{"id":7493,"date":"2021-08-12T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T17:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/?p=7493"},"modified":"2022-11-05T13:35:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T20:35:13","slug":"the-step-by-step-guide-to-conducting-a-content-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/content-marketing\/the-step-by-step-guide-to-conducting-a-content-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s enough to strike fear into even the most experienced of marketers and bloggers. It can seem like torture. It\u2019s often the stuff of nightmares. What is this unholy monster?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The content audit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well-executed content audit done on an annual basis can deliver big insights into your website\u2019s blog and content marketing strategy that far exceeds its ho-hum reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Too often, we post something and then never go back to it again. Years later, it\u2019s outdated, stale, and completely irrelevant. Good practice demands that we return to our content periodically to ensure that everything is as fresh and beautiful as the day it was released to the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In this post, we&#8217;ll show you two ways to do a content audit, one quick version and one long version.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is a Content Audit?<\/h2>\n<p class='alert alert-success'><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>content audit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> involves taking a look at <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the content on your website and assessing its relative strengths and weaknesses in order to prioritize your future marketing activities. It\u2019s a <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">qualitative<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> assessment and evaluation based on the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.business2community.com\/small-business\/what-are-kpis-and-how-do-you-use-them-01641939\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8464\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KPIs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Key Performance Indicators) that you select beforehand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This process should not be confused with a <\/span><b>content inventory<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is simply an accounting of all these different assets. In other words, it\u2019s a <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quantitative<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> collection. Although a content inventory is part of the audit process, the audit itself goes much further in depth. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.content-insight.com\/products\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8465\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Analysis Tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (CAT) can make content inventories a snap. When you start off on the right foot, the rest of the journey is that much easier. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When performed correctly, a good audit will help you to answer questions about the content pieces on your site: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which ones are performing best? <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What topics does your audience most connect with?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which posts have overstayed their welcome? <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An audit will tell you where you need to focus your future efforts in terms of both an SEO and content marketing perspective. And it can even give you insight into potential changes that will improve your lead generation, sales, and marketing processes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" class=\"button button--primary\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-target=\"#getStartedModal\" data-gaevent=\"Clicked Homepage Hero Offer\" data-track-type=\"FC - Home Hero\"><span>Get My Free Content Marketing Plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Before Beginning Your Content Audit<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re struggling to understand your visitors\u2019 behavior on your website or why your current marketing initiatives aren\u2019t working, a content audit is easily one of the best things you can do for your business. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before we get into the step-by-step process of conducting one, you need to answer a few questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why Am I Conducting a Content Audit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There could be any number of reasons. There\u2019s no one correct approach for conducting a content audit \u2013 the exact steps you\u2019ll take will depend on your reasons for undergoing the process in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typically, content audits are conducted for two primary reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>SEO<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Conducting a content audit for SEO purposes helps you to identify any weak spots in your site\u2019s search engine optimization. By cataloging the different keywords, word counts, optimized images and other elements that are associated with each content asset on your site and comparing them to your current page rankings, you should be able to determine what changes need to be made to improve your site\u2019s natural search performance. And as most traffic coming to your site is from organic search, this is a crucial business exercise that you should be doing at least annually. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Content Marketing<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Another great reason for performing a content audit is to assess the current status of your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/content-marketing\/start-successful-content-marketing-campaign-scratch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8466\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">content marketing efforts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Instead of looking at page optimization factors, you\u2019ll concentrate on things like page length, visit metrics, and social shares to determine how your audience is responding to each content piece you\u2019ve created (and, consequently, how you could alter your content marketing efforts in the future to improve its performance).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, there\u2019s no reason you can\u2019t do both. While you\u2019re digging through your SEO metrics, it\u2019s easy to jot down your content marketing data as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or you might be approaching your content audit from a slightly different perspective. Whatever the case may be, being clear about your intentions ahead of time will help to streamline the process and minimize extra effort. Know <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">why<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you\u2019re doing before you start doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class='alert alert-warning'><strong>Related Content:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/how-to-conduct-a-blog-audit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8467\">How (and Why) to Conduct an Effective Blog Post Audit<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What Resources Do I Have Available for My Content Audit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A good content audit is a time-consuming process. If you\u2019re currently swamped with other priorities, undertaking such a massive project may not be the best use of your time or energy. If you can\u2019t devote the proper resources to it, it\u2019s better to wait until you can.