A content audit is an essential part of a well-rounded content strategy. By systematically evaluating your existing content, you can spot gaps, address weaknesses, and make informed improvements that boost search rankings, increase traffic, and enhance engagement. Let’s walk through the process, and I’ll even share a simple template to guide you through your own content audit.

What is a Content Audit?

A content audit is a detailed evaluation of all your website’s existing content to determine its effectiveness, performance, and alignment with your business goals. It helps you answer key questions such as:

• Is the content generating organic traffic?
• Does it align with the right keywords and search intent?
• Are there any technical SEO issues hindering its performance?
• Can it be updated or repurposed to provide better value?

A good content audit doesn’t just help you identify what’s wrong; it shows you how to fix it. It allows you to prioritise your content efforts, focusing on pages with the most potential for growth.

Why You Need a Content Audit

Content audits are vital for several reasons:

1. Improve SEO: By identifying content that lacks optimisation, you can enhance on-page SEO factors to boost rankings.
2. Increase Traffic: You can refresh old content, update keywords, and address gaps to attract more visitors.
3. Better User Experience: By improving or removing outdated or irrelevant content, you offer a better browsing experience for your audience.
4. Repurpose Opportunities: Identify content that can be repurposed for other platforms or formats (e.g., turning a blog post into a video or an infographic).

How to Conduct a Content Audit (Step-by-Step)

Conducting a content audit can feel overwhelming, especially if you have hundreds (or thousands) of pages to sift through. However, breaking it down into manageable steps will help you stay organised and focused.

Step 1: Gather Your Content URLs

Start by collecting all the URLs of the content you want to audit. You can export these from tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or SEO platforms SEMrush. If your website has thousands of pages, focus on the top 20% of pages that generate the most traffic or backlinks. This 80/20 rule will help you maximise results with minimal effort.

Step 2: Set Up a Content Audit Spreadsheet

Use a content audit template to organise your findings. Your spreadsheet should include key metrics like:

• Page URL
• Title and meta description
• Organic traffic 
• Backlinks 
• Bounce rate and average time on page (via Google Analytics)
• Target keyword
• Content length
• Last updated date

Step 3: Evaluate Content Performance

With your URLs and metrics gathered, evaluate the performance of each page using the following criteria:

1. Does the page receive organic traffic?
   Check whether the page is getting traffic from organic search results. This can be done through Google Search Console by looking at the number of clicks each page has received over the past few months.
2. Is the page optimised for the right keywords?
   Ensure your content targets relevant keywords that align with search intent. Use tools like SEMrush to analyse whether your focus keyword has traffic potential and how well your page is ranking for it.
3. Is the content up to date?
   Outdated information can negatively affect the user experience and your search rankings. Review your pages to ensure the content is current, and update any old data, statistics, or references.
4. Does the page have backlinks?
   Backlinks from other websites can signal authority to search engines. Pages with zero or few backlinks may require outreach efforts or content improvements to gain authority.
5. Is the page internally linked?
   Internal links help with SEO and improve user navigation. Check if your page has sufficient internal links pointing to it and from it, to relevant pages on your site.

Step 4: Identify Actions for Each Page

Based on your findings, categorise each page into one of these actions:

• Keep: The content performs well, is up to date, and needs no major changes.
• Update: The content is performing but could be improved with updated information, better SEO optimisation, or enhanced user experience.
• Repurpose: The content has potential but could be used in other formats (e.g., blog post into a podcast, webinar, or infographic).
• Remove: The content is outdated, irrelevant, or no longer aligns with your business goals.

Step 5: Prioritise High-Impact Pages

Once you’ve sorted your content, prioritise the pages with the highest potential for improvement. These are typically the pages that already have some traffic or backlinks but could benefit from optimisation.

For instance, if a page ranks on the second page of Google search results but has high traffic potential, optimising it with updated keywords, fresh content, and better on-page SEO can push it into the top results.

Conclusion

A well-executed content audit will allow you to fine-tune your website’s performance, improve SEO, and drive more organic traffic. By systematically reviewing your content, making updates, and repurposing what’s underperforming, you can ensure that every piece of content contributes to your business goals. Feel free to use this content calendar template, to assist with your future content marketing planning.