Astro Blog – Phase 5: Validation

Priority Legend:

• ⭐ ALWAYS – Every article, non-negotiable
• 🎯 HIGH-VALUE – Competitive keywords, commercial/pillar content

Validation Checklist

⭐ Critical Checks (Must Pass – Every Article)

• Human voice test – Read first 3 paragraphs aloud. Would someone guess AI wrote this? If yes, rewrite with more variety and imperfection
• Component density – Count all components (QueryAnswer, TL;DR, ExpertInsight, EngagementHook, etc). Max 5-7 (standard), 8-12 (pillar)
• Intentional typos – Count typing errors. Need 2-4 per article (thier, recieve, definately). NOT grammar errors
• AI pattern detection – Check for: All answer-first paragraphs? Transition words (Moreover, Furthermore)? Meta-commentary (It’s important to note)? If yes, fix

⭐ Readability Scores (Every Article)

Use hemingwayapp.com or readabilityformulas.com:

• Hemingway Grade: 6-8 (max 10 acceptable)
• Flesch Reading Ease: 60-70 (Plain English)
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade: 8-10 (max 12 for technical)
• Sentence length: <20% of sentences exceed 25 words
• Passive voice: <10% of sentences

⭐ Content Quality (Every Article)

• Intent declared – Frontmatter has intent field
• CTA matches intent – Check mapping table (informational→Newsletter, commercial→Quote, etc)
• Answer in first 120 words – QueryAnswer contains specific, direct answer with numbers
• TL;DR present – If >1000 words, TL;DR with exactly 3 bullet points
• TOC present – If >800 words, table of contents after intro
• H2 density – 3-4 H2 sections (standard) or 5-8 H2 sections (pillar)
• ExpertInsight count – 1-2 (standard) or 2-3 (pillar). NOT one per H2 (too formulaic)

⭐ Structure (Every Article)

• Internal links: 2-4 (standard) or 8-12 (pillar)
• First link position – Within first 100 words
• Anchor text quality – Descriptive phrases, no “click here” or “this article”
• Images: 3-5 (standard) or 6-10 (pillar)
• Image filenames – Descriptive with keywords (solar-panels-uk-2026.webp)
• Image captions – Present on screenshots, case studies, charts
• Visual spacing – No text blocks >350 words without image/list/table
• Paragraph length – Max 100 words, prefer 50-80 words

⭐ External Links (Every Article)

• Minimum 4 links – 1 citation + 1 authority + 1 reputation + 1 contextual
• Authority quality – At least 2 links to: gov.uk, .ac.uk, Which?, trade bodies, or professional LinkedIn profiles
• Context sentences – Every external link has explanatory sentence (no “source” or “here” anchors)
• Rel attributes – All external links have rel="noopener noreferrer". Affiliate links add rel="nofollow sponsored"

⭐ Technical Validation (Every Article)

• Required frontmatter – All fields present: title, description, pubDate, intent, topic, primaryCTA, category, author, entities
• Meta description: 150-160 chars – Use formula: [Answer] + [Benefit] + [Proof] + [CTA]
• FAQ schema – Required for commercial/comparison intent. 3-5 questions (standard), 5-8 (pillar)
• HowTo schema – Required for process/guide articles. 3-10 steps
• TypeScript strict – No any types in components
• NO client:load – All interactive components use client:visible or client:idle

⭐ Performance (Every Article)

Run Lighthouse audit:

• PageSpeed Mobile ≥90
• PageSpeed Desktop ≥95
• Bundle sizes – <100KB JavaScript, <50KB CSS
• Hero image – loading="eager" + fetchpriority="high"
• Other images – loading="lazy"

⭐ E-E-A-T (Every Article)

• ExperienceBlock data – Real case studies OR marked as placeholder. NO fabricated data
• Author credentials – Verifiable via LinkedIn profile link
• All statistics sourced – No “Studies show…” without citation and link

🎯 Information Gain (High-Value Articles)

• At least ONE of: (1) Original data/survey, (2) Unique case study, (3) Contrarian insight backed by evidence, (4) New framework/methodology, (5) Expert quote from interview

Output Required

Confirm:

1. All ⭐ checks passed – List any failures that need fixing
2. Readability scores – Hemingway, Flesch scores meet targets
3. Performance scores – Lighthouse mobile ≥90, desktop ≥95
4. Article ready to publish – Yes/No

Final Step

Article complete and validated. Ready to publish!