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How to do a content audit?

Is your website content delivering the results you need? If you’re not sure, it’s time for a content audit. This intermediate-level process typically takes 2-4 days to complete thoroughly, depending on your site size. You’ll need access to your analytics platform, SEO tools, a content management system, and a spreadsheet to track findings. In this guide, we’ll walk through the complete content audit process—from initial inventory to implementing changes that boost your site’s performance.

Why content audits are crucial for business growth

Think of your website as a garden. Without regular maintenance, it becomes overgrown with underperforming content that drains resources and confuses visitors. A content audit acts as your pruning tool, helping you identify what’s blooming and what needs attention.

Content audits reveal which pages drive traffic and conversions—and which ones don’t. This analysis helps you spot patterns in your successful content, giving you a blueprint for future creation. Beyond just identifying weak spots, audits help you align your content with current business goals and audience needs.

The strategic value comes from making data-driven decisions. Rather than guessing what content to create next, you’ll have concrete evidence showing what resonates with your audience. This targeted approach leads to higher engagement, better conversion rates, and improved search rankings.

Regular content audits also help you stay ahead of competitors by identifying gaps in your content strategy. These opportunities often represent the quickest path to growth once you address them systematically.

What tools do you need for an effective content audit?

To conduct a thorough content audit, you’ll need several tools in your arsenal:

Analytics platforms like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics to review traffic patterns, user behavior, and conversion data
SEO tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to analyze rankings, backlinks, and keyword performance
Your content management system (WordPress, Drupal, etc.) to access all published content
Spreadsheet software (Excel, Google Sheets) for creating and maintaining your content inventory
Crawling tools like Screaming Frog to quickly identify all URLs on your site

Choose tools that integrate well with each other to streamline your workflow. Many SEO experts use AI-powered tools to speed up the data collection and analysis process, but the human element remains crucial for strategic decision-making.

For smaller sites, free tools might suffice, but larger websites with thousands of pages benefit from premium tools that offer bulk analysis and deeper insights. The investment in good tools pays off by saving countless hours of manual work.

Tool Type	Primary Function	Data Provided
Analytics	Performance tracking	Traffic, bounce rates, conversions
SEO tools	Technical and competitive analysis	Rankings, backlinks, keyword data
CMS	Content access	Publication dates, authors, content types
Spreadsheets	Data organization	Customized tracking and prioritization
Crawlers	Content discovery	All URLs, metadata, word counts

Creating a comprehensive content inventory

Your first concrete step is building a complete inventory of all content assets. This foundation makes the rest of your audit process much more efficient.

Start by crawling your website to generate a list of all URLs. Tools like Screaming Frog can export this data directly to your spreadsheet. For each page, you’ll want to record:

URL
Page title
Content type (blog post, product page, landing page, etc.)
Publication date
Last updated date
Word count
Main topics/keywords
Author (if applicable)

Don’t forget to include non-indexed content like PDFs, videos, and other downloadable assets that contribute to your content ecosystem. The goal is to create a master inventory that captures your entire content landscape.

For larger sites, consider breaking your inventory into logical segments based on content types or site sections. This content pruning approach makes the next analysis phase more manageable and helps you spot section-specific trends.

Warning: This phase can be tedious but rushing through it will compromise your entire audit. Set aside dedicated time to ensure your inventory is complete before moving to analysis.

Analyzing content performance against key metrics

With your inventory in place, it’s time to evaluate how each piece performs. Import relevant metrics for each URL from your analytics and SEO tools. The key metrics to consider include:

Organic traffic (over time)
Bounce rate
Average time on page
Conversion rates
Social shares and engagement
Backlinks
Current search rankings for target keywords

Look beyond raw numbers to identify patterns. Which content types consistently perform best? Is there a correlation between content length and engagement? Do certain topics generate more conversions? These insights help you understand what resonates with your audience.

Don’t evaluate content in isolation. Consider the user journey and how each piece fits into your marketing funnel. A page with lower traffic but high conversion rates might be more valuable than a high-traffic page that doesn’t drive business results.

Identify content gaps by comparing your inventory against keyword potential and search demand. These represent opportunities to create new content that addresses topics your audience is actively searching for.

Developing an actionable content improvement plan

Based on your analysis, it’s time to categorize each content piece and determine next steps. Create a simple classification system:

Keep: High-performing content that needs minimal updates
Update: Content with good potential but outdated information or poor optimization
Merge: Similar or overlapping content that should be consolidated
Remove: Low-quality or irrelevant content with little traffic or conversion potential
Create: New content needed to fill identified gaps

For content marked for updates, specify what changes are needed: refreshing statistics, improving SEO elements, enhancing visual content, or expanding depth of coverage.

Prioritize your action items based on potential impact and resource requirements. Quick wins with high impact should come first—like updating high-traffic pages with outdated information or optimizing pages that rank on page two for valuable keywords.

Create a realistic timeline for implementing changes. Even the best audit is worthless if the recommendations aren’t acted upon. Break down the work into manageable phases if you’re dealing with hundreds of content pieces.

How can you overcome common content audit challenges?

Content audits rarely go perfectly smoothly. Here are solutions to common obstacles you might encounter:

Incomplete data: If you lack historical analytics for older content, focus on current performance metrics and qualitative assessment. You can still make informed decisions about content quality and relevance without perfect data.

For large websites with thousands of pages, narrow your scope to the most important sections first. A phased approach is better than being overwhelmed by the entire site at once. Start with your blog, product pages, or other high-impact areas.

When stakeholders disagree on content priorities, use your data to build consensus. Present objective metrics that align with business goals to move past subjective preferences. A scoring system that weighs multiple factors can help depersonalize these decisions.