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That being said, there is more than one way to approach a content audit. In this article, we\u2019ll offer both a <strong>comprehensive step-by-step audit<\/strong>, and a <strong>quick high-impact method<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t have the resources to undertake a complete content audit, the shorter version will help you focus your time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And keep in mind that you do have options. Instead of undertaking the entire audit process by yourself, delegate some of the data-gathering steps to another employee in your organization or to an outsourced worker hired through sites like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guru.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8468\">Guru<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upwork.com\/?r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8469\">Upwork<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10901 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Upwork-screenshot-1024x603.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"1024\" height=\"603\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You also have the option of completing only small sections of the audit at any given time, or paying for tools that help to automate parts of your research process (gone are the days of having to manually sift through everything yourself!). More on this later.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What Do I Hope to Get Out of My Content Audit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you begin, be clear about the reason you\u2019re conducting a content audit in the first place. If you aren\u2019t going to take action based on the data that your audit produces, you might as well skip the process altogether. An audit for the sake of an audit is a waste of time and resources. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any of the following are potential content audit goals. You may have others that are not on this list, and you\u2019ll likely have more than one in mind as you go through it.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify ways to improve organic search performance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pinpoint which past content marketing pieces have performed best<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Determine which content topics your audience seems to prefer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Locate gaps in the content you\u2019ve provided for different stages of your sales funnel<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover pages to be consolidated because of overlapping content<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highlight pages with high impressions, but low conversions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generate ideas for future content pieces<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eliminate content that no longer reflects your business, niche, or corporate culture<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s the theory. Now let\u2019s put it in practice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class='alert alert-warning'><strong>Related Content:<\/strong><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/content-marketing-strategy-2\/content-marketing-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8470\">How to Create a High-Performance Content Marketing Strategy in 2023<\/a><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/content-marketing\/content-marketing-funnel-using-different-types-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8471\">What\u2019s the Right Content for Each Stage of the Marketing Funnel?<\/a><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/5-great-ways-to-ideate-for-your-blog-posts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8472\">30 Ways to Come Up with Great Ideas for Your Blog Posts<\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Meet John, Our Hypothetical Business Owner<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help illustrate how to do a content audit, we&#8217;ve created John, a\u00a0business owner with a heart of gold. He runs a small software company that\u2019s developed an SaaS budgeting tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10902 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/1957165-151x247.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"151\" height=\"247\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He\u2019s invested in content marketing for about a year, but he isn\u2019t sure whether all the time he\u2019s spent blogging, creating videos, and releasing infographics has paid off. As a result, he decides to conduct a content audit to see how his individual content pieces are performing and what \u2013 if anything \u2013 he should do differently in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because John only has five employees \u2013 all of whom are busy wearing multiple hats already \u2013 he decides to take on the audit process by himself. Because he\u2019s a busy guy, he keeps the scope of his audit small, checking only the content he\u2019s created in the past year and tracking only a few variables that indicate success to <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">him<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember, the size and scope of your audit is completely up to you. This is not an all-or-nothing scenario. Do what you can when you can do it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll revisit John a little later on. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Content Audit Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve finished your homework (you did answer the questions above, right?), it\u2019s time to get started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s begin with the quick version. Try this if you\u2019re tight on time and resources. These steps will help you quickly find and focus on the highest-impact tasks, with a smaller amount of total time invested.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or if you have the resources available, keep reading for the full<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> step-by-step process to complete your website\u2019s first content audit (and feel free to amend it for subsequent ones).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to Do a Content Audit: The Quick Version<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether it\u2019s because you&#8217;re tight on time, or you\u2019re just not sure it\u2019s worth doing, this is a great place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These first three steps will help you find the highest impact areas to start with. They include key techniques that ElectricityRates.com recently used to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickflow.com\/clickflow-increase-organic-clicks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"35150\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">increase organic clicks by 327%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s possible to do this without any software, but it\u2019ll take a lot longer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Do a Content Audit: The Long Version<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #1 &#8211; Create a Spreadsheet of All Your Content Assets<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsurprisingly, the first step in completing a content audit is to find all your content. You have two different options for doing so: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use a crawling tool like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.screamingfrog.co.uk\/seo-spider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8474\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screaming Frog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (free for up to 500 URLs) or <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/urlprofiler.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8475\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">URL Profiler<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (paid plans) to identify all the URLs on your existing website and download that data as a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/frictionlessdata.io\/guides\/csv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8476\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CSV file<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (just hit \u201cExport\u201d after it\u2019s done crawling). These tools are also capable of automatically collecting various other SEO data points for you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10903 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit1.