July 29, 2025
Publishing lots of content but not sure if it’s actually working? Here’s a simple way to audit it yourself and find out what’s helping, and what’s just noise.
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Publishing content is easy. Knowing if it’s actually working? That’s where most people get stuck.
A content audit is how you figure it out. It’s about taking stock of everything you’ve created, understanding whether it’s doing what you need it to do, and deciding where to fix, refresh, or start over.
Done properly, it gives you the clarity to make every new piece of content intentional.
And you can do it yourself... if you know where to start.
This guide walks you through the exact process I use when auditing content for clients. It’s detailed, it’s practical, and yes… it’s a little bit of work. But that’s how you get results.
If you don’t know what you want your content to achieve, you can’t measure its success.
Ask yourself:
Common goals to choose from:
Exercise:
Write down your top 3 content goals. Be specific. “Get more leads” becomes “Get 20 qualified enquiries per month from our website.”
This step is the lens for everything you’ll audit.
You can’t assess what you don’t have in front of you.
Where to look:
How to capture it:
Set up a content inventory spreadsheet.
Columns to include:
Pro tip: If you’ve got hundreds of pieces, don’t panic. Start with your highest‑impact channels (usually your website and your best‑performing social).
Now you’re going to look at how your content feels — does it reflect your brand and speak to your audience?
Questions to ask:
Quick check: Read three random pieces of content out loud. If you feel like three different people wrote them, you’ve got a consistency problem.
This is where most DIY audits fall apart — people either dive too deep into analytics or skip them altogether.
You don’t need to be a data analyst. Just focus on these key metrics:
Pro tip:
Now that you’ve seen what’s there, it’s time to find what’s missing or outdated.
Look for:
This is where the big insights come from. The things you didn’t realise were dragging you down.
You don’t need to fix everything at once.
Create three action lists:
Start with the quick wins. They give you momentum.
An audit is useless if it just lives in your head.
Put your findings into a simple Content Audit Report:
Even if you’re the only one looking at it, this will make it real, and make it easier to decide what comes next.
If you’ve read this far, you can see why content audits often get pushed to the bottom of the to‑do list. They’re detailed. They take time. And they require some tough calls.
But they’re also the fastest way to stop wasting effort and start making content that actually works.
If you want to DIY it: Set aside 2–3 focused sessions to work through the steps above. Even a simple audit will give you more clarity than creating content blindly.
If you want help: This is exactly what I do in my content consulting packages. I’ll handle the heavy lifting — the inventory, analysis, and action plan — and give you a clear path forward.
Join my email list for bite-sized advice, process fixes and writing tips — made for compliance-heavy teams.
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