📘
Content Revenue Ranker Workbook — End-User Instruction Manual
Instruction Manual · How to use this template
The Content Revenue Ranker Workbook transforms every piece of content you publish — blog posts, videos, emails, social media — into a scored profit-and-loss line item so you can see exactly which content earns money and which drains it. It is built for solo creators, content marketers, agency owners, and small-business operators who need to allocate limited budgets toward the content that actually compounds revenue. The workflow is simple: log each piece of content with its performance numbers in the Content Revenue Log, score it on four strategic dimensions in the Revenue Scorecard, and then review the fully automated Dashboard that ranks, benchmarks, and visualizes every piece side by side. Weighted rankings, velocity metrics, and forecast columns surface your top earners, flag underperformers, and tell you exactly where the next dollar should go.
⚡ Quick start
1Step 1 — Open the 'Read Me' sheet first and review the color-coding legend: blue-header columns are cells you type into; green-header columns marked with ƒ are auto-computed by formulas — never overwrite them.
2Step 2 — Go to the 'Content Revenue Log' sheet and enter one row per piece of content. Fill in Title, Type, Channel, Published date, Views, Leads, Revenue, Spend, and Goal. As soon as you save a row, 18 formula columns auto-populate with profit, ROI, rank, velocity, and more.
3Step 3 — Switch to the 'Revenue Scorecard' sheet. For each title, rate four subjective dimensions — Reach, Engage, Impact, and Effic — on a 1-to-10 scale. The sheet instantly calculates a weighted composite Score, a Verdict label, and 14 additional analytics columns. A channel summary table also auto-fills below.
4Step 4 — Open the 'Dashboard' sheet — this is your command center. Every number here is auto-pulled from the other two sheets via lookups and aggregation formulas. Review the KPI cards at the top, scan the content-level and channel-level tables, and study the six charts to decide where to invest next.
5Step 5 — Use the built-in ✨ AI side-panel (look for the sparkle icon in the right sidebar) to ask questions like 'which content should I cut?' or 'explain cell G5' for instant, plain-language guidance on any metric.
6Step 6 — Return weekly or monthly: add new content rows in the Content Revenue Log, update Views/Leads/Revenue as numbers change, re-score in the Revenue Scorecard, and let the Dashboard refresh automatically.
The Content Revenue Log is the primary data-entry sheet and the single source of truth for every piece of content you track. Each row represents one content asset — a blog post, video, email campaign, or social post — with its raw performance numbers. Once you fill in the nine input columns, 18 formula columns instantly compute profitability, efficiency, velocity, and ranking metrics that feed the other two sheets.
✍️ Step by step
11. In the Title column, type a short, unique name for the content piece (e.g. 'Q2 Product Launch Video'). Every title must be unique because the Revenue Scorecard and Dashboard use it as a lookup key.
22. In the Type column, enter the content format — for example 'Blog', 'Video', 'Email', 'Podcast', or 'Social Post'. Keep your labels consistent (always 'Blog' not sometimes 'blog post') because charts and summaries group by this value.
33. In the Channel column, enter where the content was distributed — e.g. 'YouTube', 'Newsletter', 'Organic Search', 'Instagram', 'LinkedIn'. Again, keep spelling consistent for accurate grouping.
44. In the Published column, enter the date the content went live in your spreadsheet's date format (e.g. 2025-03-15 or 03/15/2025). This date is used to calculate Age, Revenue Velocity, and Payback Period.
55. In the Views column, enter the total number of views, impressions, or opens as a whole number (e.g. 12500). For emails, use opens; for videos, use views; for blogs, use pageviews.
66. In the Leads column, enter the number of conversions, sign-ups, or qualified leads generated by this content (e.g. 340). This feeds the Conversion Rate and Cost-per-Lead calculations.
77. In the Revenue column, enter total revenue attributable to this content in dollars (e.g. 4800). Include all revenue — direct sales, affiliate commissions, sponsorship — tied to this piece.
88. In the Spend column, enter total cost to produce and distribute the content in dollars (e.g. 1200). Include production, ad spend, freelancer fees, software costs, and any paid promotion.
99. In the Goal column, enter your revenue target for this content in dollars (e.g. 5000). The Progress and Goal Gap formulas compare actual revenue against this target.
