In
website governance
Website governance is an organization's structure of staff and the technical systems, policies and procedures to maintain and manage a website. Website governance applies to both Internet and Intranet sites.
Areas of responsibility
Governance ...
, a content audit is the process of evaluating content elements and information assets on some part or all of a
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
.
Description
A content audit is "an accounting of all currently published web content"
[
] and a "cornerstone of
content strategy Content strategy is the planning, development, and management of content—written or in other media. The term has been particularly common in web development since the late 1990s. It is a recognized field in user experience design, and it also dra ...
".
[
] It is a
qualitative analysis of information assets on a website; that is, the assessment of content and its relationship to surrounding information assets within specified
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
content analysis
Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic ...
parameters.
A related term,
content inventory A content inventory is the process and the result of cataloging the entire contents of a website. An allied practice—a content audit—is the process of ''evaluating'' that content. A content inventory and a content audit are closely related conce ...
, is a
quantitative analysis of a website. It simply logs what is on a website. A content inventory will answer the question: “What is there?” and can be the start of a website review.
A content audit will answer the question: “Is it any good?”
Specifically, Slater states that the content audit can answer five questions: What content do we already have?; Who is making this content?; How do people find it?; How is it performing?; and Is the content current (accurate) or outdated?
[
]
Performing a content audit has been called "tedious",
"boring",
and "intimidating, time-consuming, and chaotic".
Types
Different types of content audit have been described. Deciding on audit goals before beginning the audit is an important part of process planning.
As the name implies, a full content audit is a complete and comprehensive accounting of website content. A partial content audit focuses on a subcategory of the site, often one among the top site hierarchy. Content sampling merely examines samples of content.
Bloomstein describes a rolling content audit as a means to "monitor and maintain" the initial scan. A content manager may go through the audit process at some agreed-upon time – weekly, monthly, or quarterly – to scan for changes.
[
]
Value
A content audit is "the only way to fully understand the structure and quality of the content" on a website.
[
] It can help: develop a
content strategy Content strategy is the planning, development, and management of content—written or in other media. The term has been particularly common in web development since the late 1990s. It is a recognized field in user experience design, and it also dra ...
; manage content quality; prepare content for a migration or for development of a new site IA or design; evaluate content against business goals, editorial style guidelines, and templates; establish a common language among team members; evaluate content for removal or revision; and pinpoint gaps in content.
[
]
Methods
Because a content audit is a qualitative analysis, methods used will vary from auditor to auditor, by type of audit being performed, and available tools. While some tools have been developed to help in the content auditing process, human oversight and interaction is essential. A
content inventory A content inventory is the process and the result of cataloging the entire contents of a website. An allied practice—a content audit—is the process of ''evaluating'' that content. A content inventory and a content audit are closely related conce ...
sheet is used for tracking purposes and typically includes categories for links, format, keywords, content owners, and more.
Methods used to perform a content audit include content ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial) analysis,
social media analysis,
SEO analysis, competitive analysis, content analysis heuristics (including
information scent, differentiation, completeness, consistency, and currency),
heat map analysis,
among many others.
See also
*
Content inventory A content inventory is the process and the result of cataloging the entire contents of a website. An allied practice—a content audit—is the process of ''evaluating'' that content. A content inventory and a content audit are closely related conce ...
*
Web content management system
A web content management system (WCM or WCMS) is a software content management system (CMS) specifically for web content. It provides website authoring, collaboration, and administration tools that help users with little knowledge of web programm ...
*
Web content lifecycle The web content lifecycle is the multi-disciplinary and often complex process that web content undergoes as it is managed through various publishing stages.
Authors describe multiple "stages" (or "phases") in the web content lifecycle, along with ...
*
Design methods
Design methods are procedures, techniques, aids, or tools for designing. They offer a number of different kinds of activities that a designer might use within an overall design process. Conventional procedures of design, such as drawing, can be reg ...
*
Information architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
*
Website governance
Website governance is an organization's structure of staff and the technical systems, policies and procedures to maintain and manage a website. Website governance applies to both Internet and Intranet sites.
Areas of responsibility
Governance ...
*
Web archiving
Web archiving is the process of collecting portions of the World Wide Web to ensure the information is preserved in an archive for future researchers, historians, and the public. Web archivists typically employ web crawlers for automated captur ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
Further reading
Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbookby Paula Ladenburg Land
* See chapter 5, "Audit", in ''Content Strategy for the Web'' by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
External links
WordPress Content Audit PluginDrupal Content Audit moduleContent Audit Report Template
Website management