Have you mislaid way of each the contented you’ve created? It’s casual to do.

If you’re thing similar me, you’re truthful focused connected coming up with ideas and creating caller articles that you mightiness suffer way of what you’ve already created.

But the information is the contented you’ve already created is conscionable arsenic invaluable arsenic thing you’re yet to create, perchance much so. Optimizing it conscionable a small spot could effect successful thousands of dollars much successful revenue.

That’s wherefore you request a contented audit of existing pages. In this article, I’ll cover:

• What a contented audit is
• Why you request an audit
• Content audit tools astatine your disposal
• How to tally a contented audit measurement by step

Ready to make an inventory of your assets? Then let’s begin.

What is simply a Content Audit?

A contented audit is the process of creating an inventory of your website’s contented assets and analyzing them against a acceptable of criteria.

It’s a mode of keeping way of the contented you person created, seeing which assets request improving, and identifying which topics to tackle next.

A contented audit tin beryllium arsenic little oregon arsenic elaborate arsenic you want. You tin audit your full site, conscionable your blog, oregon adjacent conscionable a class of your blog. They tin each connection worth and insight. I urge doing a broad audit, though. The clip you walk connected your audit present volition wage disconnected later.

Why Does My Website Need a Content Audit?

You should carve retired the clip to bash a contented audit to see wherever the gaps are and to commencement creating amended content.

Why should you bash a contented audit? There are a fig of reasons a contented audit tin assistance your website execute better.

A contented audit offers a heap of benefits. These include:

• Analyzing the show of your contented to assistance you marque data-backed decisions astir which pages to improve.
• Highlighting pages connected your tract that aren’t optimized for SEO. Some pages whitethorn beryllium missing metadata oregon person a mediocre heading structure, for instance.
• Identifying SEO opportunities and contented gaps that you tin capable with caller content.
• Improving the prime of contented connected your tract to upgrade the scholar experience.
• Identifying contented you tin repurpose.
• Creating a implicit inventory of contented that makes managing your contented strategy easier successful the future.
• Improving your content’s accessibility and inclusivity.

Whether oregon not you spot worth successful moving a contented audit, determination are definite points successful the beingness of your website erstwhile moving a contented audit becomes essential. Consider moving a contented audit if:

• Your website is simply a fewer years aged and you’ve ne'er tally an audit.
• There’s nary wide strategy oregon you’ve inherited a contented selling strategy from different team.
• You’re redesigning your website.
• You deliberation you’ve created contented connected each imaginable taxable successful your niche.

Determine Your Content Audit’s Purpose

How you attack a contented audit volition beryllium connected your goals. While you tin make a contented audit that achieves each of the benefits I listed above, it volition beryllium overmuch much effectual if you prime 1 oregon 2 goals to absorption on.

For instance, if you privation to usage a contented audit to amended your SEO, past you’ll privation to absorption connected identifying contented gaps and pages with missing metadata. That means paying peculiar attraction to the technical SEO of each page. 

Given you are speechmaking a integer selling blog, I’m going to constitute the remainder of this usher arsenic if you were moving an SEO-driven contented audit. You tin inactive usage this usher if you’re looking to amended your reader’s acquisition oregon marque your contented much inclusive and accessible, but conscionable cognize immoderate of the much method aspects whitethorn not beryllium relevant.

Content Audit Tools

Software tools are an indispensable portion of the contented audit process. Rather than spell done your website manually, noting each contented successful turn, you tin usage the pursuing tools to automate overmuch of the process.

Ubersuggest

If you’re moving a contented audit to amended your SEO, Ubersuggest is essential. Running a tract audit is easy. Just participate your URL, click “Search,” and click “Site Audit” connected the left. Think of this arsenic a quick, escaped wide look astatine however your website is doing.

You’ll besides get a snapshot of which SEO issues are astir prevalent connected your tract and however captious they are.

Google Analytics

Do you privation to comparison the show of your pages? Then usage Google Analytics to find postulation information for each page.

Note: Be alert that Google is sunsetting Universal Analytics connected July 1, 2023, successful favour of Google Analytics 4. If you haven’t already, you should marque the power to GA4 earlier completing your contented audit. The faster you switch, the much humanities information you’ll person and the easier it volition beryllium to reuse your contented audit successful the future.   

Broken Link Checkers

As you analyse your content, you’ll privation to find and hole breached links. Integrity, Ahrefs, and Dead Link Checker tin assistance you there.  

Content Inventory

You could manually propulsion each contented nexus associated with your website, but that could instrumentality acold excessively agelong and you could hazard overlooking immoderate things. Instead, you whitethorn privation to effort a contented inventory instrumentality similar Screaming Frog or DynoMapper.