📋 Column-by-column
| Title | INPUT — Type a short, unique name identifying this content piece (e.g. 'Holiday Gift Guide Blog'). Each title must be distinct across the workbook because the Revenue Scorecard and Dashboard use VLOOKUP on this column to pull data. Keep it concise but recognizable. |
| Type | INPUT — Enter the content format using a consistent label such as 'Blog', 'Video', 'Email', 'Podcast', or 'Social Post'. This value drives the 'Revenue by Type' and 'Profit Share by Type' charts, so inconsistent spelling (e.g. 'blog' vs 'Blog Post') will split your data into separate categories. |
| Channel | INPUT — Enter the distribution channel, e.g. 'YouTube', 'Organic Search', 'Newsletter', 'Instagram', 'LinkedIn', 'Paid Search'. This feeds channel-level roll-ups on the Revenue Scorecard and Dashboard. Use the same label every time for each channel. |
| Published | INPUT — Enter the date the content was published or went live, in standard date format (e.g. 2025-06-01). This is the anchor for all time-based calculations including Age (days since publish), Revenue Velocity ($/Day), Payback Period, and Annualized Revenue. |
| Views | INPUT — Enter the total number of views, impressions, or opens as a whole number (e.g. 8500). For blog posts use pageviews, for videos use video views, for emails use opens. This drives the $/View efficiency metric and the Views KPI card. |
| Leads | INPUT — Enter the total number of leads, sign-ups, or conversions generated by this content (e.g. 150). A 'lead' is whatever downstream action you define — email sign-up, demo request, purchase. This feeds CVR (Conversion Rate) and $/Lead calculations. |
| Revenue | INPUT — Enter total revenue in dollars attributed to this content (e.g. 3200.00). Include direct sales, affiliate income, sponsorship revenue, or any monetary return tied to this piece. This is the numerator for ROI, Margin, Profit, and nearly every other formula column. |
| Spend | INPUT — Enter total cost in dollars to produce and promote this content (e.g. 750.00). Include freelancer fees, ad spend, software, hosting, and any out-of-pocket cost. This is subtracted from Revenue to calculate Profit and is the denominator for ROI. |
| Goal | INPUT — Enter the revenue target in dollars you set for this content (e.g. 5000). This lets the Progress column show how close you are to goal and the Goal Gap column show the remaining dollars needed. If you have no specific target, enter your break-even amount (equal to Spend). |
| ƒProgress | FORMULA — Progress toward Goal, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as Revenue ÷ Goal × 100. A value of 100% means you hit your target exactly; above 100% means you exceeded it. Below 50% after significant time suggests the content is underperforming its target. |
| ƒProfit | FORMULA — Net Profit in dollars. Calculated as Revenue − Spend. A positive number means the content earned more than it cost; a negative number means it lost money. This is the most fundamental profitability metric — any content with negative Profit needs investigation or retirement. |
| ƒROI | FORMULA — Return on Investment, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as (Revenue − Spend) ÷ Spend × 100. An ROI of 200% means you earned $2 for every $1 spent. Anything above 0% is profitable; top-performing content typically shows 300%+ ROI. Negative ROI means a net loss. |
| ƒ$/View | FORMULA — Revenue per View (also called Earnings per Impression). Calculated as Revenue ÷ Views. Expressed in dollars. A value of $0.50 means each view generated fifty cents of revenue on average. Higher is better — compare across content types to see which formats monetize attention most efficiently. Typical values range from $0.01 to $2.00 depending on niche and monetization model. |
| ƒCVR | FORMULA — Conversion Rate, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as Leads ÷ Views × 100. It measures what fraction of viewers took your desired action. A CVR of 3% means 3 out of every 100 viewers converted. Good CVR varies by industry: 1-3% is common for blogs, 5-15% for targeted emails. Higher is better. |
| ƒAge | FORMULA — Content Age in days. Calculated as Today's Date − Published Date. It shows how long the content has been live. Used internally by the $/Day, Payback, Annualized Revenue, and Speed Rank formulas to normalize performance over time. Newer content will naturally have lower cumulative numbers, so Age contextualizes those figures. |
| ƒRank | FORMULA — Overall ordinal rank among all content rows based on a composite of profitability and efficiency metrics. Rank 1 is your single best-performing piece of content. Use this column to quickly sort and identify your top and bottom performers at a glance. |
| ƒ$/Lead | FORMULA — Cost per Lead (also called Customer Acquisition Cost at the lead stage). Calculated as Spend ÷ Leads. Expressed in dollars. A value of $5.00 means it cost five dollars to generate each lead from this content. Lower is better. Compare across channels to find your cheapest lead sources. |
| ƒ$/Day | FORMULA — Revenue Velocity, expressed as dollars earned per day since publication. Calculated as Revenue ÷ Age. A value of $25/day means the content generates twenty-five dollars of revenue on average for every day it has been live. Higher values indicate faster-earning content. This metric normalizes for age so you can fairly compare a 7-day-old video against a 90-day-old blog post. |
| ƒPayback | FORMULA — Payback Period in days. Calculated as Spend ÷ (Revenue ÷ Age), which simplifies to (Spend × Age) ÷ Revenue. It estimates how many days from publication until cumulative revenue covers the total spend. A Payback of 30 means the content breaks even in about one month. Lower is better; content with Payback longer than 180 days may need re-evaluation. |
| ƒRev % | FORMULA — Revenue Share, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as this row's Revenue ÷ Total Revenue across all rows × 100. It shows what fraction of your overall content revenue this single piece contributes. A Rev % of 15% means this one asset drives 15 cents of every dollar you earn from content. Use it to spot concentration risk — if one piece is above 40%, your revenue is dangerously dependent on it. |
| ƒMargin | FORMULA — Profit Margin, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as Profit ÷ Revenue × 100, or equivalently (Revenue − Spend) ÷ Revenue × 100. A Margin of 75% means seventy-five cents of every revenue dollar is profit. Higher is better. Margins above 60% are strong; below 20% suggest high production costs relative to earnings. |
| ƒScore | FORMULA — Composite Performance Score, a weighted index that combines multiple metrics (ROI, Margin, Velocity, Conversion Rate, and others) into a single number for ranking. Higher is better. This score powers the Rank and Top % columns and provides a balanced view that does not over-weight any single metric. Typical scores range from 0 to 100. |
| ƒTop % | FORMULA — Top Percentile, expressed as a percentage. Indicates where this content falls relative to all other rows. A Top % of 10% means this piece is in the top 10% of all your content. Calculated from the Rank relative to total row count. Lower percentages are better — they mean elite performance. |
| ƒSpeed Rank | FORMULA — Speed Rank, an ordinal ranking based on Revenue Velocity ($/Day). Rank 1 is the fastest-earning piece of content. Use this alongside the overall Rank to see whether your best content by total profit is also your fastest earner, or whether a newer piece is accelerating more quickly. |
| ƒAnnual Rev | FORMULA — Annualized Revenue, an estimate of what this content would earn over a full 365-day year if it maintained its current daily revenue pace. Calculated as $/Day × 365. Useful for budgeting and forecasting. Note that this is a projection, not a guarantee — seasonal content or viral spikes may inflate this number. |
| ƒPft/Day | FORMULA — Profit per Day, expressed in dollars. Calculated as Profit ÷ Age. It shows how much net profit the content generates on average each day. Higher is better. Compare this against $/Day (Revenue per Day) to see how much of your daily revenue is actually retained as profit versus consumed by costs. |
| ƒGoal Gap | FORMULA — Goal Gap in dollars. Calculated as Goal − Revenue. A positive Goal Gap means you still need that many dollars to hit your target. A negative Goal Gap (or zero) means you have met or exceeded your goal. Use this to prioritize promotional effort — content with a small positive Goal Gap may need just one more push to cross the finish line. |
📊 Reading the numbers
• Total Revenue KPI shows the sum of all Revenue entries — this is your gross content income. Compare it month over month to confirm your content engine is growing.
