Why SEO Should Always Include a Content Audit

BY Rachel Cagle
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a crucial aspect of ensuring that your client’s website and content is found by potential customers. If you and your client have already established an SEO strategy, great! That’s the first step. However, SEO is not nearly as effective as it could be if you’re not scheduling regular content audits. Here’s why SEO performs better for your clients with content audits. 

Why SEO Should Always Include a Content Audit 

What is a Content Audit? 

According to an article by Search Engine Land, a content audit is, “a systematic review of the content across your site, including blogs, landing pages, products or service pages and core content pages.” The data collected in the audit includes social shares, backlinks, metadata, content authors, length and more, according to a blog by Semrush

The goal of a content audit is to discover whether or not your client’s content is meeting their goals. And that’s only one reason why SEO benefits from audits. 

The Benefits of Audits 

Identifies What Content Needs Updating 

The information revealed in a content audit not only shows your client what content is working for them, but also what they can improve. Search Engine Land lists the examples of: 

  • Broken links 
  • Keyword opportunities 
  • Missing metadata 

Once you and your client are aware of why SEO isn't working as you planned, you can quickly take action to fix the content errors and, therefore, their usability and visibility. 

Content Optimization 

Once you have a holistic view of your client’s content, you can easily identify what’s working for them and what’s not. A content audit will show you how your client’s content is performing on search engines. Once you see what pieces are working and which aren’t, you can compare them to each other. Search Engine Land recommends looking at differences such as: 

  • Word count 
  • Keyword difficulty 
  • Content structure and keyword optimization (“Are headers with keywords present? How is the piece organized? Is the focus keyword placed optimally?”) 

If you know why SEO isn’t performing the way you planned, you can make changes to less viewed content to make it more like optimal content. 

Future Benefits 

After performing a few content audits, you’ll pick up on what kinds of content work for your client and which don’t. With that information, you’ll be able to optimize content creation going forward. Audits will obviously still be necessary, but you’ll start seeing better results each time you perform one. 

Positive Influence on Consumers (and Sales) 

Remember who you’re doing this for. When your client’s content performs as it should, you’re benefiting your client’s potential and current customers. When your client’s content is optimized, customers notice, reports Search Engine Land: 

  • 64% of consumers believe a brand is trustworthy after they’ve read educational content posted by the brand 
  • Consumers are 131% more likely to make purchases from brands with effective content 
  • Optimized content brings in three times more leads than traditional marketing 

When You Should Perform a Content Audit 

Here’s when Search Engine Land recommends performing a content audit: 

  • If your client has never done a content audit before 
  • If it’s been a few years since their last one 
  • Before you start building a new content strategy 
  • Before overhauling your client’s content strategy or redesigning their website 

How You Can Perform a Digital Audit 

SalesFuel provides an easy way to perform content audits for your client. Our Digital Audit provides a real-​time capture of your client’s digital presence in less than a minute, including: 

  • Their digital advertising, local search, SEO, social and incoming website traffic 
  • A comparison of your client’s use of digital advertising to the customers who intend to purchase the products/​services they’re selling 
  • A comparison of your client’s digital presence to their top local competitors 

Photo by Malte Helmhold


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