How to conduct a content audit: Step-by-step with template

1. Define audit scope and goals

First, organizations want to define clear objectives and boundaries for the content audit.

Key objectives may include:

• Improve search engine optimization (SEO).
• Eliminate outdated or redundant content.
• Ensure brand consistency.
• Optimize conversion paths.
• Understand content performance patterns.
• Meet compliance requirements.

When defining scope, consider addressing content in various categories, such as older content, specific content types or publishing channels. It is important to consider the availability of resources to perform the audit and take action afterward.

Start by documenting the evaluation criteria in the audit template. This will help maintain focus throughout the audit and provide a framework for post-audit evaluation.

2. Build the audit team

Assemble a cross-functional team led by a content strategist or marketing manager. Key members could include SEO, analytics experts, subject matter experts, content creators and UX designers. This team will collaborate to ensure comprehensive evaluation and actionable insights.

At the outset, the audit team should establish clear roles, responsibilities and communication channels for their work. Regular check-ins will help maintain momentum and ensure alignment throughout the audit process.

3. Create the content inventory

Use the content management system (CMS) and crawling tools to create a comprehensive content inventory, including URLs, titles, formats, publication dates and metadata. Manually verify automated data, especially for gated content, PDFs and regional variations.

The content catalogue should document essential information about each asset, starting with basic identifiers -- such as URLs and titles -- and include formats and publication details. Track original publication and modification dates to understand content freshness. Each piece should be tagged with meta descriptions, title tags and primary keywords to facilitate SEO analysis. Maintain clear records of content ownership and editorial responsibility, along with the current status of each object in the publishing workflow.

Manual verification remains crucial despite automation's efficiency. Careful cross-referencing between automated data and the CMS ensures comprehensive coverage of all content types. Pay particular attention to content that automated tools might miss, such as:

• Gated resources requiring user information.
• Password-protected areas.
• Downloadable assets like PDFs.
• Content housed on microsites or subdomains.
• Any regional or language variations.

4. Establish assessment criteria

Develop assessment criteria, focusing on three areas:

• SEO performance.
• Content quality.
• Engagement metrics.

For SEO, focus on elements that affect search visibility and UX. Page load speed should consistently fall under three seconds, while mobile responsiveness must meet current industry standards. Evaluate the structural elements of each page, including header tag hierarchy, image optimization and internal linking patterns. Pay close attention to URL structure and schema markup implementation, as these technical foundations significantly influence search performance.

Content quality assessment requires both objective and subjective evaluation. Monitor accuracy and timeliness of information, ensuring content reflects market conditions and company offerings. Evaluate each piece for brand voice consistency, grammar and readability. Assessment should include call-to-action effectiveness, visual asset professional quality and validation of all internal and external links. Check each piece for compliance with established style guidelines.

Performance metrics provide quantitative benchmarks for content success. Set monthly page view thresholds that align with content type and purpose. Define target conversion rates based on industry standards and historical performance. Track engagement through multiple metrics including dwell time, scroll depth and interaction rates. Establish clear benchmarks for bounce rates and social sharing.

Document these standards in the audit template, using a numerical scoring system of 1 to 5 for subjective criteria and specific goals for quantitative metrics. This standardized approach ensures consistent evaluation across the content ecosystem.

5. Analyze technical SEO elements

Common issues to address include duplicate or out-of-date content, broken links, missing or incorrect metadata, orphaned pages and thin content pages. Evaluate the SEO value of the following items:

• Title tags and meta descriptions.
• Header hierarchy and URL structure.
• Image optimization and mobile responsiveness.
• Core Web Vitals and page speed.
• Internal linking patterns.

Start by examining title tags, ensuring they maintain optimal length, strategic keyword placement and uniqueness across pages. Meta descriptions should complement these titles with compelling, brief and keyword-rich content.

Structural integrity of enterprise content relies heavily on proper header tag hierarchy and clean URL formatting. Headers should flow logically from H1 down, creating clear content organization for both users and search engines. URLs should be readable and properly structured, avoiding unnecessary parameters or complex paths.

Image optimization is crucial for search performance and UX. This includes alt text implementation, optimized file sizes and descriptive file-naming conventions. Since page speed metrics, particularly Core Web Vitals, directly affect search rankings and user engagement, they require careful attention. Mobile responsiveness is equally critical, with search engines prioritizing mobile-friendly content in their rankings.

Document technical issues in the content audit template, prioritizing fixes based on the potential effect on search performance and UX. For enterprise sites, consider implementing automated monitoring for ongoing technical health maintenance.

6. Evaluate content quality

To evaluate content quality, assess:

• Target audience relevance.
• Business goal alignment.
• Content structure and flow.
• Brand consistency.
• Compliance requirements.

Does the content fit the customer journey? Does it support both brand message consistency and competitive differentiation? Content accuracy and compliance with industry standards may be part of the quality assessment.

Evaluate content structure. Does the content present a clear hierarchy and have a logical flow? Is it written at a depth appropriate for both audience and topic? Are subheads used effectively? Is text adequately supported with visual elements?

The team can assess content value using reader engagement metrics, social sharing activity, comment quality and quantity, direct user feedback, expert reviews and sales team input.

Start with the content audit template. Adapt it to the organization's needs and use it to track quantitative and qualitative content findings. Flag content for updates, consolidation or retirement. Consider creating a content refresh schedule for high-performing pieces that need regular updates.

7. Assess performance metrics

Track key metrics, such as:

• Traffic patterns and growth trends.
• Engagement.
• Conversion rates.
• Social engagement.
• Search performance.

Begin by examining traffic patterns, tracking organic growth trends alongside total page views and unique visitor counts. Use metrics like dwell time, bounce rates and scroll depth analysis to evaluate engagement quality. These indicators reveal how effectively content captures and maintains audience attention. Conversion rates and return visitor percentages demonstrate content's ability to drive desired actions and build audience loyalty, while social engagement metrics highlight content's resonance across platforms.

Advanced analytics insights reveal the broader context of content performance. Analyze traffic sources to understand which channels drive the most valuable engagement. Study user path analysis and behavior flows to identify how content supports the customer journey. Device usage patterns and geographic distribution data help optimize content delivery and targeting. Track search queries and click-through rates to align content with audience search intent, while monitoring page load performance to ensure technical optimization.

Document these metrics in the audit template spreadsheet, noting significant trends or patterns. Pay special attention to content that consistently overperforms or underperforms. These pieces often provide valuable insights for future content strategy.

8. Document findings and action items

Transform audit insights into actionable recommendations. The final step transforms analysis into a plan, ensuring audit findings drive meaningful improvements.

Categorize content into action groups. Note content that performs well, to retain and learn from it. Plan to update and optimize content that needs improvement. Plan to consolidate redundant or overlapping content and remove or archive out-of-date or underperforming content. Plan to create the necessary content to fill any content gaps.

Create an implementation roadmap to include immediate actions, short-term projects, long-term projects and ongoing maintenance tasks. Prioritize these recommendations based on a combination of their effect on audit goals, the resources required to address them, the complexity of implementation and any technical dependencies.

Schedule regular audits -- annually for full reviews, quarterly for focused assessments. Use insights to inform content strategy, improve UX and align content with business objectives. The content audit will likely reveal opportunities beyond content optimization. Be open to improvements not only to the content lifecycle, but across the business.

Jordan Jones is a writer versed in enterprise content management, component content management, web content management and video-on-demand technologies.