• Net Profit KPI is Total Revenue minus Total Spend — the actual money you keep. If this is negative, you are spending more on content than you earn from it.
• Weighted ROI KPI is a revenue-weighted average ROI across all content; it weights high-revenue pieces more heavily so a small, high-ROI piece does not skew the average. Healthy portfolios show Weighted ROI above 150%.
• The Revenue vs Spend bar chart visually compares income and cost per content piece — look for bars where the red spend bar towers over the blue revenue bar, those are your money-losers. The Profit by Piece chart shows net profit per item; any bar below zero is a loss-maker. Revenue by Type groups your totals by format so you can see if Blog outperforms Video overall. Revenue Velocity shows $/Day per piece — tall bars are fast earners. Margin Profile displays each piece's profit margin as a bar — look for any below 20%. Profit Share by Type shows what percentage of total profit each content type contributes.
• The Avg Margin KPI is the simple average of all Margin values; aim for 50%+ across your portfolio. Views and Leads KPIs show total audience reach and total conversions — track these to ensure your funnel top and middle are healthy even if revenue fluctuates.
⚠️ Avoid these mistakes
• Do not leave the Published date blank — every time-based formula (Age, $/Day, Payback, Speed Rank, Annualized Revenue) will break or show an error.
• Do not enter Spend as zero when there was a real cost — this inflates ROI to infinity and distorts all efficiency metrics. If production was truly free, enter 0 intentionally.
• Do not duplicate a Title — the Revenue Scorecard and Dashboard use VLOOKUP on Title, and duplicates will cause only the first match to be returned, hiding data for the second entry.
• Do not overwrite any green/ƒ column — these contain formulas. If you accidentally delete a formula, use Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) immediately to undo.
💡 Tips• Sort by ƒRank ascending to see your best content at the top; sort by ƒGoal Gap ascending to see which pieces are closest to hitting their revenue target.
• Use Google Sheets' built-in filter (Data → Create a filter) on the Type or Channel column to analyze one segment at a time without losing your other data.
• Update Views, Leads, and Revenue monthly for evergreen content — the velocity and annualized metrics become more accurate with fresher data.
• Add a new row at the bottom for each new content piece; do not insert rows in the middle, as this can shift formula references in the other sheets.
The Revenue Scorecard adds a strategic scoring layer on top of the raw numbers from the Content Revenue Log. You rate each content piece on four subjective dimensions — Reach, Engage, Impact, and Efficiency — and the sheet computes a weighted composite Score, a plain-English Verdict, and 14 additional analytics columns including 90-day forecasts, LTV multipliers, and budget allocation percentages. A second table below automatically summarizes performance by Channel.
✍️ Step by step
11. The Title column should match the exact titles you entered in the Content Revenue Log — the sheet uses VLOOKUP to pull Revenue and Profit data, so spelling must be identical. You can type them manually or copy-paste from the Content Revenue Log.
22. In the Reach column, rate how broad the content's audience exposure is on a scale of 1 (very narrow niche, few impressions) to 10 (massive reach, viral-level exposure). Base this on Views relative to your typical content performance.
33. In the Engage column, rate how deeply the audience interacted on a scale of 1 (high bounce, no comments) to 10 (long watch time, many comments/shares, high click-through). Base this on engagement metrics from your analytics platform.
44. In the Impact column, rate how effectively the content drove business outcomes on a scale of 1 (no conversions, no pipeline) to 10 (direct, attributable sales and high-value leads). Base this on the Leads and Revenue numbers from the Content Revenue Log.
55. In the Effic column (short for Efficiency), rate how cost-effectively the content was produced and distributed on a scale of 1 (very expensive relative to output) to 10 (low cost, high return). Base this on the ROI and Margin values from the Content Revenue Log.
66. Once all four scores are entered, the ƒScore column instantly computes a weighted composite, and ƒVerdict assigns a plain-language label (e.g. 'Star', 'Strong', 'Average', 'Weak', 'Cut'). All remaining ƒ columns auto-fill with analytics.
77. Scroll down to the Channel summary table — this auto-aggregates your content by Channel (e.g. YouTube, Organic Search) and computes Pieces, Spend, Revenue, Profit, Avg ROI, ROAS, Margin, CVR, CAC, Revenue per Piece, Efficiency Score, and Status for each channel.
88. Review the six charts to the right: Weighted Scores shows each piece's composite score, Revenue by Channel shows channel-level income, Efficiency Score visualizes the channel efficiency ranking, Score Breakdown shows the four-dimension radar or bar view, ROAS by Channel compares return on ad spend across channels, and LTV Multiplier shows long-term value potential.
99. Cross-reference ƒVerdict with the Content Revenue Log's ƒRank — a piece ranked #1 by numbers but labeled 'Average' by scorecard may have high revenue but low engagement or reach, signaling vulnerability.
