Before you publish another piece of content, you should know your score. Not because a number is the point, but because knowing where you stand makes everything you do next more intentional.
The inbound marketing self-assessment below is a 12-point scoring framework you can apply to your website right now. It will take about five minutes. What you do with the results will take longer, but the clarity you get from this exercise is worth considerably more than the time it costs.
How to Use This Assessment
Work through each of the 12 items below. For each one, give yourself a 1 if it’s fully in place, a 0.5 if it exists but could be improved, and a 0 if it’s missing entirely. Add up your score at the end.
This isn’t a pass/fail test. It’s a map. Every item scoring below 1 is an opportunity. The goal isn’t a perfect 12 on day one. The goal is to know specifically what to work on so you’re not guessing.
The 12-Point Inbound Marketing Self-Assessment
Section 1: Your Website Foundation (4 Points)
1. Clear Value Proposition (1 point)
Can a new visitor understand what you offer, who it’s for, and what they should do next within 10 seconds of landing on your homepage, without scrolling?
Score: 1 = Yes, immediately clear. 0.5 = Somewhat clear but requires reading further. 0 = Vague or confusing.
2. Mobile Performance (1 point)
Does your website load fully and function correctly on a mobile device? Run your homepage through Google PageSpeed Insights at pagespeed.web.dev. What is your mobile performance score?
Score: 1 = 80 or above. 0.5 = 60-79. 0 = Below 60.
3. HTTPS and Security (1 point)
Does your website use HTTPS (the padlock icon in the browser address bar)?
Score: 1 = Yes. 0 = No.
4. Basic On-Site SEO (1 point)
Do your most important pages have unique title tags and meta descriptions? Does each major post have a target keyphrase in the title, first paragraph, and at least one subheading?
Score: 1 = Yes, consistently. 0.5 = Some pages do, many don’t. 0 = Largely missing.
Section 2: Lead Capture Infrastructure (3 Points)
5. Email Opt-In Offer (1 point)
Do you have a specific lead magnet (not just “subscribe to our newsletter”) offered on your homepage and in your blog posts? Is the offer tied to a specific problem your audience faces?
Score: 1 = Yes, specific and relevant. 0.5 = Generic offer exists. 0 = No opt-in offer.
6. Dedicated Landing Page (1 point)
Do you have at least one landing page focused entirely on converting visitors into subscribers, with no navigation or distractions?
Score: 1 = Yes. 0.5 = Sort of (embedded in a regular page). 0 = No.
7. Email Sequence (1 point)
After someone opts in, do they receive an automated sequence of at least three emails (welcome, value, offer)?
Score: 1 = Yes, automated. 0.5 = One welcome email only. 0 = No automated sequence.
Section 3: Content Strategy (3 Points)
8. Consistent Publishing Cadence (1 point)
Have you published at least one new piece of original content (blog post, guide, or resource) in the last 30 days? Is there a pattern of regular publication visible on your site?
Score: 1 = Yes, regular cadence. 0.5 = Occasional publishing. 0 = Rare or no recent content.
9. Internal Linking (1 point)
Do your blog posts and pages link to each other? When you write a new post, do you link it to two or three related posts you’ve written previously?
Score: 1 = Yes, consistently. 0.5 = Sometimes. 0 = Rarely or never.
10. Keyword Research Driving Topics (1 point)
Are you choosing blog topics and page titles based on what your audience actually searches for, or based on what you think sounds interesting?
Score: 1 = Research-driven (you use tools or Google autocomplete to validate demand). 0.5 = Mix of both. 0 = Intuition only.
Section 4: Conversion and Measurement (2 Points)
11. Google Analytics or Equivalent Installed (1 point)
Do you have website analytics tracking set up and actively reviewed? Can you answer “which page drives the most leads?” and “where do most of my visitors come from?”
Score: 1 = Yes, regularly reviewed. 0.5 = Installed but rarely checked. 0 = Not installed.
12. Clear Calls to Action on Every Page (1 point)
Does every significant page on your site (services, about, blog posts, contact) have a clear, specific call to action? Not just “contact us” buried in navigation, but an action-oriented prompt in the page content?
Score: 1 = Yes, consistently. 0.5 = Some pages have them. 0 = Most pages don’t.
Reading Your Score
10-12: Your foundation is solid. You’re doing the right things. Focus now on optimization: which lead magnets convert best, which posts drive the most email sign-ups, what your email sequence metrics say about subscriber quality.
7-9: You have the basics but clear gaps. Identify which of the 12 items scored below 1 and prioritize the ones in Section 2 (lead capture). A solid lead generation infrastructure compounds over time. Fix that layer first.
4-6: You’re in the building phase. This is where most small businesses live when they first get intentional about inbound marketing. It’s not a bad place to start from. Work through the items in Section 1 first (foundation), then Section 2 (lead capture), then 3 (content). Don’t try to fix everything at once.
0-3: Start with the homepage. If your foundation isn’t solid, everything else you build sits on unstable ground. Fix your value proposition, mobile performance, and HTTPS before worrying about content cadence or email sequences.
What to Do With Your Score
The assessment doesn’t tell you how to fix the gaps. It tells you what the gaps are. For each item scoring below 1, the solution is typically one of these:
– A single afternoon of technical work (HTTPS, analytics setup, meta descriptions)
– A one-time creation task (build a lead magnet, set up an email sequence)
– An ongoing habit change (consistent publishing, internal linking practice)
The items in Section 2 (lead capture) have the highest ROI per hour invested. An email opt-in offer and a basic welcome sequence can be built in a weekend and pay dividends for years.
How This Connects to Tuesday’s AI Audit
Tuesday’s post covered what an AI website audit finds in practice. The self-assessment you just completed overlaps with that but serves a different purpose. The AI audit finds specific, technical issues. The self-assessment measures your inbound marketing infrastructure against a standard framework.
Used together, they give you two angles on the same problem: the technical layer (what’s broken) and the strategic layer (what’s missing). The fixes from the AI audit address the technical; the gaps from the self-assessment reveal where your inbound strategy has holes.
If you scored below 7 on this assessment, the TDE CE course is designed specifically for where you are right now. It walks you through building each of these 12 elements from scratch, in the right order, on a real website. Join the waitlist to be notified when enrollment opens.
For additional self-assessment frameworks and benchmarking data, see HubSpot’s inbound marketing benchmarks{target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”} and Moz’s beginner’s guide to SEO{target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”}.
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