How Marketing Audit Report Grades Are Calculated

By Sparkforge Support Team ·Last reviewed May 3, 2026

The Sparkforge Marketing Audit Report grades five sections — Business Information, Reviews, SEO, Website, and Listings — at 20% each. Scores are color-coded from dark red (0-20%) to dark green (81-100%).

The Marketing Audit Report scores a business across five sections, each weighted equally. This article breaks down how each grade is calculated so you can interpret the report and identify what to fix first.

Overall score

Five sections at 20% each:

Business Information — 20%
Reviews — 20%
SEO — 20%
Website — 20%
Listings — 20%

Color scheme

Range	Label	Color
0–20%	Worse	Dark Red
21–40%	Bad	Red
41–60%	Average	Orange
61–80%	Better	Green
81–100%	Exceptional	Dark Green

Business Information section

Sub-categories and their weights:

GBP Claim Status — 20%
Review Reply Percentage — 20% (0% reply = 0; 11–49% = 10; 50–89% = 15; 90–100% = 20)
WordPress or Sparkforge Website — 20%
Text-Enabled Business Number — 15%
Chat Widget — 15%
Operational Hours — 5%
Business Photos — 5%

Reviews section

Reviews measure both customer sentiment and reputation strength. Sources:

Google Reviews — 75%
Facebook Reviews — 25%

A perfect star rating doesn't always produce a perfect Reviews score when total review count is very low. The score factors in volume to reflect credibility, not just average rating. If your audit doesn't reflect recent reviews, refresh the report to pull the latest analysis.

Listings grade

The Listings grade evaluates the accuracy and impact of your business listings across the web. It accounts for:

Listing accuracy: how consistent your business info is across platforms.
Source importance: the influence of each listing site, with priority for major platforms like Google.
Overall visibility: the breadth of your presence across relevant directories.

A higher grade signals a strong, consistent online presence — good for discoverability and credibility.

Website Performance section

Page Speed Mobile — 25%
Page Speed Desktop — 25%
Overall SEO — 30%
Interactivity — 10%
Large Content — 10%

SEO section

The SEO score is built from 9 heat-map points (one central, eight outer) with weighted ranking:

Central heat-map point (20%)

Rank 1 — 20%
Rank 2 — 10%
Rank 3 — 5%

Outer heat-map points (10% each, 8 total)

Rank 1 — 10%
Rank 2 — 5%
Rank 3 — 3%

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my star rating high but my Reviews score isn't?

Total review volume affects the Reviews score, not just the average. A 5-star average from three reviews scores lower than a 4.7-star average from 200 reviews because credibility weighs in.

How are listings sources weighted?

Major platforms like Google get more weight than smaller directories. Listings score reflects both accuracy across sites and the relative importance of each source.

My audit report doesn't show recent reviews. Why?

Refresh the report to trigger a new analysis. The audit caches results between refreshes — recent activity won't appear until you reload.

What does the central heat-map point measure in SEO?

It's the central location used in local search rank tracking — the most heavily weighted point in the SEO grade.

How can I move from Average (orange) to Better (green) overall?

Focus on the lowest-scoring section first. Most often it's Reviews (reply rate, volume) or Website (mobile page speed). Each section is 20% of the total, so a single section moving from 50% to 75% has a real impact.