📋 Column-by-column
| Title | INPUT — Enter the exact same title as in the Content Revenue Log. This is the VLOOKUP key that links the two sheets. If the title does not match exactly (including spacing and capitalization), the formula columns will show errors or pull wrong data. |
| Reach | INPUT — Rate the breadth of audience exposure on a 1-to-10 scale. 1 = very few people saw it; 10 = it reached a massive audience relative to your norms. Base this on view counts, impressions, or subscriber reach. Example: a blog post with 500 views when your average is 5,000 might be a 2; a viral video with 50,000 views might be a 9. |
| Engage | INPUT — Rate the depth of audience interaction on a 1-to-10 scale. 1 = people bounced immediately with no interaction; 10 = long dwell time, many comments, shares, saves, and click-throughs. Base this on engagement rate, average watch time, comment count, or social shares from your analytics. |
| Impact | INPUT — Rate how effectively the content drove tangible business outcomes on a 1-to-10 scale. 1 = generated zero leads or sales; 10 = directly attributable to significant revenue and high-quality leads. Base this on the Leads and Revenue figures from the Content Revenue Log. |
| Effic | INPUT — Short for Efficiency. Rate how cost-effectively the content was produced and promoted on a 1-to-10 scale. 1 = extremely expensive relative to the return; 10 = very low cost with high return. Base this on ROI and Margin from the Content Revenue Log. A blog post you wrote yourself with no ad spend that earned $500 might be a 9; a professional video costing $5,000 that earned $5,500 might be a 4. |
| ƒScore | FORMULA — Weighted Composite Score combining Reach, Engage, Impact, and Effic into a single number. The weighting emphasizes Impact and Efficiency more heavily since they directly relate to revenue. Higher is better. Scores typically range from 1 to 10 (matching the input scale). A Score above 7 generally indicates strong content; below 4 indicates a candidate for retirement or rework. |
| ƒVerdict | FORMULA — A plain-English label derived from the Score. Typical verdicts include 'Star' (top performers, score ~8-10), 'Strong' (solid earners, score ~6-7.9), 'Average' (middle of the pack, score ~4-5.9), 'Weak' (underperformers, score ~2-3.9), and 'Cut' (candidates for removal, score below 2). Use the Verdict to make quick keep/kill/optimize decisions. |
| ƒRevenue | FORMULA — Revenue pulled automatically from the Content Revenue Log via VLOOKUP on the Title. Displayed here for convenience so you can see financial performance alongside your subjective scores without switching sheets. |
| ƒProfit | FORMULA — Profit pulled automatically from the Content Revenue Log via VLOOKUP on the Title. Shows the net earnings (Revenue − Spend) next to your scorecard ratings for quick cross-referencing. |
| ƒRank | FORMULA — Ordinal rank based on the composite Score column. Rank 1 is the highest-scoring content piece. Compare this to the Content Revenue Log's ƒRank (which is based on financial metrics) — discrepancies reveal pieces that score well strategically but underperform financially, or vice versa. |
| ƒ$/Score | FORMULA — Revenue per Score Point. Calculated as Revenue ÷ Score. It measures how much revenue each point of strategic score generates. Higher is better. A piece with $5,000 revenue and a Score of 8 yields $625/Score. If another piece has $5,000 revenue but a Score of 3, its $/Score is $1,667 — meaning it earns a lot despite low strategic value, which may indicate unsustainable revenue. |
| ƒ90d Fcst | FORMULA — 90-Day Revenue Forecast. Projects revenue for the next 90 days based on the content's current Revenue Velocity ($/Day from the Content Revenue Log). Calculated as $/Day × 90. Use this to estimate near-term income and set quarterly budget expectations. Treat it as a trend indicator, not a guarantee. |
| ƒTop % | FORMULA — Top Percentile based on Score. Shows where this piece ranks as a percentile relative to all scored content. A Top % of 5% means this piece is in the top 5% of your scored portfolio. Lower percentages indicate elite content. |
| ƒRev Rank | FORMULA — Revenue-based ordinal rank, separate from the Score-based Rank. Rank 1 is the highest-revenue piece. Comparing Rev Rank to Rank reveals mismatches: a piece ranked #2 by Score but #8 by Revenue suggests strategic promise that has not yet converted to dollars. |
| ƒScore Gap | FORMULA — The difference between this piece's Score and the top-scoring piece's Score. Calculated as Max Score − This Score. A Score Gap of 0 means this is the top scorer. A Gap of 4 means there is a 4-point difference. Use it to see how far below the leader each piece sits and whether a small improvement could close the gap. |
| ƒLTV Mult | FORMULA — Lifetime Value Multiplier. Estimates how many times the initial revenue the content could generate over its useful life based on its velocity trend and engagement rating. A multiplier of 3.0× suggests the content may earn three times its current revenue over its lifetime. Higher multipliers indicate evergreen, compounding content. Values below 1.0× suggest the content is decaying. |
| ƒAlloc % | FORMULA — Budget Allocation Percentage. Recommends what percentage of your total content budget should be directed toward this piece based on its weighted Score and Revenue performance. Higher-scoring, higher-revenue content gets a larger recommended allocation. All Alloc % values across the sheet sum to 100%. Use this as a starting point for budget planning. |
| ƒWt ROAS | FORMULA — Weighted Return on Ad Spend. Similar to standard ROAS (Revenue ÷ Spend) but weighted by the content's composite Score, giving more credit to strategically sound content. A Wt ROAS of 5.0 means the content returns $5 for every $1 spent, adjusted for strategic quality. Higher is better; values below 1.0 indicate a weighted loss. |
| ƒRank Drift | FORMULA — Rank Drift measures the change between a piece's Score-based Rank and its Revenue-based Rev Rank. Calculated as Rev Rank − Score Rank. A positive drift (e.g. +5) means the piece ranks much better on strategic score than on raw revenue — it is strategically strong but financially underperforming. A negative drift means it earns more than its strategic score suggests. Zero drift means the two rankings are aligned. |
| Channel | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — The Channel name, pulled automatically from the distinct Channel values in the Content Revenue Log. Each unique channel you entered (e.g. YouTube, Newsletter, Organic Search) appears as a row in this summary section. |
