Industry Data

Content Benchmarks

E-E-A-T scores by industry, readability scores by content type, and clarity benchmarks for writers, students, and SEO teams.

Score thresholds

Critical0–39

High risk of ranking drops. Core E-E-A-T signals are missing.

High Risk40–59

Needs significant improvement. Unlikely to rank well in competitive niches.

Medium60–79

Solid foundation. Some signals are missing but content can rank.

Low Risk80–100

Strong E-E-A-T signals. Well positioned for competitive SERPs.

Industry averages

Average E-E-A-T scores by industry. Most content is well below 60 — leaving significant room to outrank competitors.

Methodology: Scores are derived from Credify analyses across a sample of published content in each industry. Each piece was evaluated against the full E-E-A-T rubric — 25 points per dimension — using the same scoring engine applied to every analysis on this tool. Industry averages are updated periodically as more analyses are completed. These figures reflect the typical baseline, not the ceiling of what is achievable.
Health & Medical
YMYL — highest standards required
38
avg score /100
9
Experience
/25
12
Expertise
/25
8
Authority
/25
9
Trust
/25
Finance & Investment
YMYL — expertise and citations are critical
41
avg score /100
10
Experience
/25
14
Expertise
/25
9
Authority
/25
8
Trust
/25
SaaS & Technology
Practical tutorials rank better than theory
47
avg score /100
12
Experience
/25
16
Expertise
/25
10
Authority
/25
9
Trust
/25
E-commerce & Reviews
First-hand product experience drives scores
44
avg score /100
13
Experience
/25
11
Expertise
/25
10
Authority
/25
10
Trust
/25
News & Journalism
Bylines, dates, and sourcing matter most
52
avg score /100
13
Experience
/25
13
Expertise
/25
14
Authority
/25
12
Trust
/25
Food & Lifestyle
Personal experience and photos are strong signals
55
avg score /100
16
Experience
/25
13
Expertise
/25
12
Authority
/25
14
Trust
/25

Key insights

📉
Most content is below 60

The average E-E-A-T score across all industries is around 46/100. Scoring above 65 puts you ahead of most competitors.

⚠️
Expertise is the weakest signal

Expertise averages just 12/25 across industries. Adding technical depth and precise terminology is the fastest way to improve.

🏥
YMYL niches are hardest

Health and finance content faces the most scrutiny. Google's quality raters apply the strictest standards to these topics.

🔗
Authoritativeness needs citations

Most content lacks external references. Adding even 2–3 credible citations can significantly improve your authority score.

✍️
Experience signals are rare

First-person language like "In our testing..." or "We found that..." is rarely used. It's a huge differentiator.

🎯
Score 80+ to dominate

Content scoring above 80 is rare in every industry. Reaching this threshold places you in the top tier for quality signals.

Readability & clarity benchmarks

Average readability and clarity scores by content type. Useful for writers, students, and academics benchmarking their own work.

Methodology: Flesch Reading Ease scores and clarity metrics are derived from Credify analyses across a sample of published content in each category. Flesch scores range from 0 (very difficult) to 100 (very easy). Clarity scores reflect passive voice frequency, sentence length, and filler word density on a 0–100 scale.
Blog Posts & Articles
Conversational tone, short paragraphs, active voice
Grade 8–9
62
Flesch Score
/100
71
Clarity Score
/100
9%
Passive Voice
News & Journalism
Tight sentence structure, strong sourcing, clear bylines
Grade 9–10
58
Flesch Score
/100
74
Clarity Score
/100
12%
Passive Voice
Marketing & Landing Pages
Short sentences, direct claims, minimal hedging
Grade 7–8
72
Flesch Score
/100
78
Clarity Score
/100
6%
Passive Voice
Technical Documentation
Higher passive voice is expected; precision over simplicity
Grade 12–13
35
Flesch Score
/100
63
Clarity Score
/100
18%
Passive Voice
Student Essays
Common clarity issues: nominalization, hedging, long sentences
Grade 11–12
42
Flesch Score
/100
61
Clarity Score
/100
24%
Passive Voice
Academic Papers
Specialist audience; passive voice in methods is standard practice
Graduate+
18
Flesch Score
/100
52
Clarity Score
/100
32%
Passive Voice

What the readability data tells us

✍️
Student essays average 24% passive voice

Reducing passive voice to under 15% is one of the fastest ways students can improve their clarity score and writing quality.

📰
News scores highest on clarity

Journalistic writing — short sentences, strong verbs, active voice — consistently produces the clearest prose regardless of topic complexity.

🎓
Academic writing is an outlier

A Flesch score of 18 is deliberate. Academic audiences are specialists. But even academic writing benefits from clearer sentence structure.

📈
Marketing copy is the most readable

Marketing writes for the fastest possible comprehension — grade 7–8 reading level. This is a useful target for blog content aimed at general audiences.

See where your content stands

Run a free analysis and compare your E-E-A-T score, readability, or clarity against these benchmarks.

Check E-E-A-T Score →Check Readability →Check Clarity →