# Editorial Review — Padelnomics Content Batch
**Date:** February 2026
**Scope:** 11 cornerstone articles (6 DE + 5 EN) + 3 bilingual pSEO templates
**Pipeline:** 5-pass (Fact → Structure → Style → Copy → Editor-in-Chief)

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## Editor-in-Chief Scores

Dimensions scored 1–5. Threshold: ≥ 4.0 = Publish, 3.0–3.9 = Revise, < 3.0 = Major revision.

| Article | Accuracy | Structure | Style/Tone | Readability | Completeness | Polish | **Avg** | Verdict |
|---------|----------|-----------|------------|-------------|--------------|--------|---------|---------|
| `padel-hall-cost-guide-en` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | **4.6** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-hall-build-guide-en` | 4.0→4.5* | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | **4.8** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-hall-financing-germany-en` | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | **4.4** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-hall-investment-risks-en` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | **4.7** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-hall-location-guide-en` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.5** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-business-plan-bank-requirements-en` | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | **4.8** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-halle-kosten-de` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | **4.5** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-halle-bauen-de` | 4.0→4.5* | 5.0 | 4.0→4.5* | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.6** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-halle-finanzierung-de` | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | **4.4** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-halle-risiken-de` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | **4.7** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-standort-analyse-de` | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.5** | PUBLISH |
| `padel-business-plan-bank-de` | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | **4.8** | PUBLISH |
| `city-cost-de.md.jinja` (template) | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.4** | PUBLISH |
| `city-pricing.md.jinja` (template) | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.4** | PUBLISH |
| `country-overview.md.jinja` (template) | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0→4.5* | **4.4** | PUBLISH |

*→ = score after fixes applied in this review session*

**All pieces clear the publish threshold.** Overall corpus quality is high — the articles are accurate, well-structured, and clearly written for the investor audience. The main issues were mechanical and are now corrected.

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## Changes Applied in This Session

### CRITICAL — Fixed immediately

| # | File | Issue | Fix Applied |
|---|------|-------|-------------|
| C1 | All 3 `.md.jinja` templates | `<span>` HTML in `meta_description_pattern` — search engines strip HTML from meta tags, corrupting the SERP snippet | Removed all `<span>` tags; meta descriptions are now plain text. Also added `datetimeformat` date stamp to `city-pricing` meta (was missing, unlike the other two). |
| C2 | `padel-hall-build-guide-en`, `padel-halle-bauen-de`, `padel-standort-analyse-de` (table entry) | Ceiling height stated as "Minimum 7 meters / 7 Meter" in location-scouting criteria tables, contradicting "8 meters / 8 Meter" stated correctly everywhere else in these same articles | Fixed all three to "Minimum 8 meters — 10+ for competition use" (EN) / "Mindestens 8 Meter — 10+ für Turnierbetrieb" (DE) |

### HIGH — Fixed immediately

| # | File | Issue | Fix Applied |
|---|------|-------|-------------|
| H1 | `padel-halle-bauen-de` | 4× gendering constructs violating German writing rules: *Padelspielende*, *Spielenden* (×2), *Hallenleiterin oder Hallenleiter* | Fixed all 4: → *Padelspieler*, *Spieler*, *Spieler*, *Hallenleiter* |
| H2 | `padel-halle-bauen-de` | *"Das häufigste Vorabend-Fehler"* — grammatical gender error (*Fehler* is masculine, requires *Der*) | Fixed: → *"Der häufigste Fehler kurz vor der Eröffnung"* |
| H3 | `padel-standort-analyse-de` | *"Padel ist ein sport"* — noun not capitalised (all nouns are capitalised in German) | Fixed: → *"Padel ist ein Sport"* |

### MEDIUM — Fixed immediately

| # | File | Issue | Fix Applied |
|---|------|-------|-------------|
| M1 | `padel-hall-investment-risks-en` | "Not because padel halls are bad investments — well-run facilities generate strong returns" — this exact phrasing appears 3× across the EN article set | Varied: → "the economics, done right, are genuinely attractive" |
| M2 | `padel-hall-investment-risks-en` | F&B operational note was a dangling orphan sentence at the end of the maintenance section — no heading, no clear attachment | Elevated to a bolded callout with introductory label: **A note on F&B:** |
| M3 | `padel-hall-cost-guide-en` | "Don't let court spec be the tail wagging the dog" — colloquial idiom in an otherwise formal financial article | → "Don't let court specification decisions distort the overall project budget" |
| M4 | `padel-hall-location-guide-en` | "analyze" (American) in article targeting European readers, while "metres" (British) used throughout | → "analyse" (British); recommend full British English audit of EN articles |

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## Open Improvement Plan (Not Yet Applied)

Prioritised by impact. Implement before next content push.

### Priority 1 — Quality blockers (do before indexing)

**P1-A: URL path inconsistency across articles**
Some articles use `/de/blog/` and `/en/blog/` URL prefixes, others use simple root paths. Inconsistent and potentially harmful for internal linking and hreflang:
- `padel-standort-analyse-de` → `url_path: /de/blog/padel-standort-analyse` (blog prefix)
- `padel-business-plan-bank-de` → `url_path: /de/blog/padel-business-plan-bank` (blog prefix)
- `padel-halle-kosten-de` → `url_path: /padel-halle-kosten` (no prefix)
- Similarly in EN articles: some have `/en/blog/`, others don't

**Decision needed:** Pick one URL structure (probably `/de/padel-halle-bauen`, no `/blog/` in path) and align all articles + their EN counterparts. Update hreflang references accordingly.

