Guide · Content audit

How to run a content audit that ends in decisions, not a spreadsheet

A content audit is a structured review of the pages a site already has, judged against evidence, in order to decide which pages to keep, update, expand, merge, redirect, reposition or retire. The deliverable is a decision per page with its evidence attached — not a colour-coded inventory.

The seven steps

Each step exists to make the next decision defensible

1. Define the scope — Posts, pages or both, and one cluster or section first. A site-wide audit that never finishes helps nobody.
2. Build the inventory — Index content and internal links so each page has a position in the model: pillar, supporting, orphan, duplicate.
3. Attach evidence — Search Console clicks, impressions, CTR and position where available; competitor pages from your own search API; your own knowledge files.
4. Judge each page — Search-intent fit, topical coverage, structure and semantics, internal link position, freshness and decay signals.
5. Decide one action type — Create, update, expand, merge, redirect, reposition or skip. One decision, after an overlap review, with a stated reason.
6. Execute in small batches — Apply with a revision, an audit record and rollback available. Verify that the stored content matches what you approved.
7. Measure later, separately — Implementation success is not search success. Set a measurement window and assess outcomes after it.

Method note. Steps 2, 4, 5 and 6 map directly onto ContentGem's content index, Content Health assessment, overlap review and verified update with rollback. The method works without the plugin; the plugin removes the manual coordination between the steps.

Judgement criteria

What to look at on each page, and what it means

Criteria used by Content Health in ContentGem 23.9.0.
Signal	Question it answers	Typical decision
Intent mismatch	Does the page type match what the query wants?	Reposition or rebuild.
Partial coverage	Does the page answer the whole question?	Expand in place.
Overlap with a sibling	Do two pages compete for the same job?	Merge and repair internal links.
Orphan status	Can readers and crawlers reach it from its cluster?	Add internal links, keep the page.
Missing pillar	Does the cluster have an authoritative hub?	Create the pillar before more supporting articles.
Decay	Is performance or relevance falling over time?	Update with fresh evidence, or retire.
Thin unique value	Does anything on the page exist nowhere else?	Add original evidence, or redirect.
Low evidence confidence	Is the finding weak because data is missing?	Collect evidence before acting.

Questions

Content audit answers

How long does a content audit take?

The inventory is fast once an index exists; the decisions are the work. A useful rhythm is to audit one cluster at a time, decide an action type per page, and re-audit after the changes have been verified.

How many pages should I update at once?

Few enough that you can verify each change and attribute later movement to it. Daily and weekly limits exist for this reason.

What should a content audit output?

One decision per page — create, update, expand, merge, redirect, reposition or skip — with the evidence, confidence and verification method attached.

Can I audit without Google Search Console?

Yes. Search Console improves confidence but is optional. Without it, findings carry lower confidence and say so.