I was chatting with Kyra after her return from meshmarketing last month when the subject of Website Grader came up. At this point I hadn't heard of the tool but was intrigued enough to give it a try.
Here's how Website Grader describes their service:
"Website Grader is a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors."
I like the service as a starting point for evaluation, here's why:
- Beyond keywords. There's a ton of learning that needs to happen around the idea that search engine optimization is simply about keywords. I like that Website Grader uses one of the most important factors of SEO (inbound links) as a component in their grading algorithm.
- Beyond SEO. Sure, things like content, keywords, meta descriptions, and inbound links are important to SEO, but SEO is only one component of digital marketing. Among other things, Website Grader uses the inclusion of a contact form or email newsletter registration form and the publication of an RSS feed as key grading points.
- Social popularity. With a seemingly endless number of places for online conversations to take place it's very difficult to measure the effectiveness of a web site in one quick evaluation. By using Digg submissions and Delicious bookmarks in their grading algorithm Website Grader is only scratching the surface, but at least these components are considered.
- Speed. It only takes a couple of seconds for Website Grader to return a grade that covers a wide range of criteria. A proper marketing evaluation takes much more time and is quite detailed but I like that Website Grader provides a decent starting point.
It should be said that a more detailed evaluation of SEO, email marketing effectiveness, and the social media conversation is necessary prior to providing recommendations or making changes to a digital marketing program. If you're looking for a starting place though, go on and give Website Grader a shot and let me know what you think.
For an opposing opinion and some great comments from the people behind Website Grader, check this post out. The business model HubSpot is using behind Website Grader is pretty obvious too, so take that into consideration.
Happy grading!