How to Do a Content Audit

How to Do a Content Audit

This guide provides instructions on how to do a content audit using examples and screenshots from Screaming Frog, URL Profiler, Google Analytics (GA), and Excel, as those seem to be the most widely used and versatile tools for performing content audits.
It’s been almost three years since the original “How to do a Content Audit – Step-by-Step” tutorial was published here on Moz, and it’s due for a refresh. This version includes updates covering JavaScript rendering, crawling dynamic mobile sites, and more.

It also provides less detail than the first in terms of prescribing every step in the process. This is because our internal processes change often, as do the tools. I’ve also seen many other processes out there that I would consider good approaches. Rather than forcing a specific process and publishing something that may be obsolete in six months, this tutorial aims to allow for a variety of processes and tools by focusing more on the basic concepts and less on the specifics of each step.

We have a DeepCrawl account at Inflow, and a specific process for that tool, as well as several others. Tapping directly into various APIs may be preferable to using a middleware product like URL Profiler if one has development resources. There are also custom in-house tools out there, some of which incorporate historic log file data and can efficiently crawl websites like the New York Times and eBay. Whether you use GA or Adobe Sitecatalyst, Excel, or a SQL database, the underlying process of conducting a content audit shouldn’t change much.