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"446\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manually enter the URLs into your spreadsheet (you probably don\u2019t want to go this route if you have 2,000+ pages, but a dozen or so is fine). The easiest way to do this is to log into your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Posts &gt; All Posts, and then click on each one in turn to get its URL. Fancy? No. But it does the trick. \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enter or import all the URLs you find into an Excel or Google Docs spreadsheet, leaving plenty of columns for the data you\u2019ll gather in Step #2. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or, if you\u2019d rather not reinvent the wheel, you can add your links to any of the following freely-available content inventory and audit templates:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/maadmob.com.au\/resources\/content_inventory\" data-lasso-id=\"8477\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Inventory Spreadsheet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; MaadMob<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1uCpHug0bBLE3t48bmrWkGrz3vAdQOhlrTlM4jVosrJk\/edit#gid=0\" data-lasso-id=\"8478\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Audit &amp; KWM Template<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; GoInflow<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/11SbqLQd2IFOibCfdDQ9OqeI0JHipXqiei756qBOpfqU\/edit#gid=0\" data-lasso-id=\"8479\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Audit Template<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Spears Marketing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kevinpnichols.com\/content-strategy-templates\/\" data-lasso-id=\"8480\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Inventory and Audit Template<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Kevin P. Nichols<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.contentstrategyinc.com\/content-audit-framework-and-template\/\" data-lasso-id=\"8481\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Quality Audit Template<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Content Strategy Inc. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10904 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit2.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"192\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most audits use a spreadsheet to organize the data, but it\u2019s not the only way. If you despise Excel for some reason (no judgement), you could opt for the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/content-audit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8482\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress Content Audit plugin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This tool allows you to create a content inventory directly in the Edit screens in WordPress. Set a few conditions, and you\u2019re good to go. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit3.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"754\" height=\"531\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just go with whatever you\u2019re most comfortable with. Set yourself up for success by using the tools and methods that work for <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which brings us back to John, our savvy business owner from Seattle. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because his site is small and he\u2019s pressed for time, he uses Screaming Frog to create the URL list pictured below:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10906 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit4.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"644\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To upload your CSV file into Google Sheets, go to File &gt; Import &gt; Upload and select the saved file from your computer. Easy-peasy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>John is well on his way with a handy list of all his URLs. Step 1? Check!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" class=\"button button--primary\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-target=\"#getStartedModal\" data-gaevent=\"Clicked Homepage Hero Offer\" data-track-type=\"FC - Home Hero\"><span>Get My Free Content Marketing Plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #2 &#8211; Gather Asset Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember those columns I mentioned earlier? Now\u2019s the time to set them up and fill them out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The exact data points you\u2019ll want to gather will, again, depend on the goals of your audit, as well as the complexity you want to achieve. Although the lists below may look daunting, it isn\u2019t necessary to collect data on every possible variable. In fact, you may be able to achieve the goals you set for yourself with only a handful of possible data points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Potential SEO data points to gather<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (many of these are automatically generated by Screaming Frog):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Title<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Target Keyword<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meta Description<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Headings Used<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inbound Links<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Images Present<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image ALT Tags<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Date Last Updated<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Visits (measure for at least three months, if possible)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Entries and Exits<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Bounce Rate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Average Time on Page<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Broken Links<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Potential content marketing data points to gather:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Word Count<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Type of Content (article, blog post, informational page, landing page, infographic, etc)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Condition (out-of-date, evergreen, etc)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">General Topic<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assigned Tags or Categories<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Owner (as in, who is responsible for editing it)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number of Comments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number of Social Shares<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accessibility on Desktop and Mobile Devices<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call to Action<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Associated Sales Funnel Stage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversion Data<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Other items to track:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content Inventory Date<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page \u201cScore\u201d (determine your own grading scale to quickly assess content effectiveness) or Action (Keep, Delete, Consolidate, Update)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Status (keep, modify or discard)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Date to Re-Review in the Future<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additional Notes as Needed<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve selected the data points you\u2019ll measure as part of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> content audit, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gcflearnfree.org\/googlespreadsheets\/modifying-columns-rows-and-cells\/full\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8483\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">label a column<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in your spreadsheet for each one. