As a business, you build a significant presence online, and as part of that, you create your website and social channels. You fill those up with great content as you continue to work on the website and its marketing.
Over the years, you have created much content. All this content is an asset for your business. But if you do not ensure that you continue to work and improve this asset in the future, all of it will be a waste of your time.
Ideally, you should try to do a content audit once a year to ensure that this “asset” is being maintained well enough to generate outstanding business results.
What is a content audit, you ask?
A content audit is a comprehensive review of all the content on your website. It helps you evaluate your content’s relevance, quality, and performance and identify areas for improvement. This blog post will outline the steps to conducting a successful content audit.
Step 1: Define your objectives.
Before starting your content audit, you must first define your goals.
- What do you want to achieve with the audit?
- Do you want to improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO)?
- Do you wish to assess the quality of your content?
- Do you want to update the content to better interlink with other newly generated pieces?
A clear goal will help guide your audit and ensure it’s effective.
Step 2: Gather your data.
The next step is to gather all the data you’ll need to conduct your audit. This includes a list of all your website pages, URLs, and relevant metrics such as page views, bounce rates, and conversion rates. Tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush can help you with this.
Step 3: Evaluate your content.
Once you have all your data, it’s time to evaluate your content. This is where you’ll assess the relevance, quality, and performance of each page on your website.
Ask yourself questions such as:
- Is the content still relevant and up-to-date?
- Is it well-written and free of errors?
- Does it still provide value to your audience?
- Is it optimized for search engines?
- Are there any broken links or missing images?
- Are there any crosslinking opportunities?
Step 4: Make recommendations.
Based on your evaluation, make recommendations for each page on your website. This may include updating outdated content, improving the quality of the writing, optimizing for search engines, or removing irrelevant content.
Step 5: Implement changes.
The final step is to implement the changes you’ve recommended. This may involve updating content, adding new pages, or removing old ones. (Note: If you decide to remove old content, check if it has any backlinks and whether they are worth keeping.)
Make sure to track your progress and monitor the impact of your changes on your website’s performance.
In conclusion, a content audit is a valuable exercise that can help you improve the quality and performance of your website. Following these steps ensures that your audit is effective and provides actionable insights to help you achieve your goals.
In general, businesses should run a content audit once a year (especially when working on a new marketing strategy for the next year). It might sound like a bit of work, but depending on your business’s content, it could be a one-month activity or something that goes on for a whole quarter or more.