scores whether the Main Content shows satisfying, non-replicable human work. Quality is a library decision. Effort is the rater-facing labor on the page.
What is a Content Effort audit?
A per-URL review of visible effort evidence: first-party information, artifacts, synthesis, craft versus purpose, curation, and added value versus substitutes. It does not score word count or time logs.
Score visible labor on specified URLs
- Classify page purpose before applying the bar
- Score six on-page signals, 0–2 each
- Map totals to Lowest / Low / High evidence language
- Label leaked contentEffort as inference, not a Google spec
Name the missing evidence
- List which signals are zeros and why
- Recommend specific effort adds, not adjectives
- Separate origin (AI vs human) from the effort rating
Escalate when the problem is the system
- Optional scaled low-effort flag after sampling 3+ URLs
- Do not call one thin page a scaled-content-abuse penalty
- Hand off on-page implementation to the ski-ramp audit
How does visible effort differ from production effort?
Production effort is hours, cost, and process. Visible effort is the residue a stranger can point at on the live URL. Raters and any model scorer can only see the second.
How is content quality vs effort different?
Quality here means library decisions: keep, refresh, consolidate, or prune. Effort means whether this URL shows work that could not be generated from the current SERP. Run both. Do not merge the tickets.
What does the Content Effort checklist return?
A six-signal table (0–2 each, 0–12 total), a QRG-aligned band, a missing-evidence list, and prioritized adds such as a dated screenshot or a first-party measurement — not “write more.”
How the Content Effort audit works across your stack
The agent fetches the specified URLs, scores visible evidence against the six-signal rubric, and writes a per-URL table you can paste into Sheets. It does not need Search Console for the labor score — impressions belong on the quality/library audit, not here.
- CMS / live URLs
- Google Sheets
- Linear
Who uses this Content Effort audit
- SEO leads after a helpful-content or core update
- Separate paraphrase pages from pages that actually show first-party work.
- Teams shipping AI-assisted drafts
- Check whether the live URL has artifacts, not whether a human clicked generate.
- Consultants briefing writers
- Replace “add E-E-A-T” tickets with a named missing signal.
How to run this Content Effort audit in Metaflow
Name the URLs and the purpose
A list of pages plus what job each URL is supposed to do.
Let the agent score visible evidence
Six signals, purpose modifier, QRG-aligned band — no fake Google score.
Approve the effort adds
Zeros become measurements, screenshots, or decision rules — not extra words.
Hand off implementation
On-page skill applies the adds; this template stops at the verdict.
What you provide
- URL list
- Page purpose per URL (or inferred from the live page)
- Optional: three-URL sample when scaled low-effort is in question
What you get back
- Per-URL six-signal table
- QRG-aligned risk band
- Missing-evidence list and prioritized adds
- Optional site-level scaled low-effort flag
Why use this Content Effort audit?
Scores visible work on the URL, not hours in a ticket
Keeps QRG effort, the leak attribute, and people-first questions in separate columns
Distinct from keep / refresh / prune
AI origin is not the rating
Content effort audit FAQs
What is a Content Effort audit?
A review of how much satisfying, non-replicable work is visible in the Main Content. It is rater language from the Quality Evaluator Guidelines, not a published ranking-factor list.
Is Content Effort the same as a content quality audit?
No. Quality in the Card Library means keep, refresh, consolidate, or prune. Effort means visible labor on this URL. A page can be a keep and still be low effort.
Can AI content pass a Content Effort audit?
Yes, if first-party artifacts and added value are on the page. No, if the model restated the SERP and a human only fixed tone. Google’s handbook says generative AI alone does not determine effort.
How do you score Content Effort?
Six signals, 0–2 each, 0–12 total, then a purpose modifier. Bands map to Lowest / Low / High evidence language. The score is an editorial instrument, not Google’s weights.
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Key takeaways
- Visible effort is what you can point at; hours are not
- Quality = library decision; effort = work on the page
- Fix zeros with artifacts, not adjectives