Content is often described as the king when it comes to improved search engine rankings and attracting human readers. Creating compelling content takes time, research, and effort. After putting so much into it, what is your business getting out of it? A website content audit reveals how well your pages are performing. Do you have the right website content audit tools to analyze your content properly? It’s time to check your technical SEO toolkit, so that you can take your marketing campaigns to the next level!
What is a Content Audit?
A website content audit provides an analysis of a website’s full inventory of index-able content. Performance metrics from various sources are used to analyze the content to determine which pages should remain the same, the ones to improve, and pages that should be merged or deleted. The purpose of using website content audit tools is to improve the quality and trust of a domain while optimizing its key ranking signals. The data is summarized and reviewed to help companies enhance their SEO content marketing strategies and attract more targeted traffic.
Rolling With the Changes
People go online and type words into a search engine box to find what they want. Google is the leading search engines people rely on for results. As the industry leader, Google continually strives to improve the searchers’ experience. Over the past few years, marketers scrambled to keep up with updated algorithms. Google makes ongoing updates to ensure users get fast and relevant results. Regular content audits are the only way to gauge the progress of web content. The data becomes the cornerstone for your upcoming SEO content marketing campaigns. Without a content audit, businesses are guessing about what works and wasting hard-earned resources if the content fails to generate results. Conducting a content audit is the first step to developing great content that works.
Excellent Content = Increased Traffic and Sales
Excellent content appeals to your target market and Google. When content performs well, businesses realize increased website traffic and sales. An audit identifies copy that could be improved to provide more value to potential clients. Plus, companies target text that could be hurting their site. Using the wrong keywords could confuse users, attract the wrong audience, and lead to a lack of engagement that causes Google to depreciate the value of the page – and possibly, the site. A content audit zones in on pages that do not convert as well as compile data that defines the user’s intentions. Gathering this accurate information helps companies craft better content that appeals to search engines and real people.
What’s Your Real Value? A Content Audit Reveals the Answer
Website content audit tools identify problems with a company’s content, including web pages and blog articles. Content must be well-aligned with your marketing objectives, brand goals, and the needs of your target market. A content audit gives you direction for SEO by defining what works – and what fails. Audits reveal issues with tone, consistency, and accuracy. Companies learn its strengths and weaknesses to refine how they communicate their message to their audience. Ultimate, content audits show the value your business is offering to visitors. Web content should be fresh and chock full of benefits for your current target audience. A content audit should be performed at least once a year – many businesses do them semi-annually or quarterly to stay ahead of the curve.
It’s All About the Reader
Businesses have reasons to post content, such as branding and generating valuable leads. But the bottom line is it’s all about the reader. If a company fails to provide what the reader wants, they are likely to surf to the competition to look for it. Website content audit tools evaluate the qualitative and quantitative metrics for each web page. Businesses can discover:
- gaps in the content that fail to answer what the reader is looking for, such as the answer to a question or a specific solution to a problem;
- content that is relevant now and should be prioritized to attract targeted traffic;
- improve the flow and readability of old content to make it reader-friendly;
- short and long-tail keywords that help searchers find the content more easily;
- identify topics that are repetitive or overlap so they can be consolidated; and
- determine content that could be organized with a better linking structure to make the site navigable and user-friendly.
Analyze the data from website content audit tools to find ways to address these issues. The right approach can build trust, boost page rank, and help businesses develop useful content that provides real value to readers.
Get Rid of the Old and Bring in the New
One of the first actions after a content audit it to consider the performance of old content. Some of it might be too short to remain relevant on the search engines. Other articles could be outdated or lack the depth to resonate with readers – or compete with similar materials from other businesses in your field. A few years ago, generic content with simple keywords was the standard. Today this approach does not work. Older content should be revised with fresh facts, new keywords, and focused metadata, so it’s relevant today. And it might be best to get rid of poorly written content to ensure the site reflects a consistent and professional approach. Irrelevant content is deleted with 301 redirection. Redundant blog posts are edited and merged or expanded as necessary.
Directing Traffic
SEO is about directing traffic to your site. Specific behaviors encourage people to visit a website, such as actionable content. Website content audit tools measure traffic to determine which pages get the most traffic, where it comes from, conversions, and more. All the website pages should be searched to identify the ones that don’t get many – or any – hits. The ultimate goal of a content audit is to help businesses provide a better and more meaningful experience for their readers.
