The 12-Point HCP Audit Checklist for Shopify Blog Content
A 12-item pre-publish checklist for evaluating any blog post against Google's Helpful Content Policy, with pass/fail thresholds and the patterns Inxy's content generator enforces automatically.
The 12-Point HCP Audit Checklist
This checklist is designed to be run on any blog post before publishing — or as a retrospective audit on existing content. Each item maps to a documented HCP signal. Items marked High Priority are the patterns most commonly associated with demotion in D2C ecommerce stores based on post-update analysis.
Pass/fail thresholds are included where quantifiable. For items that require judgment, a description of what passing looks like is provided.
The Checklist at a Glance
| # | Item | Priority | Pass Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Title accuracy | High | Title matches what the article actually delivers |
| 2 | Byline present | High | Named author with linked bio |
| 3 | Author schema | High | Article JSON-LD with author entity and sameAs |
| 4 | Word count and density | High | 600+ words; under 15% filler |
| 5 | Original data or experience | High | At least 1 first-hand detail not on other sites |
| 6 | External citations | Medium-High | 2+ inline citations with context |
| 7 | Content freshness | Medium-High | Published or updated within 18 months |
| 8 | Internal link density | Medium | 2–4 contextual links to related pages |
| 9 | FAQ or structured schema | Medium | FAQ or HowTo schema where applicable |
| 10 | Visual originality | Medium | At least 1 non-stock original image |
| 11 | Heading specificity | Medium | No heading restates the article title |
| 12 | CTA relevance | Low | CTA connects to the article’s specific topic |
Detailed Item Breakdown
1. Title Accuracy
What it checks: Does the article deliver what the title promises?
Google’s quality raters are instructed to assess whether content fulfills the intent implied by its title and headline. “10 Ways to Layer Fragrances for Summer” that covers 4 ways and pads the rest with generic fragrance tips fails this check.
Pass: Every heading in the article is supported by substantive content in the body. If the title says “10 Ways,” there are 10 distinct, developed ways.
Fail: The body content underfills the title’s promise, or the title was written primarily to match a keyword rather than describe the content.
2. Byline Present
What it checks: Is there a named human author attributed to this content?
No byline is the single highest-risk HCP pattern in D2C blog audits. It is also the easiest to fix.
Pass: The article has a byline in visible rendered HTML (not just metadata). The byline names a specific person. The person’s name links to an author bio page on the domain.
Fail: No byline; or “Editorial Staff” as the sole attribution with no linked bio.
Note: Teams with one person writing all content can still use that person’s name. “Editorial Staff” is a trust antipattern regardless of team size.
3. Author Schema
What it checks: Is the author entity machine-readable and externally verifiable?
Pass: The page includes Article or BlogPosting JSON-LD schema. The author field is a Person type with name, url (linking to bio page), and sameAs (linking to LinkedIn or equivalent external profile).
Fail: No schema, or schema with author as a string rather than a typed entity, or no sameAs field.
Quick test: Run the page through Google’s Rich Results Test. If the author entity does not appear as a structured result, it needs fixing.
4. Word Count and Content Density
What it checks: Is the content substantial enough to be helpful, with minimal filler?
Pass: 600+ words for a topical article; 1,000+ for a buying guide or comprehensive how-to. Filler (restating the intro, padding with generic statements, repeating the keyword phrase without adding information) comprises less than 15% of total word count.
Fail: Under 500 words for a non-FAQ article; or above 800 words but more than 30% of content is padding.
How to identify filler: Read each paragraph and ask “does this paragraph contain information the reader did not have before reading it?” If no, it is filler.
5. Original Data or First-Hand Experience
What it checks: Does the content contain at least one piece of information that cannot exist without first-hand knowledge?
Pass examples:
- A specific customer survey result with sample size and percentage
- A product testing outcome with timeframe and observable detail
- An internal process, formula, or sourcing decision that only the brand knows
- A comparison between the brand’s product and a specific alternative based on direct testing
Fail: All factual claims are available verbatim or in paraphrase from other sources. No information requires the author to have direct experience with the subject.