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now comes the fun part <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">time to do the heavy lifting of data collection (and yes, \u201cfun\u201d is subjective)! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s get back to our pal John\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since his primary goal is to determine what\u2019s working with his current content marketing strategy, he decides to evaluate the following metrics:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Title<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Visits (measure for at least three months, if possible)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page Bounce Rate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Average Time on Page<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number of Social Shares<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversion Data<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Page \u201cScore\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While he could track other pieces of data as part of his audit \u2013 and probably glean additional insights from doing so \u2013 analyzing only this limited number of metrics makes it possible for John to complete his content audit while juggling his other responsibilities. The way he looks at it, he can always go back and add more to his analysis if he has the time down the road. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find the data points he\u2019s decided upon, John uses the following resources:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.screamingfrog.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8484\">Screaming Frog<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gives him the page title tags (and even <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/learn\/seo\/title-tag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8485\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">title tag<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> length&#8230;50-60 characters is optimal) for each of the URLs he\u2019s tracking.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10907 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit5.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"292\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8486\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Google Analytics<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides page visit, bounce rate, and average type on page data (check out <em>Reporting &gt; Behaviour &gt; Site Content &gt; All Pages<\/em> for a great place to start. You can export the data by clicking Export &gt; CSV under the report title, and then import directly into your spreadsheet.).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10908 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit6.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"296\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sharedcount.com\/dashboard.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8487\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Shared Count<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gives him the number of times each post has been shared socially (there is a bulk upload feature, but you need to be a paying member to use it. Otherwise, you just enter each URL manually.).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10909 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit7.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"284\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.act-on.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8488\">Act-On<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/uncategorized\/25-things-every-marketer-know-marketing-automation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8489\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketing automation program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> John is using) gives him conversion data by page (although he could have opted to use Google Analytics for this if he had <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">goals already set up on that platform<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10910 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit8.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"463\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once John is done gathering this data, he goes back through his list and assigns a score to each page on an \u201cA &#8211; F\u201d rating scale of his own creation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pages that receive \u201cA\u201d scores are his cream-of-the-crop, top-performing pages, while those that earn \u201cF\u201d scores are ones he\u2019s embarrassed to find on his site. He also adds a note to his spreadsheet showing the date that his audit was created for the purpose of planning future audits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And even though John didn\u2019t do this, you could also head over to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/webmasters\/tools\/home?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8490\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Search Console<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to pull even more conveniently organized data. Click on Search Analytics, select Pages, and check <a href=\"https:\/\/growtheverywhere.com\/improvement\/content-cleanup-grow-organic-traffic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8491\">Clicks, Impressions, and CTR<\/a> to get a quick snapshot of how individual pages are performing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10911 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit9.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a \u201cDownload\u201d button at the bottom of the page if you want to export the data as a CSV file and add it to your ever-expanding spreadsheet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class='alert alert-warning'><strong>Learn More:<\/strong><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/conversions-2\/how-to-set-up-goals-funnels-google-analytics-v5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8492\">How to Set Up Goals and Funnels in Google Analytics<\/a><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/seo\/seo-cro-how-rankings-and-conversions-complement-each-other\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8493\">SEO &amp; CRO: How Rankings and Conversions Complement Each Other<\/a><br \/>\n* <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/web-analytics\/how-to-optimize-your-site-for-search-ranking-with-your-web-analytics-data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8494\">How to Optimize Your Site for Search Ranking with Your Web Analytics Data<\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #3 &#8211; Analyze Your Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your site is large, expect the data-gathering process to take a long time. It\u2019s not uncommon for audits to take days, weeks or even months to complete, depending on the size of the website and the organizational resources that are available for the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even if your content inventory is completed quickly, you\u2019ve still got another important step to take \u2013 actually putting all your information to use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be sure you\u2019re getting something substantive out of your content audit process, you need to establish a set of recommended actions you\u2019ll take once the audit is complete. And in order to do that, you need to dive into the data you\u2019ve collected in order to draw conclusions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It could be as simple as adding one more column to your spreadsheet: \u201cAction.