How to Do a Content Audit
Essential On-Page SEO Factors You Need To Know
Delete or Redirect Low-Performing Pages
Identify Low-Performing Content:
- Access Google Analytics and navigate to “Site Content” → “Landing Pages”.
- Look for pages with zero traffic and no conversions (sales, sign-ups, etc.).
Sort by Performance Metrics:
- Arrange landing pages by metrics like sessions, bounce rate, and conversions.
- Focus on pages that consistently show poor engagement metrics.
Evaluate Content Quality:
- Review the content of identified pages to assess its relevance and quality.
- Consider factors like outdated information, poor formatting, or lack of SEO optimization.
Make Decisions:
- Decide whether to update, consolidate, or delete underperforming content.
- Prioritize content that aligns with your current marketing and SEO strategies.
Optimize High-Potential Content:
- Allocate resources to enhance top-performing pages further.
- Implement SEO best practices, improve readability, and update information to increase engagement.
Monitor and Adjust:
- Continuously monitor the performance of updated content.
- Adjust strategies based on ongoing analytics to maintain or improve performance.
By following these steps, you can effectively streamline your site’s content, focusing resources on valuable content that drives traffic and conversions.
Once you’ve pinpointed such content, your next step involves deciding on the best course of action:
- Delete the Content: If the content is outdated, irrelevant, or no longer serves a purpose, removing it altogether may be the most straightforward solution. This is particularly applicable to posts about events or topics that are no longer relevant or useful.
- Combine with Another Piece of Content: For content that is generally valuable but lacks depth or engagement, consider merging it with another related piece on your site. This consolidation can enhance the quality and relevance of the information while potentially boosting its SEO performance.
- Implement a 301 Redirect: When you have a page that is similar to another existing page on your site or covers a similar topic, implementing a 301 redirect can be beneficial. This directs traffic from the underperforming page to a more relevant or authoritative page, consolidating SEO value and improving user experience.
- Merge Multiple Pieces into One Comprehensive Post: If you have several pieces of related content that individually receive limited traffic, combining them into a single comprehensive post—often referred to as a “mega post”—can create a more valuable resource. This approach not only improves user engagement but also consolidates SEO efforts around a single authoritative page.
Choosing the appropriate strategy depends on the specific characteristics and goals of each piece of content. By systematically addressing underperforming pages in this manner, you can optimize your site’s content portfolio for better performance and user satisfaction.
Evaluate Content Based On Traffic
After handling the cleanup of underperforming content by deleting, merging, or redirecting, the next step is to evaluate what’s left primarily based on one key metric: traffic.
While many content audits complicate evaluation with various metrics such as social shares, bounce rates, comments, and backlinks, focusing on traffic simplifies the assessment process.
However, for SEO-focused audits, another critical metric to consider is the organic search performance, particularly examining keyword rankings and organic traffic growth over time. This ensures that content not only attracts visitors but also aligns with broader SEO strategies for sustained visibility and engagement.
Look at Backlinks
The majority of your content should be crafted to attract specific traffic to your website.
However, you may have also created content primarily to earn backlinks, known as “link bait.” For such content, evaluating its success shouldn’t rely solely on traffic metrics. It’s equally important to assess how many valuable backlinks it has garnered for your site.
For instance, imagine you’ve created a comprehensive guide on advanced SEO techniques. While it may not drive substantial traffic directly, it could attract links from authoritative websites in the SEO industry. This link bait strategy helps enhance your site’s authority and visibility in search engine results, beyond just visitor numbers.
Improve and Relaunch
Once you’ve identified content that isn’t meeting expectations, the next crucial step is to enhance it.
This phase is undoubtedly the most time-intensive but also the most pivotal. Without improving your content, the entire content audit process loses its purpose.
- Integrate Visual Elements: If your content is currently text-heavy, consider incorporating visual aids such as graphs, charts, or infographics. These elements can enhance understanding and engagement.
- Comprehensive Updates: Ensure all components of your content are up-to-date. This includes fixing broken links, refreshing outdated images, and updating the content itself to reflect the latest developments in your industry.
- Optimize for Mobile: With mobile traffic surpassing desktop traffic for many websites, prioritize improving content readability on smaller screens. This may involve adjusting formatting, font sizes, and overall layout to enhance mobile user experience.
- Expand Coverage: For instance, if your article currently provides “8 tips for effective time management,” consider expanding it into a comprehensive guide that thoroughly covers various aspects of time management strategies. This approach aims to deliver a thorough and valuable resource that addresses all aspects of the topic.
By implementing these strategies, you not only improve the quality and relevance of your content but also ensure it continues to meet the needs of your audience effectively.
Double Down on High-Converting Content
While evaluating your content primarily based on traffic is crucial, it’s also important not to overlook conversions in your content strategy.
Why?
Because some content may attract a large amount of traffic but result in minimal leads and sales.
Therefore, it’s beneficial to analyze which content on your site converts the best and consider doubling down on similar types of content.
For example, if you notice that content on a specific topic consistently leads to conversions, it’s wise to create more content around that topic to capitalize on its effectiveness.
Conversely, if you discover content that drives substantial traffic but generates few conversions, it may be necessary to reassess its relevance or approach.
In essence, while traffic is the primary goal of SEO and content marketing, focusing on content that brings in high-converting traffic ensures that your efforts are effectively driving business outcomes.