A different way to approach a website content audit

At its most basic, a website content audit attempts to define what’s working—and what isn’t—with your online footprint.

While some website content audit processes focus heavily on heat maps and click rates, a strategic content audit goes beyond superficial observations to give you concrete and actionable steps for improving your website and other online platforms.

What is a strategic content audit?

A strategic content audit considers your website, earned media, digital ads, and social media programs in light of your target audiences and business goals. We consider how well the tone, information, and visual design impact of your online presence matches your branding and focus. In most cases, a strategic content audit also looks at search engine traffic and effectiveness, identifying gaps in how well you’re reaching your target audience with the right content and effective calls to action.

This article is part of the Complete Guide to Planning a Success Website Redesign Project.

Who needs a strategic content audit?

If your organization wants to reach a particular audience, increase leads, build thought leadership, or get more online sales, chances are you have a website and a social media presence. And if your organization is online at all, chances are you could use a strategic content audit.

With the size and scope of the internet marketplace—for information as well as goods and services—being strategic with your content is non-negotiable. A strategic content audit helps you save time and money by understanding the best ways to reach your audience and the best methods to achieve your online goals.

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What should a strategic content audit include?

Depending on your organization’s goals and active platforms, a strategic content audit may vary in length and coverage, but, at minimum, contains an analysis of:

Overall messaging: Is the information accurate, complete, and written to reach the target audience?

Calls to action: Does each component lead the visitor to take a desired step? Are calls to action clear? Is each call tied to an action we can measure, such as filling out a form, making a request, or navigating to another page?

Navigation: Is information easy to find? Are paths through information clear and designed to support visitors from different audience types?

Tone: Is the way you communicate designed to reach your target audience? Does it reflect your brand? Is it advancing organizational goals such as improving sales or building thought leadership?

Effectiveness: If analytics are well-tracked, how is each page performing in terms of search engine results, time on page, and action taken?

How do we use strategic content audit results?

Ideally, a strategic content audit isn’t just another document to stick in a binder or another slide deck of colorful pie charts for your next staff meeting. It’s a dynamic action plan. After performing a content audit, we often use it to develop a complete content strategy, or to make tactical suggestions for improvements. Use your strategic content audit to:

Determine the level of work you need: Do you really need to redesign and rewrite your entire website, or could you focus on a few key pages?

Improve user experience: Could changing site navigation and information paths make your existing content more effective?

Strategically target keywords: Based on your target audience, could you change keywords on certain pages to reach the right people at the right time?

Integrate platforms: How could your website, blog, ads, social posts, and earned media fit together to enhance results?

Build your understanding and online effectiveness with a strategic content audit. Ready to get started? Need more information? Whether you’re looking to do some of the work yourself, or want full-service support, TBH Creative can help you figure out how to make the most of your online footprint.

Schedule a free consultation with Tatum