What Is a Good SEO Score? (And How to Check Yours for Free)

Run your website through an SEO checker and you'll get a score, usually out of 100, often with a letter grade. But what counts as a good SEO score, and why do different tools give the same site different numbers?

This guide explains what SEO scores measure, what a good score looks like, and how to improve yours.

What an SEO score measures

An SEO score is a quick summary of how many problems a tool found on your website. Most tools start at 100 and take points off for each issue, like missing page titles, broken links, slow pages or missing security settings.

It's a health check, not a ranking. A score of 90 doesn't mean you'll rank on page one, and a score of 60 doesn't mean you can't. It tells you how much is holding your site back.

What is a good SEO score?

Every tool uses its own scale, but as a rough guide:

• 90 to 100: excellent. Only small issues left.
• 75 to 89: good. A few things worth fixing.
• 60 to 74: needs work. Some problems are likely holding you back.
• Below 60: poor. Fix the biggest issues first.

On ValueTheWebsite, scores also get a letter grade: A for 93 and up, B for 85 to 92, C for 75 to 84, D for 65 to 74, and F below that.

Why SEO checkers give different scores

Two tools can give the same site very different numbers because they:

• Check different things: some only look at your homepage, others scan your whole site
• Weigh problems differently: one tool may treat a missing description as minor, another as serious
• Use different speed data: lab tests and real-visitor data can disagree

That's why the list of issues matters more than the number. Our comparison of how the popular SEO analysis tools compare explains the differences.

SEO score vs. Domain Authority

Domain Authority is a different number. It estimates how established your domain is based on links from other websites, on a 1 to 100 scale created by Moz. It changes slowly and is mostly about off-page reputation, while your SEO score reflects problems you can fix on your own site. Our guide on how to check your backlinks for free explains how links affect it.

How to raise your SEO score

1. Fix anything that blocks Google, like robots.txt rules or "noindex" tags on pages you want found
2. Repair broken links and redirect deleted pages
3. Add unique titles and descriptions to every page
4. Give every page one clear main heading
5. Speed up slow pages, starting with oversized images
6. Turn on HTTPS and basic security settings

Then scan again to confirm the fixes worked.

How to check your SEO score for free

ValueTheWebsite's free scan checks up to 100 pages for SEO, speed and security and gives you a score, a letter grade and a list of issues ranked by what to fix first. You can see what a complete report looks like in our sample Full Report.

Frequently asked questions

Is an SEO score of 70 good?
It's average. A score around 70 usually means a few real problems are worth fixing, often missing titles, slow pages or broken links.

Can I get a perfect SEO score of 100?
It's possible on small, well-built sites, but it isn't necessary. Focus on fixing the issues that matter rather than chasing a perfect number.

Does a higher SEO score mean better rankings?
Not directly. Fixing the problems behind a low score removes what's holding you back, but rankings also depend on your content, your competition and links from other sites.

How often should I check my SEO score?
Once a month is plenty for most sites, and always after a redesign, a new plugin or a move to a new host.