Tuning Level is the label RankGear puts on each tuning recommendation to sort it into one of three workloads — basic on-page fixes, intermediate on-page refinements, and off-page work — so you can tackle a page in a sensible order instead of all at once.
| Term | Tuning Level |
|---|---|
| Category | Analysis and Optimization |
| Also known as | Basic Tuning, Intermediate Tuning, Off-Page Tuning |
| Where it appears | Workbook tuning sheets |
What it means in RankGear
In the Workbook tuning sheets, every recommendation RankGear generates for a target page carries a tuning level. Rather than handing you one flat list, the workbook buckets each suggestion into Basic Tuning (foundational on-page adjustments), Intermediate Tuning (finer on-page refinements once the basics are in place), or Off-Page Tuning (signals earned beyond the page itself, such as links and external mentions). The level tells you what kind of effort an item demands and roughly where it sits in a reasonable sequence of work.
How to interpret it
Treat the tuning level as a sorting aid, not a score. The level says nothing about how large a recommendation’s measured gap is — a basic on-page item can matter more for a given page than an off-page one. Read each recommendation beside the target page, the comparison set it was drawn from, the deficit strategy in play, and the supporting correlation. As a rule, clear the basics before chasing intermediate or off-page items, but let the measured evidence — not the label alone — decide priority within each group.
| Tuning Level | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Basic Tuning | Foundational on-page adjustments — the groundwork most pages need first. |
| Intermediate Tuning | Finer on-page refinements that build on the basics once they are in place. |
| Off-Page Tuning | Signals earned beyond the page itself, such as links and external mentions. |
Example
Say you are tuning a service page that trails the top-ranking set. The workbook might list a Basic Tuning item to add the target phrase to the page title, an Intermediate Tuning item to expand a thin section so its depth matches the pages you are compared against, and an Off-Page Tuning item to close a backlink gap. You would clear the basic title fix first, work the intermediate depth change next, and treat the off-page link building as a longer-running effort that runs alongside the rest.
Important considerations
- The level is an organizing label for the type of work, not a measure of impact or difficulty — a basic item can outweigh an off-page one for a particular page.
- Off-Page Tuning items depend on external signals you do not fully control, so they usually take longer and carry more uncertainty than on-page fixes.
- Recommendations are drawn from the measured SERP for your comparison set, so they are comparative indicators for that context, not universal rules or proof that any single change causes ranking movement.
Related terms
Part of the RankGear glossary · how RankGear measures · the 870 factors.