Standalone deep dive, paid plans
Editorial policy compliance
A standalone deep dive for brands that already have a written editorial or voice standard. We read your guidelines document, then grade your published pages against the rules it sets, check by check.
What we check
- Whether published copy reads as the voice and tone attributes your guidelines describe
- Approved terminology, prohibited words and claim-qualification rules
- Style mechanics: capitalisation, spelling variant, numerals, dates and punctuation
- Headline patterns, CTA wording, reading level and content structure
- Whether the standard holds across the whole site, not just the homepage
Why it matters commercially
Guidelines only pay for themselves when the published site follows them. Drift between the rulebook and the live pages is where a brand quietly turns generic — and it is invisible until someone reads both side by side.
Example findings
- Guidelines require sentence-case headings; four service pages use title case throughout.
- Two pages use a superlative claim the guidelines only permit with a cited source.
The checklist we run
14 fixed checks. Each one is graded pass, needs attention, failed or not applicable, with the fact we observed printed beside the verdict. The category score is the weighted pass rate of these checks — nothing is invented.
Editorial guidelines exist and are usable
A written editorial, voice or copy standard was supplied and states rules a writer could follow.
high impact · low effort
Published copy matches the stated voice attributes
Page copy reads as the voice the guidelines describe, not a generic category tone.
high impact · medium effort
Tone shifts appropriately by context
Sales, support and educational pages follow the tone range the guidelines set out.
medium impact · medium effort
Approved terminology is used
Product, service and audience terms match the guidelines' preferred words.
high impact · low effort
Prohibited language is absent
Words, claims or cliches the guidelines rule out do not appear in published copy.
high impact · low effort
Claims follow the evidence rules
Superlatives, statistics and results claims carry the qualification the guidelines require.
high impact · medium effort
Style mechanics are applied consistently
Capitalisation, spelling variant, numerals, dates and punctuation follow the stated style.
medium impact · low effort
Headlines follow the stated pattern
Headings use the structure, length and sentence case the guidelines define.
medium impact · low effort
Calls to action use approved wording
CTA labels match the guidelines' action language rather than varying page to page.
medium impact · low effort
Reading level fits the stated audience
Sentence length and vocabulary sit where the guidelines say they should.
medium impact · medium effort
Content structure follows the standard
Intros, subheads, lists and length follow the documented content structure.
medium impact · medium effort
Inclusive and accessibility language rules are met
Copy follows the guidelines' inclusive-language and plain-language requirements.
medium impact · low effort
Sourcing and attribution rules are met
Quotes, data and third-party references are attributed as the guidelines require.
medium impact · low effort
Editorial standards hold across the site
The same standards are applied on blog, product and legal-adjacent pages, not only the homepage.
high impact · medium effort
Where the evidence comes from
- This category is judged from the pages and public profiles we retrieve for your brand, read directly rather than through a third-party data provider.
If a source is unreachable we mark it unavailable and exclude it. A blocked source lowers data coverage, never your score.
What the deep dive adds
On any paid plan you can run this category on its own. The deep dive re-reads the pages we retrieved with only these 14 checks in front of it, returns a verdict page by page, prints the measured data behind each finding, and orders the fixes by impact and effort. It uses one audit from your monthly allowance.
What you need to provide
your brand or editorial guidelines document Without it this category is marked Not assessed and excluded from your score rather than guessed at.
Industry brand audits
See how this section is scored for your sector: professional services brand audit, accounting & bookkeeping firms brand audit, architecture & design studios brand audit, automotive brand audit. Browse all industries.
The other scored categories
Brand foundation
Reputation & social
Website experience
Paid media
Local presence
Editorial policy
Questions
Editorial policy compliance: common questions
Which plan includes this category?
It is scored on paid plans from Starter upward. On the free scan it is shown locked, with the number of checks behind it, rather than partially guessed at.
What does the deep dive add over the overview report?
The overview scores this category in one pass over your site. The deep dive re-reads the same pages against all 14 checks on their own, returns a page-by-page verdict, prints the measured data behind each finding, and orders the fixes by impact and effort. It uses one audit from your monthly allowance.
Want it done for you?
The audit tells you what to fix. If you'd rather not do the fixing, The Branded Agency can take it from here.
Audit-holder rate
Copywriting rewrite
We take the findings from your audit and rewrite the messaging across your site: one clear promise, consistent supporting messages, and copy that search and answer systems can quote correctly.
Start the rewrite
Work with us directly
Strategic brand engagement
A strategist-led engagement that fixes the brand underneath the copy: positioning, story, personality and the message architecture every channel runs on.
Book your strategy call
The report identifies the signals. We find the causes.
Diagnosis is free. Fixing the cause is what our brand strategy and marketing services are for — see the results across our client work.