Content Audit: How to Review Your Site's Content

Websites collect clutter. Old news, outdated prices, near-duplicate pages, and articles nobody reads pile up. A content audit helps you decide what to keep, improve, combine, or remove, so the whole site gets stronger and easier to use.

Why audit your content?

Outdated or inaccurate information damages trust
Overlapping pages can compete with each other in search
Thin or low-value pages dilute your site's quality
Strong pages may be buried or under-linked
You'll find gaps where customers need answers you haven't provided

Step 1: Make an inventory

List every page: its address, title, type, and last update date. A crawling tool or your CMS can export this. Put it in a spreadsheet.

Step 2: Add the data

For each page, add measures from analytics and Search Console:

Visits over the last 12 months
Search impressions and clicks
Conversions or enquiries
Number of internal links pointing to it
Backlinks, if you can see them

Step 3: Assess quality

For each page ask:

Is it accurate and current?
Does it serve a clear purpose and audience?
Does it match search intent? See what is search intent
Is it well written and easy to read? See how to write for the web
Is it unique, or does it repeat other pages? See duplicate content and SEO
Does it have a clear next step? See calls to action
Does it look and work well on mobile?

Step 4: Decide what to do

Give each page one action:

Keep: it's good and performing
Improve: the topic is right but the content is weak or dated
Merge: several pages cover the same thing, so combine them into one strong page and redirect the others
Remove: the page has no value, traffic, or links. Delete it and handle the old address properly
Redirect: send visitors from a retired page to the closest relevant page. See 301 redirects
Noindex: a page needs to exist but not appear in search. See noindex and nofollow

Be careful before removing pages with traffic or backlinks.

Step 5: Prioritize

Start with:

Pages that matter most to the business, such as services and key articles
Pages that almost perform well, such as those on page two of search results
Pages with errors or obvious problems

Step 6: Update and improve

Refresh facts, prices, dates, and examples
Improve headings and structure
Add images, links, and clearer calls to action
Strengthen internal links to and from the page. See internal linking
Update the date only when you've made meaningful changes

Step 7: Fill gaps

Note the questions customers ask that your site doesn't answer. Add them to your content calendar.

Step 8: Repeat

Audit once or twice a year. See how often to update website content and the wider website audit. If you are tempted to bulk-generate replacement pages with AI, read AI writing tools and website content first.

The bottom line

Review what you have before adding more. A tidy, accurate, well-linked site serves visitors and search engines better than a bigger, messier one.