Keeping your website content sharp, relevant, and effective isn’t a one-and-done task. It’s more like tending a garden. You need to prune what’s no longer valuable, water what’s working, and make space for fresh growth. That’s where a content audit comes in.
A content audit involves assessing all the content on your site to determine what’s working, what needs improvement, and what’s not worth keeping around. Done right, it’s a game-changer for visibility, engagement, and even conversions.
In this guide, we will walk you through why a content audit is critical for your website’s success and also share step-by-step instructions on how to conduct one effectively. So, let’s get started!
Why a Content Audit Matters
Before we get into the “how,” let’s answer the most important question: why should you care about running a content audit?
1. Improve SEO and Search Rankings
Search engines love fresh, high-quality content. By identifying and removing outdated or low-performing pages, you’re making room for your strongest content to shine. According to HubSpot, businesses that blog receive 97% more inbound links, which in turn boosts their overall search engine ranking.
2. Enhance User Experience
Ever landed on a webpage with outdated information or broken links? It’s frustrating, right? Studies show that 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a website after a bad experience. A content audit ensures your visitors find accurate, useful, and engaging content every time.
3. Increase Conversions
Not all content leads to action. A comprehensive audit reveals the types of content that convert visitors into leads or customers. Once you know what works, you can use that formula to replicate success.
4. Align Content with Current Goals
Your business evolves. What you prioritized last year might not align with your strategy today. A content audit lets you ensure everything on your site reflects your current priorities and brand voice.
Think of a content audit as a digital “spring cleaning” for your brand. Now that we’ve established its importance, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and start the process.
How to Run a Content Audit
Step 1. Identify Your Goals
What do you hope to achieve with this audit?
- SEO Improvement: Do you want to boost organic traffic?
- Better Engagement: Are you looking for ways to keep visitors on your site longer?
- Content Alignment: Do you need to ensure that your website reflects your brand’s latest message and priorities?
Think of these goals as your North Star. They’ll help guide every decision you make during this process.
Step 2. Create a Content Inventory
Start by listing every piece of content on your website. If your site is small, you can do this manually. For larger sites, tools like Screaming Frog, SEMrush, or Google Analytics can automatically crawl your website and generate a list of pages.
Include details like:
- Page title
- URL
- Date published or last updated
- Content type (blog, product page, etc.)
- Word count
- Performance metrics (traffic, bounce rate, conversions, etc.)
Step 3. Assess Content Performance
This is where the real detective work begins. Analyze each piece of content against key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
- Traffic: Are visitors actually landing on this page?
- Engagement: How long do people stay? Are they reading to the end?
- Conversion: Is this page driving actions like sign-ups, purchases, or inquiries?
Tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or heatmaps can provide valuable insights for this step. For SEO-specific assessments, platforms like SEMrush or Ahrefs work wonderfully.
Step 4. Assign Actions to Each Page
After gathering the data, classify your content into three categories:
- Keep
Pages that are performing well and align with your goals (e.g., a blog post driving significant traffic). Celebrate these pages and consider minor updates to keep them fresh.
- Update
Content that has potential but could benefit from revisions. For example:
– Outdated statistics or examples.
– Low traffic but high relevance to your target audience.
- Remove
Pages that serve no purpose, generate zero traffic, or are completely outdated. Clearing space can improve your site’s crawlability and user experience.
Step 5. Update and Optimize Content
Focus on the pages you’ve labeled “Update.” Use this opportunity to refresh your content with:
- Current stats from reputable sources like Statista or Forbes.
- SEO best practices, such as adding targeted keywords, headlines, and metadata.
- Internal and external links that provide added value for readers.
For example, a blog post about “2020 marketing tips” is now outdated. You could update it to “2024 marketing tips” with new trends and strategies.
Step 6. Monitor Progress Over Time
Running a content audit isn’t a one-time task. Make it part of your annual or semi-annual website maintenance plan. Schedule time to regularly:
- Check KPIs.
- Track updated pages to see if changes improved performance.
- Add newly published pages to your audit inventory for ongoing evaluation.
Pro Tip Use Tools to Simplify the Process
Running a content audit manually can feel overwhelming, especially if your website has hundreds (or thousands) of pages. Thankfully, you don’t have to go it alone.
Here are the tools we recommend to make auditing faster and easier:
- Google Analytics for traffic and engagement stats.
- Screaming Frog for creating content inventories.
- Yoast or SEMrush Plugins for on-page SEO analysis.
Each tool has its strengths, so find the one that best aligns with your goals and technical know-how.
Time to Take Action
Running a content audit requires some elbow grease, but the payoff in improved SEO, enhanced site usability, and better conversions is well worth the effort. Remember to treat audits as an ongoing process rather than a one-and-done task.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure of where to start, that’s okay too. Sometimes even the most seasoned professionals need a helping hand. That’s where we come in.
Our team at TiTech Marketing will handle the heavy lifting and provide you with a detailed roadmap for optimizing your website content.
