TRAFFIC LIGHT OF CONTENT
Easily check, score and improve your content
Easily check, score and improve your content
Check your content online and view detailed evaluations for each individual criterion as well as the overall assessment. Download the evaluation for each piece of content as a PDF.
Help others improve their content by sharing the link to this webpage with them.
How can content marketing, marketing and PR succeed in creating content that exactly meets the needs of your target groups – permanently and in each individual case? How effectively do you contribute to the strategic and communication objectives of your company? How can you reliably check existing content?
In everyday work-life, it is often difficult to adhere to the quality standards that have been set once and to implement them. This is why I developed the content traffic light. Here I present you this valuable tool free of charge – with instructions and detailed questions about all seven criteria.
The content traffic light helps you and your team to quickly assess and improve your content in the main aspects that are crucial for your success – and thus also learn how to produce better content in the future.
A large number of people in companies and organizations, but also individual authors, have tested this easy-to-use score card and use it daily. May it help you, too.
Kerstin Hoffmann
The Content Traffic Light is published under Creative Commons license. This means that you are allowed to pass them on and embed them unchanged, if you include my name and the link to this page.
A commercial disclosure, for example in consultation and training, is expressly excluded. Modification and exploitation, for example in other tools, as well as translations into other languages are not permitted.
Download starts immediately; no registration required (PNG).
Based on the seven criteria and their corresponding options, any type of content, post, or even early-stage topic idea can be evaluated – from a single photo to a long-form text, from a social media post to an e-book. The scorecard is not an objective instrument; rather, it is grounded in the specific content (marketing) strategy and the user’s expertise. However, it makes it remarkably easy to apply that expertise quickly and in a targeted way – without constantly having to refer back to the strategy manual or other guidelines.
The traffic-light system can also assist in internal discussions. For example, someone in the company – perhaps an executive – insists that the communications team should develop a particular topic for the corporate blog and distribute it across all social media channels. A quick check using the traffic light reveals that the topic doesn’t even achieve a decent (that is: yellow) average score in any area. This provides strong, objective arguments for either postponing the topic or taking another look at it: How can we adapt, refine, or expand the idea so that the resulting content scores better?
The simplest and fastest way to use the traffic light is to place it next to your content and select one field for each of the seven criteria. A more detailed analysis with nuanced sub-criteria is available through the interactive tool. You can use it directly in your browser and download the results as a PDF. Alternatively, you can use it offline by selecting one of the three statements for each criterion.
The Content Traffic Light is a tactical tool. It complements the content strategy, but does not replace the strategic development. On the contrary: the better your strategy, the more effective your work with the content traffic lights can be.
In particular, you should ask the following questions before you start scoring your content:
Check online and download results
This tool is currently in its first release phase. Have you discovered a bug? Something is not working? Would you like to give me feedback? Please write to me!
Here you can enter a code, inventory number, or label for the content piece you are checking. It will be included in the PDF you can download afterwards:*
For each of the 7 criteria, you will find 3 statements. Please click a number from 1 to 5 for each statement:
1 = does not apply at all
5 = fully applies
Important: All data is stored exclusively in your browser. If you reload the page during the process, the data will be lost.*
Additional tip: Not everything has to be green! Nice-to-have content makes sense within a comprehensive content marketing strategy. Not everything can be of the highest relevance. Predominantly self-referential content, however, should be used only very sparingly and after careful consideration.
Additional tip: Not everything has to be green! Nice-to-have content makes sense within a comprehensive content marketing strategy. Not everything can be of the highest relevance. Predominantly self-referential content, however, should be used only very sparingly and after careful consideration.
Additional tip: Not everything has to be green! Nice-to-have content makes sense within a comprehensive content marketing strategy. Not everything can be of the highest relevance. Predominantly self-referential content, however, should be used only very sparingly and after careful consideration.
Additional tip: In most content marketing strategies, a balanced mix of evergreen content and content that is critical at a specific time is recommended. For this, it is crucial to identify the needs of your target audiences and stay in conversation with them.
Additional tip: In most content marketing strategies, a balanced mix of evergreen content and content that is critical at a specific time is recommended. For this, it is crucial to identify the needs of your target audiences and stay in conversation with them.
Additional tip: In most content marketing strategies, a balanced mix of evergreen content and content that is critical at a specific time is recommended. For this, it is crucial to identify the needs of your target audiences and stay in conversation with them.
Additional tip: Content can trigger very different emotions, from goodwill to resistance. Even purely factual content can be more or less engaging depending on word choice. Therefore, it is crucial to work deliberately on tone in your content strategy.
Additional tip: Content can trigger very different emotions, from goodwill to resistance. Even purely factual content can be more or less engaging depending on word choice. Therefore, it is crucial to work deliberately on tone in your content strategy.
Additional tip: Content can trigger very different emotions, from goodwill to resistance. Even purely factual content can be more or less engaging depending on word choice. Therefore, it is crucial to work deliberately on tone in your content strategy.
Additional tip: Content marketing strategies should not only be designed for short-term success, but should create long-term relationships and brand loyalty. This works particularly well through visible people as brand ambassadors, through Corporate Influencers.
