Why do I get different results with On-Page Grader and Page Optimization tool? What is the difference between these two tools?

[GLabs]

I use the Page Optimization tool to evaluate and make updates to a page until I get a grade of "A." But when I add the page and the keyword to the Page Optimization section of my campaign, it scores a 76% or 85% (which looks like a C or B to me). What would account for the difference in the evaluation results?

Thanks for your help!

[MattAntonino]

Well ... are you checking based on the same keyword? That's the first question. They both use 27 data points and I do think there's quite a lot of overlap, if not 100% ... so they should be fairly similar in terms of what's missing/what you should fix.

I just don't think they're graded the same way with the weights. As an example:

If I check my site http://mattantonino.com/ in the Page Optimization tab for my name, I see a score of 79 because I have addressed 22/27 factors.

Using the on-page grader I have also addressed 22/27 factors but ... I get an "F" for optimizing this keyphrase.

But the grader rates the importance of each factor - Critical! My title doesn't include my name. And two of the factors are "high importance."  The grader says that as well - "We weight the items graded by their importance level, which we determine by our industry experience and correlation research."

I think the Page Optimization is not weighted the same way - it's more of "how many boxes did you check."

As long as your SEO is done fairly well, the on-page grader AND the Page Optimization should only be used as a guide. I used the above example to illustrate the point as I'm currently ranking #2 behind my well-optimized LinkedIn profile for my name. Yes, if I put my name in the title I would shoot to #1. But #2 and the page got an F on the grader.

I chose the #1 ranking site for "SEO" here locally and it receives a "B" grade with the keyword used 193 times. The sites ranked #2 & 3 get an A and the one ranked 90th gets an A as well.

[moz_support]

Hi Brandon! Sorry about any confusion around this.

The reason you're seeing different scoring metrics is that we recently updated the Page Optimization section within your campaign. We realized the A-F grading system, while understandable in certain countries, is not used world-wide. It was causing confusion so we changed it to a 1-100 scoring system. We also adjusted some of the weighting of the optimization factors and added new explanations for the on-page issues. The Page Grader tool has not yet seen some of these updates, so you'll still see the old scoring system there, and because of the differences in weighting for the factors you might see slightly different scores. We plan to get the Page Grader up to par in the future!

I hope that clarifies things!