Website Content Audit Steps

It whitethorn look similar there’s a batch of enactment progressive with creating a contented audit. But it’s casual erstwhile you interruption it down into manageable steps.

#1: Create a List of Your Content Assets

The archetypal measurement of a website contented audit is to marque an inventory of your assets. Seeing each of them successful 1 determination makes it overmuch easier to analyse contented performance, item areas to improve, and update each plus methodically.

Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider Tool is the champion mode to extract contented assets from your site. It’s escaped to usage if your tract has little than 500 pages. But you tin besides usage immoderate of the different contented extractors I mentioned above.

Whichever instrumentality you use, export your information into a spreadsheet, making definite applicable information points (word count, meta description, people keyword, no. of images, etc.) are included. You whitethorn besides privation to adhd postulation information from Google Analytics to each leafage truthful you tin analyse contented show alongside method SEO metrics.

Content Audit Templates

As I explained above, you volition privation to physique a contented audit spreadsheet truthful you tin support each the information successful 1 place. You tin physique 1 from scratch, download 1 of the pursuing templates, oregon usage these arsenic a launching constituent and customize your spreadsheet.

• CoSchedule Content Audit Template
• HubSpot SEO Template
• Distilled Content Audit Template

Keep successful caput the goals we discussed earlier. There are tons of stats oregon information points you could propulsion alongside each content. However, immoderate information is going to beryllium much applicable to you than others.

If you are utilizing this audit to amended your contented selling engagement, you volition privation to cheque accusation astir clickthroughs, societal media engagement, comments, and truthful on.

If your extremity is associated with SEO, you whitethorn privation to see warnings and recommendations you stitchery from Ubersuggest.

#2: Create a List of Content Issues to Identify

Now you person each your contented assets successful 1 place; it’s clip to analyse them. Go done each portion of contented 1 astatine a clip to spot however it’s performing, whether it’s missing metadata oregon determination are immoderate evident ways it tin beryllium improved.

Here are a fewer things to look for, successful particular:

• Duplicate Content: Search engines prioritize caller content. If you person a batch of duplicate contented surviving connected antithetic pages oregon posts, you’ll privation to region oregon rewrite those pages. 
• Outdated Content: People don’t privation to read outdated content, and hunt engines place it too. Update it wherever possible.
• Content Gaps: What’s missing successful your content? Are determination topics you haven’t addressed yet? Target markets you haven’t spoken to? Being capable to look astatine everything astatine erstwhile tin assistance you find the gaps and capable them in.  
• Target Keyword: Does the contented plus people a peculiar keyword and see it successful the copy?
• Metadata: Have you written metadata descriptions for each pages? This spreadsheet is going to assistance you spot which ones request to beryllium written and which ones are repetitive and should beryllium updated.
• Image Data: Does each representation person a descriptive rubric and alt tag? This volition guarantee your images are SEO-optimized and accessibility-friendly.
• Word Count: Do your pages and posts person capable words to optimize for SEO? Or are they excessively short? Check that connection number to spot if pages request to beryllium updated oregon edited down.

Keep way of everything by creating a enactment adjacent to each plus astir wherefore it needs improving. You tin besides color-code your spreadsheet based connected the benignant of optimization required, but this tin rapidly go analyzable if a azygous plus has aggregate issues.

#3: Address Content Issues

You can’t bash everything astatine once, truthful present it’s clip to prioritize your contented issues. One strategy is to enactment done each plus numerically, starting with those astatine the apical of the spreadsheet. Another is to radical each optimization contented unneurotic and tackle them successful bulk. For instance, you could update the meta information connected each page, past determination connected to fixing representation issues and truthful on.

Alternatively, usage Ubersuggest to prioritize contented issues for you. When you tally an SEO audit connected Ubersuggest, you’ll person recommendations based connected an issue’s trouble and SEO impact. 

Focusing connected tasks with a precocious SEO interaction and debased trouble volition springiness you a bid of speedy wins. But you could besides prioritize each of the casual tasks to get the shot rolling if you’re not that confident.

Content audits enactment champion erstwhile they are tackled by respective people, truthful don’t beryllium acrophobic to inquire for assistance and divided up the work. Maybe you tin instrumentality attraction of on-page issues portion a workfellow addresses the contented gaps your audit has highlighted.

FAQs

Conclusion

A contented audit whitethorn consciousness overwhelming astatine archetypal glance. But don’t fto that halt you.

Starting a website contented audit is 1 of the champion steps you tin instrumentality to amended your contented marketing strategy. Compiling each of your assets successful 1 spot makes it overmuch easier to spot what needs improving and which assets are missing. It besides makes it easier to prioritize and hole issues.

Once you’ve tally a contented audit once, managing your assets successful the aboriginal becomes a breeze. You’ll person nary occupation taking your content marketing efforts to the adjacent level. 

What issues has your contented audit identified?