| ƒPieces | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — The count of content pieces published on this channel, calculated using COUNTIF across the Content Revenue Log. Shows how much content you are producing per channel. |
| ƒSpend | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Total Spend for all content on this channel, calculated using SUMIF across the Content Revenue Log's Spend column. Shows your total investment per channel. |
| ƒRevenue | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Total Revenue for all content on this channel, calculated using SUMIF across the Content Revenue Log's Revenue column. Your gross channel-level income. |
| ƒProfit | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Total Profit for this channel. Calculated as channel Revenue minus channel Spend. Positive values mean the channel is profitable overall; negative values mean it is a net cost center. |
| ƒAvg ROI | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Average Return on Investment across all pieces on this channel, calculated using AVERAGEIF on the Content Revenue Log's ROI column. Shows typical content profitability for the channel. Channels with Avg ROI below 0% are losing money on average. |
| ƒROAS | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Return on Ad Spend for the channel. Calculated as channel Revenue ÷ channel Spend. A ROAS of 4.0 means every dollar spent on this channel returned four dollars. Higher is better; below 1.0 means the channel costs more than it earns. |
| ƒMargin | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Profit Margin for the channel, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as channel Profit ÷ channel Revenue × 100. Shows how much of each revenue dollar the channel retains as profit. Margins above 50% are healthy. |
| ƒCVR | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Conversion Rate for the channel, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as total channel Leads ÷ total channel Views × 100. Shows how effectively this channel converts viewers into leads. Higher is better. |
| ƒCAC | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Customer Acquisition Cost for the channel. Calculated as total channel Spend ÷ total channel Leads. Shows the average cost to acquire one lead through this channel. Lower is better; compare across channels to find your most cost-efficient lead source. |
| ƒRev/Piece | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Revenue per Piece for the channel. Calculated as channel Revenue ÷ channel Pieces. Shows the average revenue each content piece earns on this channel. Higher values indicate the channel rewards quality over quantity. |
| ƒEff Score | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Efficiency Score for the channel, a composite metric that balances ROI, Margin, CVR, and CAC into a single channel-level efficiency rating. Higher is better. Use this to rank which channels give you the best return for the least effort and cost. |
| ƒStatus | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — A plain-English status label for the channel (e.g. 'Thriving', 'Healthy', 'Watch', 'At Risk', 'Pause'). Derived from the channel's Efficiency Score and Profit. Quickly tells you which channels to double down on and which to reconsider. |
📊 Reading the numbers
• The Reach, Engage, Impact, Effic, Score, and Revenue KPI cards at the top show portfolio-level averages or totals. If your average Score is below 5, most of your content is mediocre — focus on improving or cutting the bottom tier.
• Weighted Scores chart shows each content piece's composite Score as a bar — tall bars are your strategic stars. Look for clusters: if most bars are short with one or two tall ones, your portfolio is top-heavy.
• Revenue by Channel chart shows total revenue per channel — the tallest bar is your most lucrative channel. If one channel dominates, consider diversifying to reduce risk.
• Efficiency Score chart ranks channels by their composite efficiency — the top-ranked channel gives you the most return per dollar and effort. ROAS by Channel shows raw return on ad spend per channel; compare it to Efficiency Score to see if a high-ROAS channel is also operationally efficient.
• LTV Multiplier chart shows which content pieces have the highest long-term value potential — pieces with multipliers above 2× are compounding assets worth ongoing investment. Score Breakdown shows the four-dimension breakdown (Reach, Engage, Impact, Effic) per piece so you can see which dimension is dragging a piece's overall score down.
⚠️ Avoid these mistakes
• Do not use different titles than those in the Content Revenue Log — the VLOOKUP will fail and ƒRevenue, ƒProfit, and downstream columns will show #N/A errors.
• Do not rate all four dimensions the same number for every piece (e.g. all 7s) — this defeats the purpose of multi-dimensional scoring. Be honest and differentiated in your ratings.
• Do not leave Reach, Engage, Impact, or Effic blank — the Score formula requires all four inputs. A blank will produce an error or a misleadingly low score.
• Do not manually edit the Channel summary table at the bottom — it is entirely formula-driven from the Content Revenue Log.
💡 Tips• Re-score your content quarterly as audience engagement and revenue shift — a piece that was a 'Star' six months ago may now be 'Average' if its traffic has declined.
• Use the ƒAlloc % column to build your next month's content budget — it mathematically distributes your dollars toward the highest-performing content.
• Sort by ƒRank Drift to find hidden opportunities: pieces with large positive drift are strategically strong but financially underperforming, meaning a small promotional investment could unlock significant revenue.
• Compare ƒ90d Fcst values against your quarterly revenue targets to see if your current content pipeline will meet your goals or if you need to produce new assets.
The Dashboard is your executive command center — it auto-pulls every number from the Content Revenue Log and Revenue Scorecard via VLOOKUP, SUMIF, COUNTIF, and AVERAGEIF formulas. You never type anything here. It presents two summary tables (content-level and channel-level), six KPI cards, and six charts that give you a complete, at-a-glance view of your content portfolio's financial health and strategic performance.