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, you make the call as to what should happen to each individual content asset, like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep (your top assets, the ones with a healthy \u201cA\u201d or \u201cB\u201d)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Update (your solid \u201cC\u201d or \u201cD\u201d assets that are decent, but could be improved)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remove (your bottom assets, perhaps those with an \u201cE\u201d or \u201cF\u201d)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consolidate (assets that are perhaps too short or not meaty enough and would benefit from being combined with another asset). Don\u2019t forget to complete a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newbreedmarketing.com\/blog\/what-is-a-301-redirect\" data-lasso-id=\"8496\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">301 Redirect<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for any post that is absorbed into another one so as not to lose any SEO equity it had built up. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules that say, \u201cIf your content data indicates [this], do [that].\u201d Instead, you\u2019ve got to look at the data you\u2019ve gathered and see if you can identify any trends that could inform your eventual recommended actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at John\u2019s spreadsheet below and see if anything jumps out at you:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10912 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit10.png\" alt=\"https:\/\/growtheverywhere.com\/improvement\/content-cleanup-grow-organic-traffic\/\" width=\"941\" height=\"465\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few observations you might have made:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visitors stay an average of two times longer on John\u2019s <strong>video blog posts<\/strong> than they do on his text posts. This could suggest that John allocate more of his future content creation resources to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/video-marketing\/9-ways-to-save-money-on-video-production\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8497\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video production<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">John\u2019s highest conversion rates appear on the blog posts he publishes with <strong>list post titles<\/strong>. As a result, he may want to add more posts like this in the future.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although John\u2019s <strong>infographic posts<\/strong> have the most social shares, they have the lowest conversion rates overall. This could suggest a few different things. He could be reaching the wrong people with his social media marketing efforts, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/conversions-2\/create-ctas-actually-cause-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8498\">calls to action<\/a> on his infographics could be weak, or he could be creating infographics on the wrong topics. John will want to dig deeper into each of these possible conclusions and determine whether to change his approach or continue to enjoy the potential SEO advantage that comes from having more social shares.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After further exploration, John decides to take the following actions after the completion of his content audit:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rewrite or remove all content pages that scored lower than a \u201cC\u201d in his analysis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spend more time promoting his highest-converting pages on social networking sites.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create four evergreen content pieces that are similar to these highest-converting pages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commit to publishing at least one new video post a week.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Develop more content on the topic of budgeting, relative to other categories.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An audit might focus on content quality, the customer experience, content performance, or any combination of these. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the results of your content audit to come up with 5-10 actions you\u2019ll take after completing it, based on any patterns that emerge from your data. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, set deadlines for yourself in order to put these actions into play and block out whatever time you\u2019ll need to do so on your calendar. Add a deadline right into your spreadsheet (when it comes to columns, you can never have too many!). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10913 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/overthinking-woman-800x533-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Analysis Paralysis: What It Is and How to Avoid It\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>One important thing to note here. When you\u2019re staring at the mountains of data your content audit may generate, it\u2019s easy to find yourself struck down by analysis paralysis. Basically, there are so many conclusions you <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> draw and so many things you <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> do, that you wind up doing none of them. Don\u2019t let yourself fall into this trap.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content marketer <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/community.uservoice.com\/blog\/analysis-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8499\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pawel Grabowski<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offers many helpful suggestions to combat analysis paralysis, such as focus on what\u2019s most important, break decisions down into bite-sized steps, and don\u2019t worry about being perfect!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As long as you\u2019re tracking your metrics and regularly revisiting the content audit process, you\u2019ll see these shifts occurring and be able to remedy them long before they become big problems plaguing your site\u2019s performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Taking Your Audit Further<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve caught the auditing bug while going through the content analysis process, you can always take the skills you\u2019ve learned to expand your audit beyond the borders of just your website. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Look at Your Competitor\u2019s Websites<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So now you know everything there is to know about your own content. But unless you have a truly unique product or service, you\u2019re not the only show in town. You have competition for customers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The performance of your content will always be tied, in some ways, to the content that your competitors put out. Even if their pieces don\u2019t directly prevent visitors from seeing yours, there is a limited number of consumers out there and they all have a finite amount of attention. If they\u2019re using all their energy focusing on the competition\u2019s content, they may not have enough mental focus left to pay attention to yours. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducting an audit of your competitor\u2019s content is similar to assessing your own, but with a few limitations. There are a few metrics that you may not be able to pull without having direct access to your their website and accounts. Bounce rate, average time on page, and conversion rate are three in particular that are difficult to discover without accessing the site\u2019s Google Analytics profile or marketing automation account.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that said, there are still plenty of different things you <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> track. You can evaluate the number of links pointing at your competitor\u2019s content pages using tools like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/majestic.com\/reports\/site-explorer?folder=&amp;q=example.com&amp;IndexDataSource=F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8500\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Majestic Site Explorer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/buzzsumo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8501\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BuzzSumo\u2019s Backlinks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10914 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit11.