By now you’ve probably heard the old digital marketing adage: “Content is king.” Many marketers have taken this to heart, developing rigorous schedules for content development and publication. But in their zeal to create new content, it’s all too easy for marketers to neglect auditing the content they’ve already created.

A regular content audit can be invaluable for a number of reasons. For one, it allows you to ensure that older pieces of content are actually helping you advance your marketing goals. Two, auditing old content gives you an opportunity to refresh articles or blogs that have gotten stale, or to update out-of-date information. Finally, a content audit may help you think of some new directions for future content.

More than anything else, a content audit matters because it helps you see what’s working and what’s not. This is critical information and can help you make prudent decisions about future content development.

Steps for Auditing Your Content

The question is, how do you perform a content audit? Here are a few general steps and guidelines.

Create a Master List

It’s certainly helpful to have a place where all of your content assets are listed; a simple Excel spreadsheet will do. Use your spreadsheet to track information like:

• Content title
• Content category (i.e., basic subject matter)
• SEO keywords
• Content URL
• Content length
• Author
• Date
• Content goal/objective
• Any additional comments, particularly about the content’s performance

Make sure you keep this master list updated with any new pieces of content you create, be they blog posts, infographics, or other online assets.

Develop a Schedule

As a rule of thumb, we’d recommend auditing content that’s more than 12 months old. Your mileage may vary, but the important thing is to set aside time on a regular basis to review older pieces of content and log any fresh comments. This is where having an Excel spreadsheet, where content can be indexed and sorted by date, is invaluable.

Check the Metrics

When it comes time to audit or review a particular piece of content, we recommend simply reading (or at least skimming) the content to get a general sense of what it’s about. But what you really need to focus on are the more quantifiable metrics, including comments and social shares, which will reveal much about how well that content has engaged readers. This information will also suggest some categories or topics that are stimulating to your audience, which can be invaluable data as you plan your next round of content.

Pay Attention to Traffic

Another critical metric to pay attention to is organic traffic. Simply put, if you have content that isn’t getting any organic traffic, that’s probably a pretty big red flag. What it suggests is that you have a problem with your content strategy, your content distribution method, or your SEO endeavors. It may simply be that it’s a topic your readership doesn’t care about. Regardless, organic traffic stats can provide some illuminating insights into where your content strategy currently stands.

Monitor Bounce Rate

Still another metric to keep an eye on is bounce rate. The bounce rate for any given piece of content refers to the rate at which people visit the page, then immediately navigate away. In other words, content with a high bounce rate may be attracting readers, but it isn’t keeping them engaged. If users aren’t sticking around to process your content, it could mean you’re not producing content with sufficient “stickiness.” This might be a reflection of content quality, content formatting, or topic selection.

On the other hand, if your bounce rate is high, but your “time on page” metrics are also high it likely means your content is well-targeted and being read but that those users are navigating away from your site before reading any other content. Maybe your content is so good that the reader got all they needed from your post, but there still might be an opportunity to add additional invitations in and around your content to entice the reader to view other information on your site.

Look at Backlinks

During your content audit, you should also consider the backlinks your content has generated. Remember that your backlinks will change over time, and if you haven’t checked recently, you may be surprised by the amount of traction your content has generated. Keep in mind, though, that not all backlinks are good: If you’ve won backlinks from disreputable websites, that may be a problem you need to address.

Consider Next Steps

Make sure your content audit concludes with some actionable items. For instance:

• If your content isn’t performing well, you may decide to refresh or revitalize it; to update it with new data points; or to try a new method of promoting it.
• If you have content that has worked well, you may wish to consider using it as a jumping-off point for new content, such as a video or infographic.
• If you notice specific topics that generate a lot of heat, you can use that information to direct a new content brainstorming session.

If you have any questions about how to effectively develop content, or how to audit your current content strategy, we’d be happy to chat. Reach out to the enCOMPASS team at your convenience.