Spring Clean Your Content: The Basics of a Quick & Dirty Content Audit

5 minute read

Upland Admin

The spring season can inspire the desire to declutter and streamline, which makes it a great time for B2B organizations to spring clean content with a quick and dirty content audit.

Broken links, under-performing assets, changes in customer preferences, and content gaps happen even to the best of marketing teams. Instead of putting a content audit off for another season as clients drift to another website, think of the process as a reverse gold digging expedition.

When you dive into your content head first and get rid of all the “extra,” it’s easier to see what’s is working well. Then, the organization can:

  • Maximize exposure to the high-traffic links
  • Discover the top 5 content pieces driving conversions and freshen or expand them with new marketing angles
  • Prioritize content projects based on new customer purchase patterns
  • Leverage internal or external influencers to expand on an underdeveloped hot topic
  • Get clarity around content management processes and improve on them

These are just some of the enormous benefits of conducting a content audit at least once a year. Not only will your bloated content management system thank you for the spruce up, but team members searching for top pieces to convert window shoppers into buyers will, too.

Maximize Content Performance and Amp Up Conversions with a Content Audit

The most important part of any content audit is having a simple process for getting to a yes or a no about a piece of content quickly. As part of the review process, include a series of short, clear questions you can use as a filter for content quality.

For example:

  • Is the content relevant and on message?
  • Should it be moved, merged with other content, or deleted?
  • Is it fine to keep as is?

Then, with a short checklist to focus content decisions, feel free to leverage spring inspiration to get B2B’s content marketing assets in tip-top shape.

Here are some simple content audit tips that have fast results:

Check traffic stats to reveal the top 10 performing blog posts. Are there certain themes or topics consistent between successful posts, or is it just a fluke? Is there a writing style or format to the blog post that makes it a go-to post? Is the blog post SEO ripe with keywords that draw clients to the site like a bear to honey? Isolate these posts in a deeper review to learn key information about why they are great evergreen content. Then take that insight to update buyer personas, create a new marketing campaign, or develop deeper level content on a specific subject.

Conduct a site-wide check to find content that is outdated, off message or duplicate, and zero in on any content gaps. One of the biggest challenges for any B2B organization is sharing content that does not meet key needs for customers. Inconsistent messaging within the same site is suspicious and confusing. Too much duplicate content appears lazy. Missing content that is essential for making a purchase decision is just a no-brainer. A quick and dirty content audit will highlight these very important inconsistencies.

Review all content used specifically for lead nurturing to see if it’s creating expected conversions. Marketing is an art and a science. It’s not always 100% clear what kind of content will lead someone through the buyer’s journey… until it does. In circumstances where very specific sales lead tracks are laid out, it’s important to see if those content pieces or landing pages are doing the job. Often the content just needs a refresh, other cases might call for a whole new type of content asset. Either way, marketing content used to nurture sales is key to regularly meeting sales goals and is a content audit priority.

Make sure links are live and going to the right place, and outdated links are cleaned up.  Live links going to the right place is a pretty obvious thing to check. However, at the end of a marketing blitz or campaign, some content or links tied to special offers might still be hidden in a dark corner of your site or social media. Make sure any limited time links are shut down and required redirects are working.

Clean up all resources pages, like now. Having a one-stop-shop featuring support information like FAQ’s for customers is a huge asset and provides a valuable service until it’s old and outdated. Then a reference page turns into the place where people learn about how your organization lacks attention to detail. Keep the resources page short and simple with links and material that’s current, and use it as a place to feature legacy content that rarely changes.

View a snapshot of SEO metrics for the overall site, as well as per page, to clarify which keywords need to be culled or added. Using keyword performance as a content audit tool offers quick insight into what’s working and what’s not in online marketing. Taking a look at the big picture and then breaking it down page by page pinpoints keyword performance, and provides specific insights to help rework content to maximize higher traffic words. Landing pages specifically can greatly improve with a little SEO review.

Look at the overall current content development process to determine if it’s meeting big picture content marketing goals each quarter. As an organized team effort, a content audit can really improve the performance of a website. It can also reveal areas of improvement for team collaboration and communication. Once gaps or inconsistencies are discovered, then it’s helpful to brainstorm as an organization about how to take action and improve content development policies.

When organizations take the time to do a quarterly or annual content audit content management becomes infinitely easier, and sales teams are equipped with the best possible assets to meet and exceed goals.

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