5 Ways a Content Audit Can Maximize Your Marketing ROI
Every piece of content you create is an investment of time and resources.
But if your company has been blogging for years…
Chances are, there’s a bunch of content just sitting there on your website, not doing much at all for you at all.
In fact, you may be surprised by just how little of your content is actually attracting readers.
While it may be easy to get caught up in creating new content…
Buried beneath the layers of neglected posts could be major opportunities to leverage what you already have.
The good news is — the lifespan of a blog post today is a lot longer than people think.
Even blogs from years or even a decade ago can still attract views and engagement today. That’s the power of well-crafted content.
Which is why only focusing on the new, can distract you from the true treasure trove of the
I know what you might be thinking: “Why bother with the old content?"
Well, here's the secret:
A content audit really isn't just about cleaning up the past — it's about leveraging the future.
It can help you ensure that every piece of content —blogs, white papers, etc — isn’t just sitting wasting away, but continues to return on your initial investment.
Whether you tackle it in house or hire someone to do it for you…
Here’s how a strategic content audit will maximize your content ROI:
You’ll Save Time and Money
It's common to feel like you can't spare the time for a content audit, especially if you have a small team already stretched thin with content creation.
But actually, investing in an audit can be your best move to save time and money.
Because, contrary to popular belief — the work of content writing should not be simply measured by churning out new blogs.
Optimizing, combining, and improving older content can be surprisingly effective at getting results.
I’m talking like some obscure blog that has a odd title could become one of your consistently best performers, after a some editing. It's like finding a twenty-dollar bill in your old jacket pocket!
The truth is — you can often improve blog posts and how well they perform MUCH faster than starting all of your content from scratch.
You already have the basic structure and framework in place; you just need to give it a fresh coat of paint and tighten a few screws.
Plus, you have the advantage of hindsight. You can see what worked well in the past and what didn't, allowing you to make more informed decisions about how to improve your content for better results.
So, not only does a content audit save you time and money, BUT it saves you time and money. And helps you maximize what you already have and capitalize on the existing foundation laid for you by previous content creators.
2. You’ll Unearth Hidden Gems You Didn’t Know About
Don’t let valuable content assets fade into obscurity while focusing solely on churning out new content!
If you are in the habit of just bulk archiving (read: taking an axe old posts) without finding out if they are still attracting readers…you may want to reconsider because chances are…
There are hidden gems waiting in those dusty blog archives that are waiting to be updated or repurposed.
A content audit never fails to reveal surprising things:
Articles from years ago that you thought were just a flash in the pan, might be drawing people to your website every month via Google search.
Other posts may have truly valuable information that’s evergreen, but you would never know that from reading the title.
Or who knows? Maybe there’s two or three blogs that could become a very valuable pillar post if you combined them into one.
The problem is, if you don’t have a grasp over what’s already on yoru blog, it’s like trying to decorate a room without knowing what furniture you already own.
So, embrace the opportunity to explore your content landscape. That way you can carefully select new pieces that complement and enhance the overall collection.
3. You’ll Avoid Duplicating Your Efforts
Nobody. wants. to. spin. their. wheels.
Creating content isn’t easy. It’s time consuming. It demands time, collaboration, and a lot of creativity. Creating content that’s already been covered in other assets is not only a waste, but it can also dilute your brand's message.
One of the biggest reasons for this is silos and turnover. It can be easy to lose sight of the big picture of what assets you currently have. You might already have a white paper on a certain topic, or perhaps there are multiple posts covering the same ground.
But you don’t know that because it’s buried under years of content…forgotten….or simply mis-titled.
Without a comprehensive view of what already exists in your content library, you may end up unintentionally creating new posts that cover the same topics. And maybe not even improving upon them.
With an audit, you can pinpoint the real gaps and opportunities. And steer clear of unnecessary work!
4. You’ll Strengthen Your Brand
In the frenzy of creating new posts as fast as possible, it can be easy to overlook creating more comprehensive pieces that take a bit longer to produce.
These foundational content pieces (also known as pillar content) demonstrate your brand’s expertise in powerful ways. They also influence allllll the other content you build around it.
The great thing about a content audit is it can help you establish these pillar pieces more easily.
For example, let's say you have expertise in "budget travel hacks" but you lack a real foundational post on the topic, while your competitors have a few.
With an audit, you can take a group of underperforming articles and quickly consolidate them into a comprehensive guide.
So, even if you never had a pillar strategy from the start, a content audit presents an opportunity to reinforce your brand identity through content assets. It guides the creation of new content, ensuring more consistency and effectiveness in your messaging.
5. You’ll Optimize Well-Performing Blogs
Like I already mentioned, there are probably some blogs or content on your website that are drawing in a lot of visitors to your site day after day, but might not really optimized or related to your core business.
This is often due to a search-friendly title.
But if you discover a disconnect between your best blogs and what you your business does, that blog might not doing you any favors.
With a content audit — you've got the chance to make these pieces work for your business goals.
Maybe it's just updating all the blog links and info, or maybe you need to sprinkle in more of your brand messaging or toss in a clear call to action.
And sometimes, the blog that's performing so well will teach you something — which brings me to the next point…
6. You’ll Make Better Choices with Your Content
I bet if you asked a bunch of business owners or marketing leaders what their consistently top-performing blogs are, chances are they couldn't give you an answer. And — it probably wouldn’t be what they would guess.
Audits can be a bit of a reality check. You get to see what blogs people are actually reading and what they're not bothering with.
That helps you figure out what blogs you should be focusing your time and energy on, and what's not worth your while.
For example — let’s say you run a pet store that sells pet products and grooming services. During a content audit, you notice that your highest performing blogs is one that is about funny animal videos. Sure, this post attracts traffic due to its title and entertainment value, and it does have to do with animals — but ultimately it doesn’t align with the core of your business which has to do more specifically with pets.
You might realize that focusing on animals in general isn’t your best strategy and decide to strategically shift your content to focus on blogs that address more specific pet care challenges that leads to customer relationships, not just traffic.
7. You’ll Empower Your Team
Probably the coolest thing about a content audit is that you're really building a library.
Afterward, you’ll have a searchable, centralized repository of your content that brings together several types of content (blogs, e-books, webinars, etc) all in one place.
You or your boss will be able to ask “What do we have on X?” and know the answer.
Personally, I’ve seen how this kind of resource can powerfully transform how marketing teams and organizations think about their content. And I’ve seen it be regarded as a valuable asset to department or c-suite leaders.
With a well-organized content library, a writer working on a new blog post can quickly reference past articles for inspiration or gather statistics and quotes from previous research. This creates efficiency, improves content quality, and ultimately leads to better outcomes.
Turn Old, Forgotten Content into Your Greatest Performers
I believe it’s time for a paradigm shift: instead of just pumping out new stuff as fast as possible, let's embrace holistic content management.
That means taking a step back and looking at our entire content library as one big picture. Each new piece should not only stand out from the competition, but should seamlessly fit into our existing content ecosystem.
That's how we turn what's not working on our blog into something better and, most importantly, useful.
So, if you haven't started yet, it's time to tidy up that digital closets. Your content—and your business—will definitely thank you for it.
