The SEO Score Is Not the Goal. It’s a Health Check.
Scoring 100 on an SEO audit won’t guarantee top placement on Google Search. It won’t guarantee search traffic, conversions, or revenue either. But if your SEO score is below 80, it likely signals technical debt or structural gaps that limit your visibility.
At Kraken Dev Co, we don’t chase synthetic scores. We build infrastructure that earns real search engine rankings.
What Is an SEO Score?
An SEO score is a calculated number, usually out of 100, reflecting how well a website aligns with established technical SEO, on-page, mobile, and user experience standards. This score is not visible to search engine algorithms like Google’s. However, it correlates with how efficiently search engines like Google can crawl, interpret, and rank your content.
SEO scoring tools use criteria like:
- Structured data (schema)
- Site architecture
- Internal links
- Page speed
- Mobile responsiveness
- Title tags, meta descriptions, and headings
Think of your SEO score as a signal. High numbers reflect crawlable, indexable, accessible websites. Low numbers reflect risk.
SEO Score vs Search Engine Rankings
High SEO scores are indicators. They do not directly affect ranking factors, but they point to whether your content is optimised for Google’s algorithm updates and technical standards. The real aim is to improve search engine results page (SERP) visibility and match search intent.
A perfect SEO score without clicks is worthless. Strong rankings with broken infrastructure is fragile. Kraken Dev Co balances scoring insights with actionable SEO strategy.
What Impacts Your SEO Score?
We divide SEO scoring influences into five primary zones:
1. Technical SEO
- XML Sitemap validity
- HTTP/HTTPS consistency
- Robots.txt configuration
- Redirect chain health
- Faceted navigation logic
- Crawlability and indexability (Google Search Console)
2. Site Performance
- Page loading speed (especially mobile)
- Core Web Vitals
- Image compression
- Minified CSS/JS
3. Content Architecture
- Site structure and pillar page depth
- Internal linking using topic clusters
- Duplicate or thin content
- Keyword cannibalization
- Alt attributes and structured data
4. On-Page SEO
- Meta titles and descriptions
- Title tag formatting
- H1-H3 hierarchy
- Schema.org usage for rich snippets
- Search query alignment
5. UX and Mobile
- Mobile usability (Google Mobile Test)
- Navigation clarity
- CTA prominence
- Bounce rate and dwell time
SEO Tools That Measure Score
We use a blended stack of tools and manual inspection to assess SEO scores:
- Google Search Console (crawl stats, indexing, mobile usability)
- Google Analytics (bounce rate, user flows, goal tracking)
- Screaming Frog (site crawl, broken links, site structure)
- Surfer SEO (content scoring, keyword density, NLP)
- Ahrefs / SEMrush (link building profile, keyword rankings)
- PageSpeed Insights / Lighthouse (page speed, Core Web Vitals)
- Yoast SEO or RankMath (WordPress on-page checks)
No single tool gives the full picture. We audit using cross-referenced data and contextual human review.
What’s a Good SEO Score?
We rank scoring tiers as follows:
- 91–100: Elite execution. Advanced SEO, clear structure, high-quality backlinks.
- 71–90: Strong baseline. Good technical SEO, with opportunities to scale.
- 51–70: Fixable. Needs work on content, links, or mobile UX.
- Below 50: Red alert. Often tied to crawl errors, slow pages, broken architecture.
SEO tools often calculate scores differently. Rely on ranges, not absolutes.
Common Issues That Drag Scores Down
- Dead links or broken redirects
- Missing meta tags or duplicate content
- Low keyword density or irrelevant keyword phrases
- No structured data (schema)
- High bounce rate, low engagement
- Thin landing pages with weak content elements
- Overuse of long-tail keywords without topic clustering
- Slow mobile performance
Kraken Dev Co handles all these with a rigorous technical SEO checklist.
How to Improve Your SEO Score
1. Audit Technical Infrastructure
Use Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and Ahrefs to surface issues. Address all crawl errors, 404s, 500s, redirect loops, and dead pages.
2. Refactor Content and Meta Data
Rebuild pillar pages. Group content in topic clusters. Add internal links. Write clear meta titles, descriptions, and schema markup for rich results.
3. Improve Site Speed and Mobile Usability
Compress images. Defer unused JavaScript. Implement lazy loading. Ensure mobile-first responsiveness across breakpoints.
4. Strengthen Backlink Profile
Run a backlink checker. Disavow toxic inbound links. Launch digital PR and skyscraper link building campaigns.
5. Focus on Search Intent and Content Optimisation
Map content to user intent using Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, and social listening tools. Optimise content in search based on search volume, keyword density, and ranking factors.
Why SEO Score Alone Isn’t Enough
A high SEO score doesn’t account for:
- User intent satisfaction
- Voice search readiness
- Google’s featured snippets positioning
- Google Ads impact on visibility
- Brand awareness and unlinked brand mentions
SEO is about driving search traffic that converts. Not just ranking. Not just auditing.
Beyond SEO Score: Full-Funnel SEO Strategy
Scoring is an early indicator. Our complete SEO strategy includes:
- Entity SEO and semantic optimisation
- Internal linking architecture
- Content marketing at scale
- Skyscraper content + backlink outreach
- Keyword research + Surfer SEO optimisation
- Search engine algorithm adaptability
- SEO analytics, tracking keyword rankings
This is how Kraken Dev Co scales businesses through search.
Let’s Redefine What SEO Score Means
If your website is ranking low, it’s not just a score problem. It’s a structural one.
Kraken Dev Co delivers site-wide optimisation, precision technical work, and strategic content alignment. We’ll help you outrank, outperform, and outlast.
Stop guessing. Stop chasing vanity.
Start ranking.
