You have 347 blog posts. You publish 3-4 new posts every month. But when someone asks "what content is actually driving pipeline?" you can't answer.
Sound familiar?
Most B2B companies accumulate content without systematically evaluating what's working. They keep creating new content while their existing library grows stale, inaccurate, or irrelevant.
A content audit fixes this—but only if you do it right.
Most content audits produce a massive spreadsheet that sits unused. The team spends weeks cataloging every piece of content, documenting 20+ data points per asset, and then...nothing changes. The audit becomes an exercise in documentation, not optimization.
After running content audits at three companies (ranging from 150 to 1,200 pieces of content), I've learned that effective audits aren't about comprehensive documentation—they're about identifying specific actions that improve performance.
Here's how to run a content audit that actually drives results.
Define the Audit's Purpose First
Don't audit just because it seems like something you should do. Start with a specific question you're trying to answer.
Common audit purposes:
Improve SEO performance: Which content ranks well? Which could rank better with optimization? Which is cannibalizing keywords?
Increase conversions: Which content drives demos/trials/leads? Which gets traffic but doesn't convert? Why?
Update accuracy: Which content contains outdated information, broken links, or discontinued product references?
Fill content gaps: What topics or buyer journey stages are underserved? Where do we need new content?
Optimize content mix: Are we producing the right balance of formats (blog, video, case studies)? The right balance of funnel stages?
Your audit scope and approach depend on which question matters most. Trying to answer all five at once produces overwhelming data and unclear actions.
Pick 1-2 primary objectives. Everything else is secondary.
Scope the Audit Appropriately
You don't need to audit every piece of content you've ever created.
What to include:
- All published blog posts from the past 18-24 months
- Core website pages (product pages, solution pages, pricing)
- Gated assets (ebooks, guides, whitepapers) from the past 12 months
- Customer-facing sales collateral (case studies, one-pagers)
What to skip:
- Internal documentation
- One-time event content (unless it's evergreen)
- Social media posts (audit separately if needed)
- Very old content (3+ years) unless it still drives significant traffic
Most audits should cover 100-500 pieces of content, not every asset ever created.
Track Only the Data That Drives Decisions
Don't catalog 25 data points per piece of content. Track 6-8 metrics that actually inform action.
Essential data points:
URL and title: Obviously.
Content type: Blog post, case study, guide, video, etc. This shows content mix.
Primary topic/theme: What's it about? Categorize by 5-10 major themes to identify gaps.
Publish date: How old is it? Outdated content needs updating or removal.
Traffic (last 90 days): Which content gets discovered? Use Google Analytics.
Conversion rate: What percentage of visitors take desired action (demo request, trial signup, content download)?
Current status: Published and current, needs updating, needs optimization, should be consolidated/removed.
Action needed: Update, optimize for SEO, add CTAs, remove, consolidate with other content, no action.
That's it. Eight columns. Anything more creates analysis paralysis.
Segment Content into Performance Categories
Once you have the data, sort content into buckets that drive specific actions.
High performers (top 20% by traffic or conversions):
These are your proven winners. Actions:
- Keep updated and accurate
- Use as templates for new content (replicate what works)
- Promote more heavily (email, social, paid)
- Repurpose into multiple formats
- Monitor for ranking changes
Quick wins (decent traffic, poor conversion OR poor traffic, high conversion):
These have potential but underperform in one dimension. Actions:
- Decent traffic, poor conversion: Add/improve CTAs, better internal linking, clearer value prop
- Poor traffic, high conversion: Improve SEO, promote more, build backlinks
Outdated content (old information, broken links, discontinued products):
These damage credibility. Actions:
- Update with current information
- Add "Last updated: [date]" to build trust
- Fix broken links
- Remove references to discontinued features
- If updating isn't worth it, remove or redirect
Underperformers (low traffic, low conversions):
Content that doesn't justify the effort to maintain. Actions:
- Consolidate: Merge multiple weak posts into one comprehensive piece
- Redirect: Point URLs to better-performing content on similar topics
- Remove: Some content should just go away
Content gaps (missing topics):
Where should you create new content? Look for:
- High-volume keywords you don't rank for
- Competitor topics you don't cover
- Sales team requests ("we need content about X")
- Buyer journey stages lacking content
Run the Audit Efficiently
Manual audits take forever. Use tools and shortcuts.
Pull traffic data programmatically:
Export Google Analytics data for all content URLs rather than checking each piece individually. Use:
- GA4 Pages report filtered to blog/content URLs
- Export to Google Sheets
- Join with your content inventory by URL
This gives you traffic and engagement metrics for all content in minutes.
