Most RTOs operating for more than a year have digital infrastructure that's uneven — strong in one area, weak in another, invisible in a third. The website looks decent but has compliance issues. SEO hasn't been touched in two years. LinkedIn has 40 connections and no content. Lead generation is a single contact form with no follow-up sequence. Google Ads runs but nobody's optimising it. The pattern is different for every RTO, but the unevenness is nearly universal.
The Scorecard exists to make the unevenness visible. Answer 25 questions across 5 categories. Get a score per category and an overall score. See the prioritised list of what to fix first. Do the work yourself, or bring it to a strategy call as the starting agenda.
## The 5 categories
### Category 1 — Website Compliance (20 points)
Does your RTO website meet the 2025 Standards for RTOs and the Information and Transparency Practice Guide? Questions cover RTO code display, NRT logo placement, qualification title accuracy against training.gov.au, fee disclosure, refund policy placement, entry requirements, delivery modes, complaints and appeals process, USI references, and recognition of prior learning pathway content.
Low score signals: compliance risk visible to any ASQA auditor. High priority to address before the next audit cycle.
### Category 2 — SEO Foundations (20 points)
Is your website structured for prospective students to find you through search? Questions cover course page architecture, URL structure, meta titles and descriptions, qualification code inclusion, location page strategy, structured data markup, Core Web Vitals, XML sitemap, Google Search Console setup, and internal linking.
Low score signals: prospective students searching for your training aren't finding you. Missed enrolments happening daily.
### Category 3 — Content Authority (20 points)
Does your RTO publish content that establishes authority in your training sectors? Questions cover blog publishing cadence, depth of course pages beyond training package descriptions, career pathway content, industry commentary, case study content, and presence on industry publications or directories.
Low score signals: prospective students researching careers in your training areas encounter other RTOs as authorities, not you. Your RTO is invisible in the research phase of the student journey.
### Category 4 — Social and LinkedIn Presence (20 points)
Is your RTO visible in the social channels where decision-makers and students look? Questions cover LinkedIn Company Page completeness, leader's personal LinkedIn presence, LinkedIn content publishing, industry group participation, Instagram or Facebook for student-facing marketing, Google Business Profile optimisation, and review strategy across platforms.
Low score signals: especially problematic for employer-funded training where LinkedIn is where buying decisions happen. Also signals weakness in the trust-and-credibility layer that influences student choices.
### Category 5 — Lead Generation Systems (20 points)
Does your RTO have systems that convert interest into enquiries and enquiries into enrolments? Questions cover enquiry form placement, form fields (fewer is better), automated follow-up sequences, lead nurture content, sales call workflow, enrolment process friction, and measurement infrastructure tracking end-to-end from first touch to enrolled student.
Low score signals: even when prospective students find you, most drop out of the funnel before enrolling. Lead generation systems amplify the impact of every other channel.
## How scoring works
25 questions total across the 5 categories (5 questions per category). Each question scored yes/no/partial, with partial worth half. Maximum score is 100 total (20 per category). Results show:
- Overall score (0-100)
- Category scores (0-20 each)
- Prioritised action list — weakest category first, with specific recommended actions for the low-scoring questions
- Downloadable PDF report
## What a low score versus high score means
**80-100 total (across categories):** Strong digital infrastructure. Focus areas are probably incremental optimisation rather than systemic fixes. Strategic conversations focus on scaling what works rather than repairing what's broken.
**60-79 total:** Mixed infrastructure with specific weaknesses. Usually strong in 1-2 categories, weak in 2-3. Strategic sequencing matters — fix the weakest category first because weak links constrain the whole funnel.
**40-59 total:** Significant gaps across multiple categories. Usually reflects an RTO operating successfully despite digital infrastructure, not because of it. Strategic work here produces large returns because so much is currently being left on the table.
**Below 40 total:** Systemic infrastructure issues that probably require coordinated investment across multiple categories. Often reflects early-stage RTOs or RTOs that have grown operationally without corresponding digital investment. Strategic roadmap matters more than tactical fixes.
No score is "bad" — the score surfaces reality so investment can be aimed at what matters.
## What the Scorecard doesn't measure
The Scorecard measures digital infrastructure. It doesn't measure training quality, student outcomes, trainer capability, course design, compliance beyond website marketing, financial viability, or operational maturity. Those dimensions matter more than digital infrastructure in absolute terms — a great RTO with weak digital infrastructure is still a great RTO; a poor RTO with great digital infrastructure is still a poor RTO.
The Scorecard focuses on digital infrastructure specifically because that's where most RTOs under-invest and where marketing and product services (Everyshot and RTOGrow) can actually help.
## Run the scorecard
Takes about 5 minutes. Free. No signup. Answer the 25 questions honestly — scoring yourself high on categories where you're actually weak doesn't help anyone. The PDF report is yours to keep or share internally with your team.