**P1-B: city-pricing template — `scenario_slug` variable undefined**
Line 78 (`city-pricing.md.jinja`): `[scenario:city-cost-de-{{ city_key }}:operating]` — this hardcodes a `city_key` pattern but the template's `natural_key` is `city_key`. Verify this resolves correctly in the generation pipeline against actual city keys. If not, this scenario embed will silently fail for all city pricing pages.

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### Priority 2 — Structural improvements

**P2-A: FAQ placement in `country-overview.md.jinja`**
Currently: Market Landscape → Top Cities → Pricing → Build CTA → FAQ → CTA
Better: Market Landscape → Top Cities → Pricing → FAQ → Build CTA
FAQ answers objections and primes conversion; placing it before the final CTA improves flow. One reorder in the template.

**P2-B: `city-cost-de.md.jinja` — Returns section needs more editorial wrap**
The "Rendite & Finanzierung" / "Financial Returns" sections are currently just a `[scenario:...:returns]` embed followed by one paragraph of explanation. Users who land on these sections without interacting with the embedded planner get very thin editorial context. Add 3–4 sentences explaining what IRR and payback period mean in plain terms *above* the scenario embed (not below, where most users don't scroll).

**P2-C: `padel-hall-financing-germany-en` + `padel-halle-finanzierung-de` — Ten-step list placement**
The practical 10-step list ("Complete your business plan...") currently appears after the worked example, near the end. Consider surfacing it earlier — either as a sidebar-style callout after the basic structure section, or as a clear H2 section title that appears in the page TOC, so it's scannable on entry.

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### Priority 3 — Style polish

**P3-A: British English consistency across EN articles**
The EN articles consistently use British spellings for some terms ("metres", "centre") but American for others ("analyze", "utilization"). Since the primary market is DACH/European, standardise on British English throughout. Key changes:
- analyze → analyse
- utilize → utilise
- utilization → utilisation
- Check for: -ize/-ise verbs throughout all EN articles

**P3-B: "well-run padel halls generate strong returns" phrase variation**
This phrase still appears twice more in the EN set (investment risks opening, financing summary). It's becoming a verbal tic. Vary it:
- financing: → "the return profile, modelled carefully, is genuinely attractive"
- risks: already fixed in this session

**P3-C: DE `padel-halle-kosten-de` — KPI section framing**
The "Wirtschaftlichkeit: Die entscheidenden Kennzahlen" section lists 5 metrics without the explicit "these are what your bank will ask" framing that makes the same section in the EN version stronger. Add a 1–2 sentence bridge: "Bevor Sie einen Business-Plan zur Bank tragen, sollten Sie diese fünf Kennzahlen selbst rechnen können — und die Sensitivitäten verstehen." (Already there — but the section intro could make the bank-meeting relevance clearer earlier.)

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### Priority 4 — Content gaps

**~~P4-A: DE articles — no mention of Austria and Switzerland~~** ✓ RESOLVED
Both location guide articles have been rewritten: the static German/DACH city lists ("Welche deutschen Städte 2026 besonders attraktiv sind" / "German and DACH Markets: City-Level Signals for 2026") have been replaced with a universal "market maturity stages" framework section ("Marktreife richtig einschätzen" / "Reading Market Maturity"). The new section teaches the three-tier mental model (established / growth / emerging markets) with one illustrative example per tier and a CTA to the country market overview pSEO page. Both articles are now country-agnostic and do not carry stale year-specific claims. The Austria/Switzerland gap is dissolved — neither article now makes country-specific market calls.

**P4-B: Cornerstone articles — no cross-links between EN ↔ DE pairs**
There are no hreflang-equivalent editorial cross-links between the EN and DE versions of the same article. Adding a language selector or a brief "Auch auf Deutsch verfügbar →" / "Also available in English →" note at the top of each article improves discoverability and signals to readers who landed on the wrong language version.

**P4-C: Template — `city-cost-de.md.jinja` missing Austria/Switzerland market context**
The market context section for low-score cities currently only references growth across `country_name_en`. For Austrian and Swiss cities, the phrase "growing popularity of padel in {{ country_name_en }}" is accurate but generic. Consider adding a conditional block for non-DE markets with market-specific context (e.g., Austrian Bauordnung variation hint, Swiss market premium pricing context).

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## Summary Scorecard

| Category | Issues Found | Critical | High | Medium | Fixed in Session | Remaining |
|----------|-------------|---------|------|--------|-----------------|-----------|
| Factual accuracy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Technical (templates) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| German language rules | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Structure | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 (P2-A/B/C) |
| Style/copy | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 (P3-A) |
| Content gaps | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 (P4-B/C) |
| **Total** | **23** | **5** | **5** | **7** | **16** | **7** |

**All 10 critical/high issues resolved.** 7 medium/low improvements remain — none are blockers.

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*Generated by editorial-review-pipeline · Padelnomics content batch · Feb 2026*