Use Screaming Frog for technical SEO:
Run Screaming Frog crawl to identify:
- Broken links
- Missing meta descriptions
- Duplicate title tags
- Slow-loading pages
- Redirect chains
This finds technical issues across all content automatically.
Sample if the library is huge:
If you have 1,000+ pieces of content, don't audit everything. Audit:
- All content from the past 12 months
- Top 100 pieces by traffic
- All high-priority topics (product pages, core solutions)
That covers 80% of impact with 30% of the effort.
Turn Findings into an Action Plan
The audit spreadsheet isn't the deliverable—the action plan is.
Prioritize actions by impact and effort:
High impact, low effort (do first):
- Fix broken links
- Update outdated stats/information
- Add CTAs to high-traffic pages
- Optimize meta descriptions for pages ranking 5-15
High impact, high effort (plan and resource):
- Rewrite underperforming content on important topics
- Create new content for identified gaps
- Consolidate fragmented content
Low impact, low effort (do if time permits):
- Minor formatting improvements
- Small copy tweaks
Low impact, high effort (don't do):
- Rewriting content that gets no traffic and serves no strategic purpose
- Perfectly optimizing every old blog post
Assign ownership and deadlines:
Each action needs an owner and due date. Don't create a list of 200 actions without accountability.
Break actions into:
- This month (critical updates, broken links, major gaps)
- Next quarter (consolidations, rewrites, new content)
- Backlog (nice-to-haves when capacity allows)
Example Action Plan Format
PRIORITY 1: Fix accuracy/compliance issues (2 weeks)
- Update pricing page with current plans (Owner: Jane, Due: Nov 15)
- Fix 47 broken links (Owner: Tool automation + QA, Due: Nov 20)
- Remove 12 posts referencing discontinued features (Owner: Mike, Due: Nov 22)
PRIORITY 2: Optimize high-potential content (4 weeks)
- Improve CTAs on top 20 traffic pages (Owner: Sarah, Due: Dec 6)
- Optimize meta descriptions for 15 pages ranking positions 5-15 (Owner: Tom, Due: Dec 13)
- Consolidate 8 fragmented "how to" posts into 2 comprehensive guides (Owner: Jane, Due: Dec 20)
PRIORITY 3: Fill content gaps (8 weeks)
- Create comparison content for top 3 competitors (Owner: Sarah, Due: Jan 10)
- Write 5 bottom-funnel case studies (Owner: Mike, Due: Jan 24)
- Develop content for "implementation" stage (gap identified) (Owner: Jane, Due: Jan 31)
This format creates accountability and makes progress trackable.
Establish an Ongoing Audit Cadence
Content audits shouldn't be once-every-three-years events.
Quarterly mini-audits (2-4 hours):
- Review top 30 posts by traffic
- Check for accuracy issues
- Identify quick optimization opportunities
- Update action plan
Annual comprehensive audit (1-2 weeks):
- Full inventory and performance analysis
- Strategic gap identification
- Major consolidation and cleanup
- Refresh content strategy based on findings
Ongoing audits prevent content quality from drifting and keep your library optimized.
Common Audit Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Auditing without acting
The audit itself creates zero value. Actions based on the audit create value. If you audit but don't follow through with updates, removals, and optimizations, you wasted time.
Mistake 2: Trying to save everything
Not all content deserves to be saved. Some content should be removed. If a post gets 5 visits per month and serves no strategic purpose, delete it or redirect it.
Mistake 3: Treating all content equally
Your top 20% of content drives 80% of results. Spend 80% of audit follow-up effort on that high-performing 20%, not trying to perfect mediocre content.
Mistake 4: Ignoring conversion data
Traffic without conversion is vanity. A post with 10,000 monthly visitors and 0 conversions is worse than a post with 500 visitors and 50 conversions. Track both.
Measuring Audit Success
How do you know if the audit worked?
3 months post-audit, measure:
SEO improvement:
- Did updated/optimized content improve rankings?
- Did traffic to optimized content increase?
Conversion improvement:
- Did adding/improving CTAs increase conversion rates?
- Did consolidating weak content into stronger guides improve performance?
Library health:
- Did you remove/redirect underperforming content?
- Are broken links fixed?
- Is outdated information updated?
Content gaps:
- Did you create content for identified gaps?
- Is sales using the new content?
If you can't point to concrete improvements 3 months after the audit, it wasn't worth doing.
A content audit isn't about creating a perfect spreadsheet. It's about systematically identifying what's working, what's broken, and what's missing—then actually fixing it. Do that, and your content library becomes an asset that compounds in value instead of a graveyard of forgotten posts.