5 reasons why a mid-year website content audit benefits your business

Your website content is a valuable asset. And like any asset you need to maintain it. Here are 5 ways a mid-year content audit benefits your business

You audit your company finances. You audit your internal operations. You audit your stock. But when was the last time you audited your website content?

Think about it for the moment. Your website content is also an asset. And a valuable one at that as it connects your business to your customers and helps you build relationships by desktop, tablet and phone.

‘But’, I hear you say, ‘Audits are time-consuming. My website content looks OK, why do I need to dedicate time to one?

My point is this. Like any asset, you need to maintain it.

A mid-year content audit will give you the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of your messaging and how you can improve it.

School’s out for the summer. And the chances are the holiday season is giving you a bit of breathing space in your business.

So what better time is there to set up a spreadsheet and make an inventory of your web pages: As a result of your efforts:

1. You’ll address niggling problems

Over time, you make small changes to your website. As a result, you might find broken links creep in.

For example, recently, for usability reasons, I decided to ditch my drop-down menus. A quick look at Google Console told me as a result of my actions I need to update the internal links in my blog posts.

If I hadn’t checked, I wouldn’t have known there was a problem.

Elsewhere, you should use the opportunity to check whether your page content needs updating. Has anything changed since you first published it?

Finally, check to see whether you need to remove outdated content. Examples of material that has outlived its use by date include expired offers and events.

2. You’ll improve your on-page SEO (Search engine optimisation)

If you’ve web pages you haven’t updated in a while; you’re bound to find opportunities to improve on-page SEO.

SEO today is not about how many keywords you stuff into a web page to get it found. It’s about understanding your visitors’ intent when they visit your site and how best you can answer their questions.

So in your mid-year content audit, you’ll want to review your:

• Per page keyword strategy. Does your keyword strategy match the questions your audience is asking in the search engines?
• Meta titles and descriptions. Are they keyword rich and enticing?
• Images. Are they optimised for search?
• Internal linking. Do your most important pages have internal links pointing to them?
• Local search opportunities.

3. You’ll improve usability and your customer’s journey

Once you’ve managed to entice visitors to your website, your objective is to guide them through their decision making by answering any questions they have, and as they arise.

You need to be aware that mobile has overtaken desktop as the primary way people access websites, and therefore your visitors are likely to scroll through your content.

So in your mid-year content audit, you’ll want to check whether your web pages intuitively answer the questions:

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• How does it help me?
• Where can I find more information?
• Can you provide proof you can do what you say you can do?
• Where do I go next?

4. You’ll improve conversions of visitors into enquiries and sales

So you’ve answered your visitors’ questions. What’s more, you’ve convinced them to dig a little deeper and find out more. Or perhaps your visitors are ready to get in touch.

Therefore in your mid-year content audit, you’ll want to check whether:

• You have calls to action on each page
• You’re missing opportunities to include calls to action during your visitor’s journey. For example:
  • When you’re building relationships, you can offer your visitors useful and free content such as checklists/ebooks/cheat sheets and so on.
  • When your visitor is evaluating alternatives, you can reinforce your offer by offering a downloadable case study.

At the same time, you can check you present your calls to action in a way that takes the risk out of your visitor making an enquiry or a purchase: Use language such as ‘There’s no obligation required’.

5. You’ll reveal gaps where you can create content

Finally, has your SEO check revealed gaps where you can create content?

Let’s recap

Your website content is a valuable business asset as it is fundamental to the way you do business online.

Carry out a mid-year content audit, and you’ll be able to:

• Resolve niggling issues
• Improve SEO
• Improve visitors’ journeys
• Improve lead generation
• Find opportunities to continue to entice customers to your site through the search engines and your content marketing strategy.

So go ahead and get it done.

And finally

If you would like help carrying out a mid-year website content audit, then drop me a line to get information about pricing.

About Claire Hawes

Claire Hawes is a marketing communications copywriter. She enjoys writing engaging copy that helps businesses to get noticed and attract enquiries. Claire’s experience mainly lies in the business to business sector. Her clients include both businesses and digital marketing agencies.