In our recent post about digital bloat we explored the risks associated with websites where poor management of the content lifecycle results in too many pages and files that are irrelevant and out of date. Inevitably findability suffers, compliance-related risks are increased due to inaccurate content and it simply becomes more difficult to manage your website.

One of the six essential approaches we mention is carrying out a content audit. A content audit is a process to:

• identify what content you have on your site
• review that content to decide what you want to do with it, ideally involving your content owners.

It often precedes a content reduction or content migration exercise, sometimes as part of a new website or upgrade.  

There is no standard way to carry out a content audit, but at a high level usually follows these four steps:

1. Identification and listing of all the content on your site down to  the page and asset level, with related information added
2. Distribution of this information to different content owners to review
3. Appropriate owners decide to keep, delete or the need to review the content
4. The output from the content audit can then be used to feed into a migration exercise or similar

Eight Good Practices

Here are eight good practices associated with content audits.

1. Use a spreadsheet

   A content audit involves making decisions about multiple pages based on a number of different data inputs. This is almost certainly going to best tracked using a spreadsheet. This is generally easier for your content owners to review and is also easier to amalgamate into a central spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are a traditional staple ingredient of a content audit, and for good reason. 

2. Export data from your CMS if you can

   The best starting point in order to list all your pages is an export from your Content Management System, ideally into a spreadsheet. The more automated the process can be, the better. In your spreadsheet make sure there is also a hyperlink to your individual pages to make it easier for your content owners. 

3. Decide on some criteria for recommended archiving

   As part of your content audit process you’ll be assembling various information about your pages such as how old the content is, how many visits it gets, the type of content, its position in your site hierarchy and more. Decide on a recommended policy for the content to either keep, archive or delete, based on different criteria. Having a policy allows you to make a recommendation to your content owners backed up by data, to encourage a sensible review of their pages and ultimately deliver a better site. For example , you may recommend a page be archived if it hasn’t been updated for a long period of time and receives very few visits.

4. Expose content owners to page views and last updated information
   

   Generally, there is a tendency for content owners to regard their content as more important than it actually is; they then have an associated reluctance for them to archive or delete their content. This is a real barrier to a streamlined, effective site. 
   
   Many content audits can uncover genuinely surprisingly statistics that show, for example, 80% of site visits go to 20% of the site content. Your content audit master spreadsheet should include essential information that allows your content owners to actually judge the importance of their own content: 

   • When the page was first created
   • When the page was last modified
   • The number of visitors to the page

   Based on these criteria you should also include your own recommendations for keep, delete or review. 

5. Add extra information that will resonate<strong

   As well as visitor and creation information, there is extra information that can resonate with content owners. For example, an automated assessment platform like Sitemorse can assess page quality, accessibility compliance, broken links and more. When there are issues it can be a valuable way to show the risks associated with content if it is not maintained correctly, and a good argument to show why it is better to archive or delete content. It also helps to set a benchmark for content owners to aspire to when reviewing and managing content in a new site. 

6. Let your content owners view pages as they actually looked 

   If you are asking any users to review archived pages, it really helps if they can view them as they actually looked. For example, when LIVEARCHIVE records your site it preserves all styling so you can see the page as it actually looked at the time.  

7. Remember a content audit is also an opportunity to engage content owners

   Often a content audit is done on the back of a new website initiative or a content improvement initiative. The content audit itself can be an opportunity to engage content owners and encourage them to contribute and take more responsibility for future content. Because of this, the content audit should be positioned as the first step in a wider process that has a positive outcome with strong benefits. Never position a content audit as a dull bureaucratic exercise, even if that is what it is!  Similarly, it’s important not to overwhelm your content owners with too much content to review in a short period Make it easy for your content owners, not hard. 

8. Follow on from your content audit if you can 

   In our article on tackling digital bloat we talk about several other approaches such as automating content reviews and using data to show the quality of your site in order to make improvements. A content audit can be a good starting for many of these processes, for example automating future content reviews, and other content management essentials such as having a named owner for every page. 

Carrying out a content audit is important

Content audits rock and they are a key tactic for any digital rockstar. They can help to streamline sties, prepare you for a new website and get your content owners to start taking more responsibility for their content. An audit can be the starting point for a new approach to content management.

Using data is essential and a tool like Sitemorse can prove enormously helpful. Many of our clients have embedded Sitemorse into their content audit process. Reference some of these tips if you’re considering carrying out a content audit in the near future. Good luck!