Why does content audit matter, and why would you need it? [Free action plan]

Benefits of content audit

A content audit can help you maintain the crucial aspects of your digital space by making it better organised and more user-friendly. It is especially useful while running a content-heavy website but can benefit any digital product. A content audit involves systematically analysing and reviewing all the content. But why is it so important?

• Information architecture: A well-thought-out content structure simply enhances the user experience. A content audit can help ensure that the information you present is logically grouped, labelled, and accessible.
• Content quality: Every digital product can have inconsistent, outdated or poorly written content. By preparing an inventory of existing content and auditing it, you can maintain its quality more efficiently.
• User-centric approach: Understanding the existing content is crucial for proceeding to the next step – creating new content that meets users’ needs. By performing a content audit, you can assess what benefits the people interacting with it most.
• SEO optimisation: Especially important for websites. Content audits can reveal opportunities for SEO improvements. Optimising content to include relevant keywords can improve search rankings.

Essentially, a content audit sets the stage for a better user experience, makes your brand’s voice and tone more clearly heard, and ensures more effective communication.

Types of content inventory

To perform a content audit, you first need a content inventory. Creating it might be perceived as a tedious task, especially if you have a lot of content to care for, but it reaps immense benefits. But fear not – you don’t need a full content inventory. Sometimes, it's best just to take a snippet of your website to see clearly what can be improved.

Full content inventory

To create a full content inventory that best serves the purpose of content audit, you make a comprehensive list of every content item. For websites, it includes every page URL and other assets like images, downloadable files, and videos. Describe it in every aspect – you can use the following popular template:

• Navigation title: if the subpage is available from the site’s menu, it’s best to include information on how to access it.
• URL: a full web address where the content resides for easier access.
• Content type: most of the content on any website falls into the categories of articles, product descriptions, category descriptions, case studies, testimonials, service descriptions and landing pages.
• Author: noting the authors of content can be beneficial in the future, when you want to involve them in its updates or have any questions.
• Last update date: helps you determine whether the content can be reviewed for outdated parts.
• Metrics: they're especially useful when you want to improve your website SEO optimisation.
• Notes: if anything else comes to your mind, note it immediately so your future self will thank you for being insightful.

Partial content inventory

Instead of creating a full content inventory, you can go with a partial one. It focuses on a subset of your content. You might choose to audit specific sections, like the product descriptions, pricing pages or your blog. It’s a more targeted approach, which helps to focus on the most important chunks of content, especially in larger projects.

Content sample

If you want to perform a quick assessment or an initial analysis, you can create a content sample. It’s the least detailed collection but provides a snapshot of your content's overall quality and relevance. Just pick and choose a few content items from every category at random and note every detail about it. You might come to some surprising conclusions when you proceed to the next auditing step.

Purpose of a content audit

Of course, a content audit isn’t just about creating a massive spreadsheet with all your content metadata, URLs, metrics, etc. It serves several vital purposes, and understanding them empowers everybody involved to contribute effectively.

Aiding information architecture

By having a content inventory, you can effectively use it to shape information architecture. Understanding every detail of existing content can help logically group related items, enabling the creation of site maps and menus that enhance the user flow.

Supporting CMS migrations

When organisations switch content management systems (CMSes), one thing can be anticipated – chaos. While you analyse the content during the audit, you can precisely find out what content needs to be moved, what can be deleted and what can be postponed for a future update.

Facilitating author communication

When everybody has access to the content inventory, the communication between authors becomes effortless. Collaboration gets smoother as authors can discuss updates, deletions and revisions. One glance at the content inventory can also help avoid unintentional redundancy.

Identifying content gaps

During the audit, you can compare the existing content against user personas and their pain points. Reveal the gaps and plan their bridging.

Discovering hidden gems

Sometimes, buried within the content are true hidden gems – valuable insights that deserve more attention. You can unearth those treasures during the content audit and work on them in the future. If the content you deem valuable underperforms and doesn’t get seen according to your metrics, think about improving it so it contributes better to your overall content strategy.

SEO insights

Relevant keywords change, and while performing the content audit, you can identify which ones are still relevant to your audience. Then, check if your current content covers these topics. If it does, consider updating it with the current keywords.

Maintaining quality and relevance

Content is by no means static. It evolves. Ongoing audits ensure its quality and relevance. By paying close attention to your content, you can eliminate abbreviations in accuracy, tone, and consistency and fix any glaring issues on the spot.

What to include in a content audit? Download a free action plan!

The ultimate goal of every content audit is simple: to make sure that every content item serves a purpose. Doing so requires following a specific plan from start to finish. Luckily, you don’t need to come up with it yourself. You can check our content audit action plan below and use all of its 8 steps to make your content more relevant than ever.

Summary

Performing a content audit is an essential practice for every digital product maintenance. It ensures that your content remains user-friendly and organized while staying up-to-date and relevant. By reviewing your content, you can improve information architecture, content quality, and SEO optimisation, all while putting the user at the centre.

But a content audit isn’t just about creating a spreadsheet with guidelines. It's about an ongoing, thoughtful approach to the user experience. When you make your content consistent, more readable and accurate, you’ll set the foundation for a clearer brand voice and more effective communication.

While auditing, especially for content-heavy products, might seem discouraging, it can almost immediately help you plan the next steps in your content strategy.