How to do a content audit SEO

A content audit starts with creating a complete inventory of everything on your client's site. Export all URLs from Google Search Console or use a crawler tool like Screaming Frog to pull every page, then add columns for key metrics: monthly organic traffic, keyword rankings, last update date, word count, and internal links pointing to each page. You're looking for patterns—which content drives traffic, which pages languish, and which rank for keywords worth optimizing. Don't just count pages; identify what each piece of content actually accomplishes for the business. A product page serves a different purpose than a blog post about industry trends, so your evaluation criteria need to reflect that reality.

Next, categorize content by performance and business value. Pages getting decent organic traffic but outdated or thin deserve updates rather than deletion. Content ranking for low-intent keywords or already-dominated by competitors might need repositioning to target different search intent or converting differently. Look for keyword cannibalization—multiple pages competing for the same terms—and consolidate or restructure to avoid splitting ranking power. Check which pages have the most internal links; these are your authority hubs, and they're worth optimizing aggressively. Flag any content that's just dead weight: pages with zero traffic, outdated information, or duplicates that don't serve a purpose beyond the original.

Finally, identify strategic gaps. Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to find keywords competitors rank for that your client doesn't. Cross-reference these with your existing content inventory—sometimes you have content covering these topics but it's not optimized properly for those specific keywords. Map content against the customer journey: awareness, consideration, decision, and loyalty stages. You'll likely find gaps in one or two stages that represent opportunity. Build a prioritized action plan focusing first on high-traffic pages needing updates, then quick wins where you can optimize existing content for better keywords, then gap-filling new content only after you've maximized what's already there. Document everything in a spreadsheet your client can understand—they need to see why you're recommending changes, not just that changes are needed.