Understanding Priority Scores

Priority scores help you decide which content to update first based on Google Search Console data and content age. This guide explains how the scoring system works.

What Are Priority Scores?

Priority scores are numerical values (0-90) that indicate how urgently a post needs updating.

Score Range:

• 80-90: Urgent - Update immediately
• 60-79: High priority - Schedule soon
• 40-59: Medium priority - Update when possible
• 20-39: Low priority - Monitor for changes
• 0-19: Minimal priority - Stable or no data

Higher scores mean:

• Content is aging
• Traffic is declining
• Opportunity is being missed

Requirements

Priority scores require:

• ✅ Google Search Console connected
• ✅ Site verified in GSC
• ✅ At least 3 months of GSC data
• ✅ Posts indexed and receiving traffic

Without GSC:

• ❌ No priority scores calculated
• ℹ️ Posts still analyzable and updatable
• ℹ️ Manual prioritization required

How Scores Are Calculated

Priority scores combine three factors, each worth up to 30 points:

• Content age
• Traffic decline
• Traffic potential

Factor 1: Content Age (0-30 Points)

What it measures: How long since the content was last updated

Why it matters: Older content becomes outdated and needs refreshing

How It Works

Points awarded based on age:

• 0-60 days old: 0 points (too new to need updates)
• 60-180 days: 1-10 points (starting to age)
• 180-365 days: 10-20 points (moderately old)
• 365+ days: 20-30 points (quite old, needs attention)

Age calculation uses:

• Published Date (if you selected this in settings): Days since post was first published
• Modified Date (default): Days since post was last updated

Factor 2: Traffic Decline (0-30 Points)

What it measures: How much traffic the post has lost recently

Why it matters: Declining traffic suggests content is becoming less relevant or losing rankings

How It Works

Comparison period:

• Current 90 days vs. Previous 90 days
• Uses Google Search Console impression data
• Measures percentage decline

Points awarded:

• No decline or growth: 0 points
• 1-10% decline: 1-5 points
• 10-20% decline: 5-10 points
• 20-40% decline: 10-20 points
• 40%+ decline: 20-30 points  

Factor 3: Traffic Potential (0-30 Points)

What it measures: Gap between visibility and engagement

Why it matters: High impressions but low clicks = missed opportunity

How It Works

What it evaluates:

• Impressions: How often post appears in search results (visibility)
• Clicks: How often people actually click (engagement)
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): Clicks ÷ Impressions

Points awarded for:

• High impressions + Low CTR = High potential score
• Low impressions = Low potential score
• High impressions + High CTR = Low potential score (already performing)  

Strategic value:

• Identifies underperforming content with existing opportunity
• Reveals where to focus optimization efforts
• Shows which posts are "almost there"

When Priority Scores Update

The scores update when you run prioritization again by clicking the "Prioritize" button in the dashboard.

Factors that change scores:

• Daily traffic fluctuations
• Posts getting updated (resets age)
• Changing date setting (Published vs Modified)
• New GSC data becoming available

Score stability:

• Scores are relatively stable day-to-day
• Major changes indicate real shifts in performance
• Check scores weekly for strategic planning

Limitations & Considerations

Posts Without Scores

Why some posts have no score:

• Not indexed by Google yet
• No impressions/clicks in GSC
• Very new (< 3 months)
• No GSC data available
• GSC not connected

These posts appear:

• At bottom of priority-sorted list
• Can still be analyzed and updated
• Just lack data-driven prioritization

Data Lag

GSC data has 2-3 day delay:

• Today's traffic won't show until 2-3 days later
• Scores reflect recent past, not real-time
• This is a Google limitation, not FreshRank

Impact:

• Very recent changes won't show immediately
• Use scores for strategic planning, not real-time monitoring

Seasonal Content

Scores may be misleading for:

• Holiday content (traffic naturally declines after holiday)
• Seasonal posts (summer content declines in winter)
• Event-based content (conference posts after event)

Solution:

• Consider content type when reviewing scores
• Don't blindly follow scores for seasonal content
• Use judgment alongside automation

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I manually change priority scores?

No, priority scores are calculated automatically based on GSC data and cannot be manually edited. However, you can use dashboard filters and bulk selection to override prioritization.

Why did my score drop after updating a post?

If you're using "Modified Date" setting, updating a post resets the Content Age factor to 0-5 points (depending on how recently updated). This is intentional—recently updated content drops in priority so you can focus on neglected posts.

Do priority scores affect analysis quality?

No, priority scores only help you decide which posts to analyze. Analysis quality is the same regardless of priority score.

What if my highest priority posts aren't important to my business?

Priority scores are based on traffic data, not business value. Use filters, manual selection, or ignore scores for posts that aren't strategically important. Your judgment > automation.

How accurate are priority scores?

Priority scores are objective calculations based on GSC data. The scores themselves are accurate, but whether they align with your priorities depends on your content strategy. Use them as one input among many.

Can I use priority scores without updating content?

Yes! Priority scores help you identify which posts to focus on—whether for content updates, promotion, link building, or other SEO activities. FreshRank updates are just one possible action.