Basic Steps of a Website Content Audit
When it comes to optimized web content, it’s never one and done. Content must be refreshed to reflect current interests based on the searching habits of your target audience. Regardless of the magnitude of your marketing campaign, all website content audits follow a few basic steps:
- All the website URLs must be examined to compare the results and determine what works and what needs improvement. Screaming Frog will crawl a site to get a complete list of each URL, meta description, and title tag. Most people use a spreadsheet for a website content audit list because it’s easy to view everything at a glance.
- Add per-page traffic to the list. Google Analytics will tell you how much traffic each of your site pages is getting.
- Check out the backlinks for every page and note the total number of backlinks for each URL. Ahrefs shows the backlink profiles for specific pages. Checking competitor backlinks and analytics provides insights about your target market.
- Review Google Search Console Keywords to determine the query, page, clicks, impressions, CTR, and position to see the critical metrics associated with the site. This data helps companies track their SERP position associated with particular keywords.
The content audit should also include columns for the action needed, such as merging or redirecting. A perusal of the spreadsheet quickly lets you know if you should leave the page as-is, optimize it, or get rid of it. If a new live link is created, perform a Google Search Console re-index, so Google knows the link has been updated.
Analyzing Social Signals and Backlinks
A content audit may also explore the site’s backlink profile and social signals, such as which pages were shared most often by readers. This information, along with a review of the site’s current content, helps marketers determine the areas of focus. What topics are hot? Why are readers searching for them? How can the company’s products and services fulfill the needs of the target market? Developing answers to these questions is the foundation for content that matters to readers now. Companies that provide essential information in a timely way become known as valued resources. People will rely on them to get updates – and may ultimately become customers. Either way, on-target content strengthens your brand and industry reputation.
Bring in a Broad Net
Website content audit tools also let companies know if they are casting a net that is too broad. Generalized content might not elicit enough interest and emotion to encourage action. The content needs to work for your business and its potential customers. Sometimes this means honing in on a certain segment of the audience. Define your niche then find out everything about it, from relevant keywords to little-known facts. Create blogs and social media posts that reach out to this niche. Update past content to optimize it for your niche audience. Perfecting the process is tricky and requires ongoing content audits to determine which approaches work best. Plus, your content must fill in the gaps in your audit as well as resonate with your target market.
Don’t Just Let Them Bounce
Bounce rates reveal how the visitors are spending their time at the site. Website content audit tools help you determine which pages readers are reading, content that encourages visits to other pages, and articles they land on and leave right away. If readers are instantly leaving, they might have felt misled. A content audit determines if the content is using the proper keywords based on the intent of your target audience. Keyword optimization with an updated title tag and meta description can help tired content reach fresh eyes that want what the piece delivers. Honing in on user intent and reflecting it in your content encourages people to stay at your site – and return in the future.
Keeping Up With the Times
SEO is not for the stagnant or fainthearted. It requires ongoing research, stamina, and the ability to make tough decisions quickly. When marketers feel they’ve mastered the process, algorithms, and intent changes again. It’s imperative to keep up with the times. Website content audit tools are used to determine essential metrics and make site improvements. Plus, a content audit also keeps up with the latest technology requirements, such as the need to have a mobile-friendly website and if your page speed is up to par. The content that worked for the site six months ago may no longer be performing or relevant. Evergreen content might require updating to provide the latest data, especially if there have been changes in the industry. Staying on top of the changes helps you generate meaningful content that matters.
Moving Forward
Conducting a website content audit is a preliminary step. Taking action is what makes a difference in your site’s performance. Performing site audits, analyzing the data, and taking necessary action is time-consuming and challenging. Put it in the hands of a team of technical SEO professionals who know how it all works. Trying to learn and stay relevant in SEO is a full-time pursuit. Use your time to develop your business while the experts help your target market find you. Making SEO mistakes can be counterproductive and lead to site setbacks. Invest in your company by getting a professional website content audit to get the facts about your content performance – and make the essential changes to help your company achieve its goals.
The technical and tactical team of professionals at Galileo Tech Media knows the importance of an accurate content audit and how it benefits businesses. We conduct website content audits and take action to improve your content based on our research. It is imperative for your company to stay relevant in a changing online world. Well-crafted content can boost your site ranking, increase organic traffic, and improve conversion rates.
Do you have questions about website content audit tools and how they can benefit your business? We’re here to help you every step of the way, so talk to us today!