If you have a website, it has at least some content, such as text, photos, maybe videos and podcasts. It’s important to keep everything up-to-date and add more for several reasons, including accuracy, SEO, and lead generation.
Even if you stay on top of your site’s content on a regular basis, you still might want to do an audit, or a thorough review and assessment of your website.
When do you need an audit?
You may need to conduct an audit of your content if:
- your site is a few years old
- you’ve changed your offerings
- your business is affected by laws and regulations that may have changed
- you haven’t added new content in six months or more
- search engine algorithms have changed recently
These are just a few situations that could trigger the necessity of a content audit. If you have questions about whether it’s time for you, contact your marketing agency or us.
How does an audit work?
An audit can cover an entire website or focus on one area, depending on what requires the most attention.
Usually, the reviewed content is divided into three categories: keep, revise, and remove. Existing content that needs no changes falls into the “keep” category. Items that have any issues, from typos to outdated facts, but whose information is still relevant, should be revised. Content that is wholly obsolete, such as a bio on a now former employee or a blog post about a rescinded law, would be removed (and possibly replaced).
A spreadsheet is the easiest way to contain and track the audit data. You can find templates online or create your own. At minimum, you will want to include the content’s title, link, and any notes (such as what to change or why you recommend removing the piece altogether). You may also want to dive deeper for SEO purposes and make updates to the metadata – the meta title, description, and alt tags on any images in the content. You can either create another column to indicate which to keep, revise, or remove or use color-coding.
An audit could reveal that you need to add a lot of new content, either to replace outdated pieces or because your business has new offerings that aren’t reflected on your site.
What happens next?
Once the audit is complete, your site will need to be updated to reflect the recommended changes. Depending on several factors, the revisions can be done in-house or by an outside agency. If your website doesn’t have a user-friendly CMS, for instance, your website designer may need to make any changes. If you have a small staff and a content-heavy website, you might consider hiring an intern to concentrate on this project. If the audit reveals that you’re missing important topics or you need to replace removed content, you may want to engage a freelance content writer or videographer to assist you.
Should you have questions about a content audit or you need the help of an experienced marketer, don’t hesitate to contact klg communications.