Discover hidden opportunities in your website with a content audit.
We'll help you understand what's working, what needs improving, and what needs removing.
What is a content audit?
A content audit is a structured review of all the content on your website.
This includes landing pages, blog posts, and service descriptions.
The goal is to identify what’s working, what’s underperforming, and what can be improved, removed, repurposed, or consolidated.
For small businesses, a content audit is like giving your website a health check-up. Instead of guessing what your audience wants or creating more content without a plan, an audit helps you make the most of what you already have.
It shows you which pages are attracting visitors, generating leads, or being ignored completely. You can then workout why.
Where an SEO audit is more concerned with the technical elements and optimising for search, a content audit is about performance and how your audience engages with the content on your website.
Find out how many leads are in your area
Before you spend money on marketing, find out how many people are searching for your services.
Why Your Small Business Needs a Content Audit
If your business has been producing website content for 3+ years, a content audit could reveal hidden opportunities.
You may be tracking your blogs and landing pages, but beyond surface level and the top ranking keywords, do you know what’s actually going on? You might have an old blog post with huge potential to drive conversions, or a gap in the information you provide that could lead to a purchase.
A simple content audit could tell you much more about the keywords you’re just missing out on, or the intent behind searches that generate leads.
This is where important quick wins can be found.
Why a content audit matters
It isn’t just about tidying up your website. It’s about making sure every page has a job to do, whether that’s attracting visitors, answering questions, or encouraging enquiries.
Webpages shouldn’t just exist in the vacuum of the internet. They should all serve a purpose and be useful for your business and your audience.
By taking the time to assess and improve your content, you can:
Drive more, high-quality traffic from search engines
Build trust with your visitors
Turn more clicks into leads or sales
Learning how to do a content audit also teaches you about the metrics you should be checking on a regular basis. Once you know the basics, you'll be able to spot opportunities more quickly.
How to do a content audit - An entry-level guide
Unlike a full SEO audit, you don't need expensive tools or necessarily to be an expert to do it yourself. You just need a bit of time and to understand what you're looking for.
To start with, we're going to show you how to do this without paid tools.
What You’ll Need
A free Google account (for Google Sheets & Google tools)
Google Analytics, Google Search Console
Access to your website’s admin (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, etc)
1–2 hours (depending on how many pages you have)
This guide assumes you have Google Analytics and Google Search Console setup and collecting data already. If you haven't got them set up, do it straight away then wait a few months before you try the audit.
Step 1: Create a List of All Your Website Pages
You need a full list of the pages and posts on your site.
Below, we’ll provide 3 different options. The idea is that you end up with a Google sheet containing all of your web pages.
Option A (Manual)
Log in to your website.
Visit your “Pages” and “Posts” sections.
Copy the URLs of each live page into a Google Sheet.
Name the first column “URL”.
Option B (Automatic – Free)
Use a free online tool like:
Paste in your website address. It will generate a list of URLs you can copy into a spreadsheet.
Option C (Using Google Search Console)
Login to Google Search Console
Go to page indexing -> Indexed Pages
Export to Google Sheet
Step 2: Set Up Your Spreadsheet
In your Google Sheet, create these columns:
Column Name | What to Fill In |
|---|---|
URL | Paste your page/blog post URL |
Page Title | Copy the title shown in your browser tab |
Date Published / Updated | From your website (when last edited) |
Content Type | Blog, Service Page, About, FAQ, etc. |
Purpose | What’s the goal? (inform, convert, rank) |
Key Topic / Keyword | Main focus of the page |
Traffic (Last 90 Days) | From Google Analytics (or estimate) |
Conversions (Last 90 Days) | From Google Analytics (or estimate) |
Action Needed? | Keep, Update, Merge, Delete |
Notes | Quick comments or ideas for improvement |
Step 3: Check Page Performance (Free Tools)
Keeping things simple, use Google Search Console and Google Analytics to understand how each page is performing.
Google Search Console (Free)
Navigate to Performance → Pages
See which pages get clicks from Google search
Copy the Clicks and Impressions into your sheet. You can also export the information and copy it straight from one sheet to the other.
Google Analytics (Free)
Navigate to Reports → Engagement → Pages and Screens
Look for:
Views
Avg. Engagement Time
Bounce Rate (how quickly people leave)
Focus on:
High-traffic pages that perform poorly (need improvement)
These are pages that are pulling in users but the page either has poor engagement (high bounce rate, low time on page) or getting clicks from high-value keywords but no conversions.
Low-traffic pages that could be removed or merged, particularly if they are blogs
Posts or pages that used to do well but are now declining
This requires a little historic data but if traffic is dropping year on year, or month on month, it should be obvious.
Step 4: Evaluate the Content Quality (No Tools Needed)
Open each page or post and ask yourself:
Is it up to date? Any outdated services, prices, or info?
Old blog posts about regulation or industry-specific information can go out of date quite quickly, depending on the industry. Consider creating a "master page" for certain topics (eg. wiring regulations) and update the page as and when you need to. Consolidating information that's scattered in different places creates a far better experience for the user and helps Google prioritise the right content.
Is it useful and clear? Would a new customer understand it?
The rules for writing on the internet are: Keep it simple and Know your audience. Based on that criteria, make sure your content is written for your audience and is easy for them to read.
Does it match your tone and brand? Is it friendly, professional, and helpful?
Remember to be consistent. It is often hard for small businesses to get this right but by analysing your content in this way, hopefully you'll be able to spot any glaring errors or misjudgements in tone.
Are there any broken links or missing images?
Tip: Read it like a first-time visitor. Ask someone outside your business to do the same. Fresh eyes can make a big difference.
Step 5: Decide What to Do with Each Page
Now that you’ve reviewed the data and content, fill in your “Action Needed” column.
Action | When to Use |
|---|---|
Keep | Page is performing well and still relevant |
Update | Info is outdated, or needs better formatting/SEO |
Merge | Multiple weak pages could become one stronger one |
Delete | Page has no value, no traffic, or is completely irrelevant |
Step 6: Make a Simple Action Plan
Now go row by row and highlight the pages you want to focus on first — for example:
Update your About page to reflect your current team or offer
Refresh a blog post that’s almost ranking on page 1
Delete an old service page you no longer offer
Work on just 1–2 pages a week, and you’ll start to see results over time.
Optional (But Powerful): Add Simple SEO Checks
Add these to your spreadsheet if you’re ready to go further:
Column Name | What to Look For |
|---|---|
Page Title (SEO) | Is it clear, relevant, and under 60 characters? |
Meta Description | Does it describe the page & invite clicks? |
H1 Heading Present? | Does the page have a clear main heading? |
Internal Links | Are you linking to/from other pages on your site? |
You don’t need tools for this — just open the page and review.
Tip: You don’t need to spend too much time on SEO title and meta description as Google will change this if it thinks it can do better. Focus instead on the H1 and internal links, as these can still make a difference.
Final Thoughts
Don’t be precious. Look at it this way, indexing content on Google costs carbon. If the page isn’t bringing in traffic, if it doesn’t serve a purpose, get rid of it! Treat your content audit like a loft clear-out.
New content should also be considered carefully. Be strategic, spend more time on less. Quality over quantity has to be your mantra because you're competing with billions of articles.
If you need help with auditing your content, get in touch with us.
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