CQS Formula (weighted average)
Metrics & AuditCQS Formula is the Content Quality Score calculation: CQS = (CSI Alignment x 0.25) + (Cost of Retrieval x 0.20) + (Information Density x 0.15) + (SRL Salience x 0.10) + (TF-IDF x 0.10) + (E-E-A-T x 0.20), normalized to a 0–100 scale. Highest weights: CSI Alignment (25%) — whether content fulfills Central Search Intent; and E-E-A-T (20%) for author authority and experience. Together they account for nearly half the score.
Each dimension is scored 0–10 based on algorithms with specific thresholds and criteria. The formula enables objective comparison of content quality before and after optimization and benchmarking against competitors.
For example, an article with CSI 8, CoR 6, Density 7, SRL 5, TF-IDF 6, E-E-A-T 7 = (8x0.25)+(6x0.20)+(7x0.15)+(5x0.10)+(6x0.10)+(7x0.20) = 2.0+1.2+1.05+0.5+0.6+1.4 = 6.75, normalized to 67.5/100 = 'fix top 3 problems'.
In practice, start optimization with highest-weight dimensions. Improving CSI Alignment from 5 to 8 gives +0.75 points, while improving TF-IDF from 5 to 8 gives only +0.30.