Content Inventory & Audit

A content inventory is a comprehensive list of all the digital content you have, captured at the page or asset level. Think of it as a detailed catalog that includes each webpage, blog post, image, video, and document. Each item in the inventory is recorded with specific details like its URL, title, author, publication date, and metadata. For example, imagine you're managing a website for a coffee shop. Your content inventory might include blog posts about coffee brewing methods, videos on latte art, and images of your menu.

By cataloging all this content, you can easily see what you have, identify gaps, and plan future content effectively. It's an essential tool for maintaining an organized and efficient content strategy.^[1]

A content audit is a detailed review of the content you have in your inventory, focusing on assessing its quality and effectiveness. It helps identify what needs updating, where there are gaps, and which pieces might be ready for removal. For example, imagine you're managing a non-profit organization's website. During a content audit, you might find outdated blog posts about past events, missing information on new initiatives, and redundant articles about the same topic.

By evaluating this content, you can update event information, create new pages for current projects, and consolidate similar articles. This process ensures your website stays accurate, engaging, and aligned with your organization's mission, enhancing its overall impact.

An effective content inventory captures essential attributes to keep your digital assets organized and accessible. Here's a breakdown of key attributes you should include:

• Name or title: This is the actual name of the content piece. If it doesn’t have one, give it a clear and descriptive title.
• URL: The direct link to where the content is published online.
• Author or owner: Information about who created or owns the content. This could be an individual author, a team, or an external source.
• Subject matter or topic: A brief description of what the content is about, making it easy to categorize and search.
• Format: The type of content, such as an article, video, image, PDF, or a specific web component.
• Creation or last-modified date: Important for tracking the age and relevance of the content.
• Metadata: Includes details like page title, meta description, and alt text, which are crucial for SEO and accessibility.
• Location of raw files: Where the original files are stored internally, useful for edits and backups.

The evaluation criteria for a content audit focus on industry best practices to ensure your content is effective and user-friendly. They include:

• Plain language: Avoid jargon and complex words. Use everyday language instead. For example, say "buy" instead of "purchase" and "use" instead of "utilize."
• Clear headings and subheadings: Help users navigate content quickly by using descriptive headings and subheadings.
• Link text: Ensure link text is clear and descriptive, so users know what to expect when they click.
• Chunking and white space: Break up large blocks of text and use ample white space to improve readability and user experience.
• Bold text: Highlight main ideas and key points with bold text to draw attention.
• Bullets and numbered lists: Organize information into bullets and numbered lists for easy scanning.
• Contrast: Ensure good contrast between text and background for better readability, especially for users with visual impairments.
• Embedded text in images: Avoid placing text within images to maintain clarity and accessibility.
• Auto-play videos: Disable autoplay to give users control over media playback and improve page load times.^[2]

Understanding and clarifying user needs is crucial when evaluating content. Knowing your audience and their goals ensures your content effectively serves its purpose. Identify who your users are and what they aim to achieve, such as finding answers, learning new topics, comparing options, making decisions, or getting in touch.

Here are some methods to identify user needs:

• User interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews to gain deeper insights into user experiences and needs.
• Analytics: Analyze website data to understand user behavior, such as popular pages, search terms, and time spent on content.
• Social media monitoring: Track discussions and comments on social media to gauge user sentiment and identify common questions or concerns.

Assessing how well your content meets user needs helps you identify gaps and areas for improvement. Does the content provide complete and accurate information? Are there any unanswered questions that leave users frustrated?

Documenting content standards and using them as evaluation criteria is vital for maintaining consistency and quality across your content. Content standards define how your organization wants to communicate, including tone, style, and visual design. For instance, if your organization aims to be seen as friendly and approachable, your content should use a conversational tone but avoid jargon and slang. Instead of "commence" (too formal) or "kick-off" (too slangy), use "start." Include engaging visuals that are inviting and relatable.

Standards also cover technical aspects like metadata, which is crucial for SEO and making your content discoverable. Proper formatting and structure guidelines ensure that content is easy to read and navigate.

When auditing, compare each piece of content against these standards:

• Does it match the intended tone?
• Is the metadata correctly implemented?
• Does the content follow the set formatting and design principles?

Specifying goals and performance metrics is crucial for a successful content audit. Clear goals define what your content aims to achieve, whether it's creating awareness, driving traffic, generating leads, or selling products. Without these goals, it's challenging to measure the effectiveness of your content.

Performance metrics, such as clicks, views, bounce rates, likes, and shares, provide quantitative data on how well your content performs. For example, high bounce rates might indicate that your content isn't engaging or relevant, while a high number of shares could suggest that it's resonating well with your audience.

Additionally, qualitative insights from user research, like feedback and user behavior analysis, offer a deeper understanding beyond numbers. This combination helps you determine whether your content meets its goals or falls short.

Early team involvement ensures everyone, from stakeholders to content writers, designers, and user researchers, understands the goals and criteria of the content inventory and audit. Clear communication aligns the team on what needs to be done and why.

Here are some practices to follow when involving team members:

• Share tasks among team members to leverage different skills and perspectives.
• Set clear expectations and provide concrete examples to guide your team. For instance, demonstrate how to capture inventory details and audit different content types, making the process transparent and manageable.
• Foster a sense of ownership and accountability. Assign roles and set overall objectives to share the responsibility of maintaining the content audit and inventory with your team to help you keep it current and accurate.
• Hold regular meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and insights. This keeps everyone informed and engaged, fostering a collaborative environment.
• Create a shared document or dashboard where team members can track their tasks, add notes, and update the status of their work. This helps maintain transparency and accountability.

Completing a content inventory and audit is just the beginning. The real value lies in determining the fate of each piece of content based on your findings. It’s essential to thoroughly review the audit results to make informed decisions about problematic, inaccurate, or outdated content.

Here's what to do:

• Identify low-quality content or sections that don’t meet your standards.
• For each piece, decide whether to keep, update, or remove it.
• Assess the severity of any issues found and determine the priority for addressing them.
• Document specific actions needed for updates and assign responsible individuals.
• Start by bringing content up to industry best practices and your organization’s standards. Ensure each piece is clear, well-structured, and includes appropriate metadata.

Content inventories and audits are ongoing tasks, never truly finished. To effectively manage and maintain them:

• Provide impactful updates initially and at regular intervals. Reflect any new content, changes to existing content, or retired pieces promptly in your records. This ensures your inventory and audit remain accurate and useful.
• Keep your team informed with meaningful, concise updates to build trust and encourage collaboration. Avoid overloading them with unnecessary details.
• Utilize content-management systems and tools to automate the inventory portion where possible, e.g., Rockee or MarketMuse. This ensures your content stays relevant, high-quality, and aligned with your organization's goals.

Selecting the right tool for your content inventory and audit is crucial for efficiency and accuracy. The tool you choose should have a low learning curve and be easily accessible to everyone involved. Opt for something already familiar within your digital workplace to minimize the setup time and ensure smooth collaboration.

Here are some options:

• Google Spreadsheets is a great option due to its ease of use, real-time collaboration features, and accessibility. It's familiar to most people and allows for easy sharing and updating.
• Airtable combines the simplicity of spreadsheets with the power of a database, making it ideal for larger, more complex inventories.
• Notion is another excellent choice, offering a versatile workspace that can manage both content inventories and audits. Its intuitive interface and customizable templates make it easy to organize information and track progress.