6. External Citations
What it checks: Does the content reference and link to authoritative external sources?
Pass: 2 or more inline citations to peer-reviewed research, government sources, industry organizations, or recognized trade publications. Citations include context (not just a bare link). Each cited source is accessible.
Fail: Zero external links; or external links that go to low-authority sources; or citation links that are broken.
Acceptable sources by content category:
- Health and wellness: PubMed, NIH, professional medical associations
- Beauty: Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, AAD, FDA
- Nutrition: USDA, peer-reviewed nutrition journals
- Apparel and lifestyle: Industry trade publications, consumer testing organizations
7. Content Freshness
What it checks: Is the content current and has it been reviewed since publication?
Pass: Published within the last 18 months; or published earlier with a documented update within the last 18 months. The page displays a visible “Last updated” date when the content has been revised.
Fail: Published more than 18 months ago with no documented update. Especially high risk if the content contains date-specific claims that are now outdated.
Priority update targets: Any post ranking in positions 5–20 that has not been updated in 12+ months is a prime HCP risk even if it is currently performing.
8. Internal Link Density
What it checks: Does the article connect the reader to related content and products?
Pass: 2–4 contextual internal links to related blog posts, collection pages, or product pages. Links appear in context (within body copy) where they are genuinely useful to the reader, not just in a “related posts” widget.
Fail: Zero internal links; or links that go only to the homepage; or 6+ internal links that feel forced.
9. FAQ or Structured Schema
What it checks: Does the page use structured data appropriate to the content type?
Pass: Pages that answer specific questions include FAQ schema with at least 3 question-answer pairs. How-to content includes HowTo schema. Product comparison articles include appropriate structured data.
Fail: Content that answers common questions (detectable by the presence of “frequently asked questions” or question-format headings) but has no FAQ schema.
Note: FAQ schema also increases AI citation probability — AI engines preferentially pull from structured FAQ markup when generating answers.
10. Visual Originality
What it checks: Does the article include at least one image that is original to the brand?
Pass: At least one image per article that is: (a) original brand photography, (b) a brand-created infographic or chart using proprietary data, or (c) a screenshot of the brand’s own product, dashboard, or process.
Fail: All images are stock photos; or no images at all on articles over 800 words.
Why this matters: Quality raters can identify stock photo usage. Original imagery is a proxy for first-hand experience and credibility.
11. Heading Specificity
What it checks: Do the H2 and H3 headings add information, or do they restate the title?
Pass: Each H2 makes a specific claim or describes a specific scope. No H2 could be reasonably replaced by the article title.
Fail: H2s that look like “What Is [Topic]?”, “Benefits of [Topic]”, “How to Use [Topic]” — all of which restate the article topic rather than narrowing to a specific claim.
The test: If you replaced your H2 headings with the article title and the page still made sense, the headings are not specific enough.
12. CTA Relevance
What it checks: Does the call-to-action connect specifically to the article’s topic?
Pass: A buying guide for moisturizers ends with a CTA to the moisturizer collection. A post about skincare routines ends with a CTA to a routine-building tool or bundle.
Fail: Every article ends with the same generic CTA (“Shop our full collection”) regardless of what the article covered.
Using the Checklist for Bulk Audits
For stores auditing 50+ posts, scoring each item 0 or 1 produces a page score out of 12. Priority thresholds:
| Score | Recommended Action |
|---|---|
| 0–4 | Prune (delete or redirect) or full rewrite |
| 5–7 | Targeted improvement: fix items 1–6 first |
| 8–10 | Minor fixes: update freshness, add schema |
| 11–12 | Maintain and monitor |
Inxy’s audit tool runs this checklist automatically across your Shopify blog and produces a prioritized improvement queue. Posts scoring 0–4 are flagged for pruning consideration. Posts scoring 8–10 with high traffic potential are queued for the minor-fix workflow.