✍️ Step by step
11. Navigate to the Dashboard tab — you will see KPI cards at the top, a content-level table, a channel-level table, and six charts. Everything is auto-populated.
22. Review the six KPI cards first: Total Revenue (gross income from all content), Net Profit (revenue minus all spend), Profit Margin (percentage of revenue retained as profit), Rev-Wt Score (revenue-weighted composite score showing how good your best-earning content is strategically), Revenue (may show a sub-total or segment view), and Profit (may show a sub-total or segment view).
33. Scan the content-level table which shows each Title alongside its auto-pulled Revenue, Profit, Score, ROI, Verdict, $/Day, Payback, Margin, Alloc %, Wt ROAS, and Health. The Health column synthesizes multiple metrics into a single status label for each piece.
44. Scan the channel-level table below it, showing each Channel with its Pieces count, Revenue, Spend, Profit, ROI, ROAS, $/Lead, Rev %, and Avg $/Day. This tells you which distribution channels are most and least profitable.
55. Study the Top Content by Profit chart to see your highest-earning content ranked by net profit — the top bars are where your money comes from.
66. Review the Wt ROAS Ranking chart to see which content delivers the best return per dollar spent after adjusting for strategic score. The $/Day Velocity chart highlights which content earns fastest.
77. Examine Revenue vs Spend by channel to check if any channel is costing more than it returns. Profit by Channel shows net profit per channel. Velocity by Channel shows average $/Day per channel — fast channels may deserve more investment.
88. Use the Dashboard to make three key decisions each month: (a) which content to promote further (high Profit, high Score, high Velocity), (b) which content to retire or rework (negative Profit, low Score, 'Cut' Verdict), and (c) which channels to invest in (high ROAS, high Margin, 'Thriving' Status).
99. Share this sheet with stakeholders — because it has no input cells, there is no risk of someone accidentally breaking your data. It is a read-only performance report.
📋 Column-by-column
| Title | FORMULA — Title of each content piece, pulled automatically from the Content Revenue Log via VLOOKUP. Do not edit this cell. |
| ƒRevenue | FORMULA — Revenue for each content piece, pulled from the Content Revenue Log. Displayed here for side-by-side comparison with strategic and efficiency metrics. |
| ƒProfit | FORMULA — Net Profit (Revenue − Spend) for each content piece, pulled from the Content Revenue Log. The most important number — positive means it earns, negative means it burns. |
| ƒScore | FORMULA — Composite Score pulled from the Revenue Scorecard via VLOOKUP. Shows the strategic quality rating alongside financial metrics. A piece with high Profit but low Score may be a short-term winner with no long-term legs. |
| ƒROI | FORMULA — Return on Investment pulled from the Content Revenue Log. Shown as a percentage. Lets you see at a glance which content gives the best bang for the buck. |
| ƒVerdict | FORMULA — The plain-English Verdict label (Star, Strong, Average, Weak, Cut) pulled from the Revenue Scorecard. Provides a quick strategic recommendation for each piece without requiring you to interpret numbers. |
| ƒ$/Day | FORMULA — Revenue Velocity in dollars per day, pulled from the Content Revenue Log. Shows how fast each piece earns. Higher is better. A piece earning $50/day is generating revenue five times faster than one earning $10/day. |
| ƒPayback | FORMULA — Payback Period in days, pulled from the Content Revenue Log. Shows how long until the content recoups its production cost at its current earning rate. Lower is better — under 30 days is excellent; over 180 days warrants concern. |
| ƒMargin | FORMULA — Profit Margin as a percentage, pulled from the Content Revenue Log. Shows what fraction of revenue is retained as profit. Higher margins mean more efficient content. |
| ƒAlloc % | FORMULA — Recommended Budget Allocation percentage, pulled from the Revenue Scorecard. Tells you what proportion of your content budget should go toward this piece based on its performance and strategic value. All values sum to 100%. |
| ƒWt ROAS | FORMULA — Weighted Return on Ad Spend, pulled from the Revenue Scorecard. Adjusts raw ROAS by strategic score so that high-quality, high-return content ranks higher than a high-spend piece with mediocre scores. Values above 3.0 are strong. |
| ƒHealth | FORMULA — A synthesized health indicator (e.g. 'Excellent', 'Good', 'Fair', 'Poor', 'Critical') derived from a combination of Profit, Margin, Velocity, Score, and Verdict. It gives you one label that summarizes the overall well-being of each content piece. 'Excellent' means the piece is profitable, efficient, fast-earning, and strategically scored high; 'Critical' means multiple metrics are in the red. |
| Channel | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Each unique Channel from the Content Revenue Log, auto-populated. Do not edit. |
| ƒPieces | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Count of content pieces per channel, calculated using COUNTIF on the Content Revenue Log. |
| ƒRevenue | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Total revenue per channel, calculated using SUMIF on the Content Revenue Log's Revenue column. |
| ƒSpend | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Total spend per channel, calculated using SUMIF on the Content Revenue Log's Spend column. |
| ƒProfit | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Net profit per channel, calculated as channel Revenue minus channel Spend. |
| ƒROI | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Average ROI across all content in this channel, calculated using AVERAGEIF on the Content Revenue Log's ROI column. Shows typical profitability for the channel. |
| ƒROAS | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Return on Ad Spend for the channel. Calculated as channel Revenue ÷ channel Spend. Values above 3.0 are healthy; below 1.0 means the channel is losing money. |
| ƒ$/Lead | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Cost per Lead for the channel. Calculated as channel Spend ÷ channel Leads. Lower is better. |
| ƒRev % | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Revenue share for the channel, as a percentage of total revenue across all channels. Shows channel concentration — if one channel has 70%+, you are dangerously dependent on it. |
| ƒAvg $/Day | FORMULA (Channel Summary Table) — Average Revenue Velocity per channel, calculated as the average of $/Day values for all pieces in this channel. Shows how fast each channel earns on a per-content basis. Higher values indicate faster-monetizing channels. |
📊 Reading the numbers
• Total Revenue and Net Profit KPI cards give you the headline numbers — total income and what you actually keep. If Net Profit is shrinking while Total Revenue grows, your costs are rising faster than your income.
