Like any big project, the best way to prepare is to get organized! Whether you have a newly launched website or a site whose content has seen fresher days, it's a great time to assess what information your visitors want, need, or aren't using and take appropriate action to improve it.
For those not so "Type A" website owners who aren't as excited about "getting organized" and wondering if this post is relevant to your website, answer this simple question:
Do you know exactly what content lives on your site and who owns it?
While this may be a scary thought, a website audit will give you all the answers you need to be more confident that your website visitors will find what they need. But don't take my word for it... Seeing is believing.
Here's where to start:
Revaluate or establish your website's purpose and goals
If you've been here awhile, you know that my first recommended step will be to start with your website's purpose statement and goals. Luckily for you, free templates are available for both of these tasks. This step is essential in knowing what content is needed for your visitors to be successful on your website. Don't skip it.
As you work through these resources, consider your audience and what keywords or search terms they may be using to find your website. Pick a handful of keywords, and plug them into a Google search. Check out what features Google shows for each search term; that is, anything on the search engine results page that is outside the basic list of links. These features give you a good idea about the type of search your keyword elicits, and what content you need to provide on your website to answer the search. Notice which websites are already ranking on page 1 of the SERP. Is there anything your ranking competitor's content has that you are not already doing? Learn more about keyword research.
Example of a search engine results page including top stories, people also ask, and knowledge pack features:
Export your content to a CSV file
Now that you know the type of content you need to achieve your goals, create a table based on your content audit needs.
| Label/URL | Author | Pageviews Per Month | Entrances | Exit rate | Target Keyword | Target SERP Feature | Competitive Site Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /post/how-audit-your-website-content | hschult | 100 | 60 | 76% | how to audit website content, organizing website content, website audit, program website audit | ai overview | example.com/website-content-audit |
You can either complete this step with an exported list from your website or download a complete list of metrics from your Matomo analytics dashboard.
- Website export:
- Navigate to your "Manage Pages" menu
- Select the content type you want to download (Pages, Profiles, Projects, etc.)
- Click the "Download CSV" button at the bottom of the table
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each type of content you are auditing
- Matomo analytics export: Note that the Matomo export method will give you a lot of data that you have to filter out or delete based on your audit needs.
To export your data from Matomo, you'll first need to log in to your Matomo dashboard using your netID. If this is your first time using Matomo, you'll need to contact us and request access to your website data.
Next, select the dates you wish to export data from and click APPLY:
Note: If a page has received zero traffic in that time frame, it will not be included in your export.
In the left sidebar menu, click Behavior, and then Pages. Scroll down and find the export dataset button.
Finally, select the format you wish to export your data in. For this example, we are selecting the export format of tab-separated values or TSV (Excel), to flatten report and format metrics, a standard report type, and all row limit.
Create content groups and designate your content
After you have completed your export and removed unwanted metrics, you can begin moving your content into groups. Take a look back at your purpose, goals, and keyword search terms from the first step and come up with categories your visitors need to achieve the desired conversions (e.g. prospective student info, student resources, life on campus, success stories, etc.). For this step, I like to copy the corresponding page row, and paste it into the content tab it falls under. You may also choose to keep all your data in one tab and add a content category column.
Once completed, you've got an organized, in-depth look at how your content stacks up against your strategic website goals. From here, you can look for gaps in your content for what may be missing to reach your intended audience, as well as content that is no longer serving the site's purpose and can be removed.
Performing a content audit is a great way to improve your overall website user experience! Auditing your content does not mean purging. It just means you, as a site owner, have a better idea about what you're offering and where you may be able to improve.
The CALS/LAS web team is here to support you! Reach out to set up a content strategy meeting for a more individualized approach to auditing your content!