If you’re struggling with content in different formats or platforms, create separate audit methodologies for each type while maintaining consistent evaluation criteria. Video content requires different metrics than blog posts, but both should support your overall content strategy.

Technical limitations in your CMS can be addressed by using external tools to fill the gaps. Don’t let an outdated system prevent you from gathering the insights you need. Custom exports and third-party tools can overcome most technical constraints.

Implementing and measuring your content audit results

Implementation is where your audit transforms from analysis to action. Create a detailed workflow for each content category:

For content to update: Assign writers, editors, and subject matter experts
For content to merge: Plan 301 redirects to preserve SEO value
For content to remove: Ensure proper archiving and redirect planning
For new content: Develop briefs based on identified gaps

Establish clear tracking mechanisms to measure the impact of your changes. Create before-and-after comparisons of key metrics for updated content. For larger sites, consider implementing changes in phases so you can isolate what’s working.

Set realistic timelines for seeing results. Some changes (like technical SEO improvements) might show results quickly, while content updates may take weeks or months to fully impact search rankings.

Document your entire audit process, including methodology and outcomes. This documentation becomes invaluable for your next audit and helps demonstrate ROI to stakeholders. Regular link building services can amplify the results of your improved content.

Schedule follow-up mini-audits to ensure implemented changes are delivering expected results. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to continuously improve performance.

Remember that a content audit isn’t a one-time event but a cyclical process. Plan to conduct comprehensive audits annually, with quarterly check-ins on high-priority sections to maintain content health and maximize business impact.

By following this structured approach to content audits, you’ll transform your website from a collection of pages into a strategic asset that consistently drives business results. The insights gained will inform not just what content to fix, but how to shape your entire content strategy moving forward.

How often should I conduct a content audit?

While comprehensive audits are typically recommended annually, the ideal frequency depends on your website size and content production rate. For high-volume sites publishing daily content, quarterly mini-audits focusing on key sections may be beneficial. For smaller sites with less frequent publishing, a bi-annual audit might suffice. Additionally, consider triggering special audits after major business pivots, algorithm updates, or when performance metrics show significant changes. The key is establishing a regular cadence that allows enough time to implement changes from the previous audit and measure their impact.

Should I involve multiple team members in the content audit process?

Absolutely. A collaborative approach to content audits typically yields better results. Consider including SEO specialists for keyword and technical analysis, content creators who understand your brand voice, UX experts to evaluate user experience issues, and subject matter experts to verify accuracy. Each team member brings a unique perspective to identify different opportunities for improvement. Just ensure someone serves as the audit coordinator to maintain consistency in evaluation criteria and keep the process organized. For larger organizations, creating cross-functional audit teams can transform this process from a marketing exercise into a valuable company-wide learning opportunity.

How do I decide which content to delete versus update?

This decision requires both quantitative and qualitative assessment. Consider deleting content if it: receives minimal traffic with no growth trend, addresses obsolete topics, duplicates other content, has poor engagement metrics despite previous updates, or no longer aligns with your brand positioning. However, before deletion, evaluate if the page has valuable backlinks or historical significance that might be worth preserving through updating or merging. Content with reasonable traffic but poor engagement metrics is often a better candidate for updating, especially if it targets valuable keywords or covers evergreen topics. Always implement proper 301 redirects for deleted content to preserve SEO value and user experience.

What should I do with seasonal or time-specific content during audits?

Seasonal content requires special consideration during audits. Rather than evaluating it against year-round content, compare performance to previous comparable seasons. For annual events or holidays, update these pieces annually about 60-90 days before the relevant season to capture early search interest. Consider implementing a clear internal tagging system to identify seasonal content in your CMS, making it easier to batch-update before relevant periods. For truly time-specific content that won’t be relevant again (like a 2020 industry report), evaluate whether to archive it with a clear date indication or redirect to more current resources. Some time-specific content can be repurposed into ‘historical perspective’ pieces that maintain relevance.

How can I use content audit findings to improve my content creation process?

Content audits provide valuable feedback loops for improving your entire content operation. Analyze patterns in your top-performing content to identify successful formats, topics, length, style, and promotional channels. Create content templates based on these insights to guide future creation. Use identified knowledge gaps to develop a data-informed editorial calendar. Share performance patterns with content creators so they understand what resonates with your audience. Consider implementing a pre-publication checklist based on common issues found during your audit. Many organizations also use audit findings to refine their content briefs, ensuring new content avoids past mistakes and incorporates elements from proven successful content.

How do I measure the ROI of a content audit?

Measuring content audit ROI requires tracking both costs and benefits. On the cost side, calculate hours spent (team time and tools) multiplied by relevant hourly rates, plus any expenses for specialized tools or consultants. For benefits, track metrics before and after implementing audit-based changes: increased organic traffic, improved conversion rates, higher search rankings, reduced bounce rates, and increased engagement metrics. Calculate the financial impact using your average conversion values. For a comprehensive view, also consider qualitative benefits like improved brand perception, reduced customer support inquiries due to clearer content, and time saved in future content planning. Most organizations find content audits deliver strong ROI within 3-6 months of implementation, with cumulative benefits increasing over time.

What are the first steps to take after completing my content audit?

After completing your content audit, start by addressing critical technical issues that could be hampering performance across multiple pages, such as slow loading times or mobile responsiveness problems. Next, prioritize quick wins – high-traffic pages with obvious improvement opportunities that can show immediate results. Develop a communication plan to share key findings with relevant stakeholders, ensuring everyone understands the strategic direction. Create standardized processes for implementing each content action (update, merge, delete, create) to maintain consistency. Schedule regular check-ins to track implementation progress and initial results. Finally, update your content strategy documentation to incorporate audit insights, ensuring future content creation benefits from what you’ve learned.

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