Additional tip: Content marketing strategies should not only be designed for short-term success, but should create long-term relationships and brand loyalty. This works particularly well through visible people as brand ambassadors, through Corporate Influencers.
Additional tip: Content marketing strategies should not only be designed for short-term success, but should create long-term relationships and brand loyalty. This works particularly well through visible people as brand ambassadors, through Corporate Influencers.
Additional tip: Every good piece of content follows a common thread and has an internal logic that captivates the recipient and keeps them engaged. This applies not only to telling experienced or fictional stories, but also to every short factual piece.
Additional tip: Every good piece of content follows a common thread and has an internal logic that captivates the recipient and keeps them engaged. This applies not only to telling experienced or fictional stories, but also to every short factual piece.
Additional tip: Every good piece of content follows a common thread and has an internal logic that captivates the recipient and keeps them engaged. This applies not only to telling experienced or fictional stories, but also to every short factual piece.
Additional tip: The benefit for the recipients should be recognizable at first glance, but should also withstand lasting examination. Only if something changes through content is it useful. This does not always have to be a gain in knowledge. Entertainment value also represents a benefit.
Additional tip: The benefit for the recipients should be recognizable at first glance, but should also withstand lasting examination. Only if something changes through content is it useful. This does not always have to be a gain in knowledge. Entertainment value also represents a benefit.
Additional tip: The benefit for the recipients should be recognizable at first glance, but should also withstand lasting examination. Only if something changes through content is it useful. This does not always have to be a gain in knowledge. Entertainment value also represents a benefit.
Additional tip: Some content motivates sharing, others lead directly into a purchase process, and still others strengthen perception with the other person, that is, the image. Not every piece of content should or can contain an explicit call to action. What is crucial is that you clearly define the desired action or change in attitude for yourself.
Additional tip: Some content motivates sharing, others lead directly into a purchase process, and still others strengthen perception with the other person, that is, the image. Not every piece of content should or can contain an explicit call to action. What is crucial is that you clearly define the desired action or change in attitude for yourself.
Additional tip: Some content motivates sharing, others lead directly into a purchase process, and still others strengthen perception with the other person, that is, the image. Not every piece of content should or can contain an explicit call to action. What is crucial is that you clearly define the desired action or change in attitude for yourself.
Thank you for participating. It was definitely worth a try, but this piece of content clearly still has room for improvement. The target audiences do not reliably recognize why they should engage with it, and several key points do not work together. Relevance, benefit, or tone remain unclear at important places, so the content develops hardly any impact. A pity for the space or the consumed bits and bytes.
The good news: the individual evaluations show you where you can specifically improve your content.
Potential and further development: A thorough revision is worthwhile because even small adjustments can significantly improve your content. Start best where the lowest individual values are and work your way forward step by step. Orient yourself to the statements for the individual criteria and check how you can achieve a better value here. It may be worthwhile to fundamentally work on the strategy again. Probably information about target audiences and their behavior is missing. The Traffic Light of Content offers you many opportunities to work on details – but from there also to improve your overall content marketing strategy.
Additional tip: You don't have to turn everything green immediately. Invest specifically in your premium content. If these stand out positively, others may also perform less at times.
The approach is right, and you can see that immediately. The content has solid strengths but does not yet reach its full potential. Some aspects already address the target audiences well and thus contribute to your own goals. You could still refine others in detail.
Potential and further development: For many content pieces, such a value is perfectly sufficient. If your acceptable content should be developed into premium content, then it is worthwhile to expand the promising elements and specifically work on the weak points. Often just a few targeted adjustments are enough for the content to resonate more strongly and trigger greater response. Orient yourself to the statements for the individual criteria and check how you can achieve a better value here. The Traffic Light of Content offers you many opportunities to work on details – but from there also to improve your overall content marketing strategy.
Additional tip: This evaluation is initially based only on your assessment. That's why monitoring and success control are so important. Test variants in the next step and observe where the response increases. This way you develop a sense of how to best reach your target audiences with the right content.
Good work. If your self-assessment based on the questions is correct, you have created a very good piece of content here that can really advance your content marketing. Your content clearly addresses the target audiences, delivers a clear gain, and remains comprehensible throughout. Relevance, tone, and benefit work together coherently and motivate to stay engaged and continue.
Potential and further development: This content piece is a strong example of how professional communication works. Clearly, you have already done a lot right in the basics and in the strategic development. This way you have the information you need so that your content reaches the desired conversation partners and at the same time contributes to your own goals. Use this content also as a template to develop further content in a similar direction and specifically expand it.
Additional tip: Also check here which elements work particularly well. Transfer these to other formats or topics. This way, step by step, a reliable style emerges, and you need to check your content less and less often. What is crucial is the response from the other person. Therefore, monitoring and success control must show how well your content actually resonates with your target audiences.
Consulting & Keynote
You want to launch a brand ambassador/corporate influencer programme? You are a Social CEO or you accompany your CEO in digital media and are looking for an experienced sparring partner? Do you need support in your communication strategy? Do you want to plan and implement an effective content strategy?
Contact me for goal-oriented advice and support.
Book me for the keynote at your event or for a specialised lecture.
Fluent in German and English.