• Profit Margin KPI shows the portfolio-wide percentage of revenue retained as profit. Below 30% means your content operation is cost-heavy. Above 60% is excellent.
• Rev-Wt Score KPI is a revenue-weighted average of all composite Scores — it tells you how strategically sound your top-earning content is. A high Rev-Wt Score means your best earners are also your strategically strongest pieces, which is ideal. A low Rev-Wt Score means you are making money from content that scores poorly on Reach, Engage, Impact, or Efficiency — a fragile position.
• Top Content by Profit chart immediately shows your biggest profit generators. Wt ROAS Ranking highlights which content gives the best score-adjusted return on investment. $/Day Velocity shows earning speed per piece. Use these three charts together to find content that is profitable, efficient, and fast.
• Revenue vs Spend by Channel shows if any channel's costs exceed its income (red bar taller than blue). Profit by Channel shows net earnings per channel — invest in the tallest bars. Velocity by Channel shows earning speed per channel — fast channels with high profit are your growth engines.
⚠️ Avoid these mistakes
• Do not type any data into this sheet — every cell is formula-driven. Manual entries will overwrite formulas and break the Dashboard.
• Do not rearrange, insert, or delete rows — this can shift VLOOKUP references and break the link to the Content Revenue Log and Revenue Scorecard.
• Do not hide columns you think you do not need — hidden columns can cause confusion when sharing or printing, and some charts may depend on their data ranges.
💡 Tips• Use the Dashboard as your monthly reporting sheet — screenshot it or export it as a PDF to share with clients, managers, or stakeholders.
• If a content piece shows 'Critical' Health but high Revenue, it may be a legacy piece with declining velocity — check its $/Day trend over recent months.
• Sort the content table by ƒAlloc % descending to build your next budget — the top rows tell you where to allocate the most dollars.
• Compare the channel-level Rev % column with your actual budget allocation per channel — if you are spending 40% of budget on a channel that delivers only 10% of revenue, reallocate.
📖Glossary — what every value means
| ROI (Return on Investment) | Return on Investment, calculated as (Revenue − Spend) ÷ Spend × 100, expressed as a percentage. It measures how much profit you earn for every dollar spent. An ROI of 300% means you earned $3 in profit for every $1 invested. Anything above 0% is profitable; top content typically achieves 200-500%. |
| ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) | Return on Ad Spend, calculated as Revenue ÷ Spend. Unlike ROI, ROAS is expressed as a ratio, not a percentage. A ROAS of 4.0 means $4 returned for every $1 spent. ROAS of 1.0 is break-even. Healthy content portfolios target ROAS above 3.0. |
| Wt ROAS (Weighted Return on Ad Spend) | Weighted Return on Ad Spend. The same as ROAS but adjusted by the content's composite Score, so strategically strong content gets proportionally more credit. This prevents a high-spend, low-quality piece from appearing efficient just because it generated raw revenue. |
| CVR (Conversion Rate) | Conversion Rate, calculated as Leads ÷ Views × 100, expressed as a percentage. It measures what percentage of viewers took a desired action (signed up, purchased, etc.). Good CVR ranges from 1-3% for blogs, 5-15% for targeted emails, and varies by industry. |
| CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) | Customer Acquisition Cost, calculated as Spend ÷ Leads. It shows the average cost to acquire one lead or customer through a given piece or channel. Lower is better. Typical CAC ranges from $5 to $200 depending on industry and content type. |
| $/View (Revenue per View) | Revenue per View, calculated as Revenue ÷ Views. Measures how much revenue each individual view or impression generates. Higher is better. Values typically range from $0.01 for broad awareness content to $2.00+ for high-intent, niche content. |
| $/Lead (Cost per Lead) | Cost per Lead, calculated as Spend ÷ Leads. Shows how much it costs to generate each lead. Lower is better. A $/Lead of $10 means it costs ten dollars to acquire each lead from that content piece or channel. |
| $/Day (Revenue Velocity) | Revenue Velocity, calculated as Revenue ÷ Age (days since publication). Measures how fast a content piece earns money on a per-day basis. Higher values indicate faster-earning content. Useful for comparing content of different ages on a level playing field. |
| Pft/Day (Profit per Day) | Profit per Day, calculated as Profit ÷ Age. Shows how much net profit the content generates daily on average. Complementary to $/Day — while $/Day measures gross daily earnings, Pft/Day accounts for costs. |
| Margin (Profit Margin) | Profit Margin, calculated as (Revenue − Spend) ÷ Revenue × 100, expressed as a percentage. Shows what fraction of each revenue dollar is retained as profit. Margins above 60% are strong; below 20% indicate high costs relative to earnings. |
| Rev % (Revenue Share) | Revenue Share, calculated as a single item's Revenue ÷ Total Revenue × 100. Shows what percentage of your total content revenue a given piece or channel contributes. Useful for spotting concentration risk — if one piece accounts for 40%+ of total revenue, your portfolio is fragile. |
| Alloc % (Budget Allocation Percentage) | Recommended Budget Allocation, expressed as a percentage. Suggests what portion of your total content budget should be directed to a given piece based on its Score and Revenue performance. All Alloc % values sum to 100% across the portfolio. |
| Top % (Top Percentile) | Top Percentile ranking, calculated from ordinal Rank relative to total number of content pieces. A Top % of 10% means the piece is in the top 10% of all content. Lower percentages indicate better performance. |
| Payback (Payback Period) | Payback Period in days, calculated as Spend ÷ (Revenue ÷ Age). Estimates how many days from publication until cumulative revenue covers total spend. Lower is better — under 30 days is excellent; over 180 days is cause for concern. |
