BEFORE/AFTER (recommendations)

BEFORE/AFTER is an audit recommendation format that shows specific content fragments BEFORE the fix and AFTER the fix—rather than vague suggestions like 'improve the intro,' this format provides specific instructions: 'replace THIS sentence with THIS sentence' with concrete examples.

Recommendations are based on SERP benchmark data (what competitors in the top 10 Google results do), rather than subjective assessment. This eliminates subjectivity and gives copywriters unambiguous implementation instructions. Each recommendation gets a priority calculated by Impact × (1/Effort), using a 5-point priority scale where recommendations range from '1-NOW' (like adding BLUF in the first 50 words—5 minutes of work, high impact) to '5-SKIP' (like complete article rewrites—high effort, limited impact relative to effort required).

For example: BEFORE 'leasing is a popular form of financing...' → AFTER 'An operating lease allows 100% VAT deduction on installments when financing company vehicles.'

Always cite the recommendation source: 'competitor X in the top 3 uses this format' provides stronger justification than subjective preferences. The BEFORE/AFTER format is integral to the Plan-Audit-Improve cycle.