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"255\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can measure social shares by looking for a share counter on the post itself, or entering the post URL into a service like BuzzSumo to see a detailed breakdown with their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/app.buzzsumo.com\/research\/most-shared\" data-lasso-id=\"8502\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most Shared<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> feature. It might not be a complete audit, but even conducting this limited level of assessment will give you plenty of actionable data on areas where your competitors are currently outperforming your site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10915 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit12.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"405\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What works for them? Can you improve on it in some way (the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/backlinko.com\/skyscraper-technique\" data-lasso-id=\"8503\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skyscraper Technique<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a fabulous way to bring in oodles of traffic)? Which sites are linking to them that might potentially link to you if approached with a powerful piece of content or a fantastic guest post idea? <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Track Offsite Content Performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way to expand your content audit is to include your off-site content assets (if they\u2019re relevant to your audit goals). For example, if you\u2019re assessing the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts, you\u2019ll want to include as much data as possible on any infographics, slide decks, or other external content pieces you\u2019ve released to promote brand recognition and viral sharing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, your ability to track the metrics listed above on these content pieces will vary based on the sites hosting them. Gather what you can, but also look for other types of data that are unique to external content sources. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an example, looking at your Google Analytics account should show you the number of visits that each external piece sent to your site. Comparing referred visits across external content pieces can be a great way to determine the direction of your next big content release. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out Reporting &gt; Acquisition &gt; Channels for a general breakdown of traffic by organic, direct, referral, and social (and select Referrals if you want to see the specific points of origin).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10916 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Conducting-a-Content-Audit13.png\" alt=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" width=\"941\" height=\"267\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if you utilize custom URLs with <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/neilpatel.com\/2016\/06\/29\/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-utm-parameters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-lasso-id=\"8504\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UTM parameters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example, you can instantly see what content is sending the most traffic your way from offsite.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Expand the Audit Process to Other Marketing Channels<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to assessing your offsite content pieces, you can apply the audit process to your other marketing channels. If you run print ads in trade publications, try to determine how many inquiries you\u2019ve received from each ad (hint \u2013 this is easiest to do if you record the source of your first touch with a new prospect in your <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessnewsdaily.com\/7839-best-crm-software.html\" data-lasso-id=\"8505\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CRM<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after your first conversation). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or take a close look at your e-mail marketing campaigns. Is the content in your autoresponders still up-to-date? Do you have some messages that have a higher open rate than others? Services like <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kb.mailchimp.com\/reports\/about-campaign-reports\" data-lasso-id=\"8506\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MailChimp<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/help.aweber.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/204029646-How-Do-I-Track-Click-Throughs-On-Links-In-My-Messages-\" data-lasso-id=\"8507\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWeber<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have robust analytics at the ready. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"javascript:;\" class=\"button button--primary\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data-target=\"#getStartedModal\" data-gaevent=\"Clicked Homepage Hero Offer\" data-track-type=\"FC - Home Hero\"><span>Get My Free Content Marketing Plan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h2>In Summary<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes down to it, a content audit isn\u2019t just a one-off process that you conduct once in a blue moon. It\u2019s a mindset that you should apply to both your website content and the other marketing channels you use. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By carefully inventorying your existing content pieces and assessing the data you\u2019ve gathered for each item, you can make informed marketing decisions that will help you to save time, cut costs, grow your brand, and improve your overall advertising ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. Content audits can take many shapes, routes, approaches, and scopes. It all depends on <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> needs and <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> goals. <\/span><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\tjQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/ Delay Twitter widget loading by 6 seconds for performance\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\t$.getScript(\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\");\n\t\t\t\t}, 6000);\n\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\tjQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n\t\tconsole.log(\"Infogram\");\n\t\t!function(e,i,n,s){var t=\"InfogramEmbeds\",d=e.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(\"script\");o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=\"https:\/\/e.infogram.com\/js\/dist\/embed-loader-min.js\",d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,\"infogram-async\");\n\t});\n\t<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s enough to strike fear into even the most experienced of marketers and bloggers. It can seem like torture. It\u2019s often the stuff of nightmares. What is this unholy monster?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":35532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Content Audit","_yoast_wpseo_title":"The Foolproof Guide to Conducting a Full Content Audit","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"A well-executed content audit can deliver big insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your website, improve your content ROI and grow your 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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Foolproof Guide to Conducting a Full Content Audit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A well-executed content audit can deliver big insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your website, improve your content ROI and grow your brand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.singlegrain.com\/blog-posts\/content-marketing\/the-step-by-step-guide-to-conducting-a-content-audit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A well-executed content audit can deliver big insights into the 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