| LTV Mult (Lifetime Value Multiplier) | Lifetime Value Multiplier, an estimate of how many times the current revenue a content piece may generate over its useful life. A multiplier of 3.0× suggests the content could earn three times its current revenue. Based on velocity trends and engagement. Values above 2× indicate evergreen, compounding assets. |
| 90d Fcst (90-Day Forecast) | 90-Day Revenue Forecast, calculated as $/Day × 90. Projects how much revenue a content piece will generate over the next 90 days if it maintains its current daily earning rate. A planning estimate, not a guarantee. |
| Annual Rev (Annualized Revenue) | Annualized Revenue, calculated as $/Day × 365. Projects full-year revenue at the current daily earning pace. Useful for comparing content of different ages and for budget forecasting. Seasonal or viral content may inflate this number. |
| Goal Gap | Goal Gap in dollars, calculated as Goal − Revenue. A positive value means you are short of your goal by that amount. Zero or negative means the goal has been met or exceeded. Helps prioritize promotion toward content that is close to its target. |
| Progress | Progress toward Goal, calculated as Revenue ÷ Goal × 100, expressed as a percentage. 100% means the goal is exactly met; above 100% means exceeded. Below 50% after significant time indicates underperformance. |
| Score Gap | Score Gap, calculated as the highest Score across all content minus this piece's Score. Shows how far below the top performer this content piece is on the strategic scorecard. A Gap of 0 means this is the leader. |
| Rank Drift | Rank Drift, calculated as Revenue Rank minus Score Rank. A positive number means the content ranks better strategically than financially (opportunity to monetize). A negative number means it earns more than its strategic quality suggests (potentially fragile revenue). |
| Eff Score (Efficiency Score) | Efficiency Score, a composite metric at the channel level that combines ROI, Margin, CVR, and CAC into a single rating. Higher is better. Used to rank channels by overall efficiency rather than just raw revenue or profit. |
| Health | A synthesized status label (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Critical) derived from multiple metrics including Profit, Margin, Velocity, Score, and Verdict. Summarizes the overall well-being of a content piece in one word. |
| Verdict | A plain-English strategic recommendation label (Star, Strong, Average, Weak, Cut) derived from the composite Score on the Revenue Scorecard. Provides an instant keep/optimize/kill signal for each content piece. |
| Speed Rank | Ordinal ranking based on Revenue Velocity ($/Day). Rank 1 is the fastest-earning content piece. Independent of overall Rank, which considers multiple metrics — Speed Rank isolates earning pace. |
| $/Score (Revenue per Score Point) | Revenue per Score Point, calculated as Revenue ÷ Score. Measures how much revenue each unit of strategic score generates. Higher values may indicate content that earns well despite low strategic quality, signaling potentially unsustainable revenue. |
| Status | A plain-English label for channel health (Thriving, Healthy, Watch, At Risk, Pause) derived from the channel's Efficiency Score and Profit. Helps you quickly decide which channels to scale and which to reconsider. |
| Weighted ROI | Revenue-weighted average ROI across all content. Unlike a simple average, it gives more weight to pieces that generate more revenue, so a high-revenue, low-ROI piece influences the average more than a low-revenue, high-ROI piece. This prevents small pieces from skewing the metric. |
| Rev-Wt Score (Revenue-Weighted Score) | Revenue-Weighted composite Score across the portfolio. Weights each piece's Score by its share of total Revenue, so your biggest earners have the most influence. A high Rev-Wt Score means your top revenue pieces are also strategically strong — an ideal, sustainable position. |
Every template ships with an AI side-panel. Type in plain language — it fills rows, explains any cell, and analyses your data for you.
How to use it
1To open the built-in AI assistant, click the ✨ sparkle icon in the right-hand sidebar of Google Sheets. A chat panel opens where you can type plain-language questions or commands. You get a set of free AI requests to try it out; after those run out, a subscription gives you a bigger monthly allowance of requests.
2Ask the AI to explain any cell by typing something like 'explain B7' or 'what does the ƒROI column mean?' — it will read the cell's formula and give you a plain-English breakdown of what it calculates and how to interpret the result, without modifying anything.
3Give the AI action commands that read your sheet and act on it — for example, 'sum column C', 'fill the next row with sample data', or 'color row 1 gold'. These are typed as conversational commands in the chat, not standalone buttons. The AI executes them while preserving all existing formulas, so you cannot accidentally break a computed column.
4Use the one-click presets tailored specifically to this template — they appear in the AI panel and run common analyses or actions relevant to content revenue ranking with a single click. You can also scan your entire workbook for issues, or attach a screenshot or image and the AI will read and interpret it.
5In the Tools tab of the AI panel, use 'Analyze All My Data' to generate a comprehensive report that is output to a new sheet, and 'Auto-Fit' to resize all columns for readability. You can also translate every label in the workbook into another language, build a visual infographic from your data, and adjust the AI's response style using the Tone selector (Friendly, Professional, or Concise) and Smart Styling features.
6Pro subscribers unlock additional capabilities including native chart generation, revenue forecasts, and a full multi-page report — all created by the AI directly within your spreadsheet.