How to Run a Content Audit Before Your Website Redesign

When people picture a website redesign, they usually picture the design: new colors, a new layout, new photos. But visitors mostly come for the information on the page. If the old content is simply poured into a new template, you end up with a nicer-looking version of the same problems.

A content audit is a structured review of everything currently on your site. You list every page, judge whether it's still useful and decide what will happen to it on the new site. It can be tedious, but it's also where you'll find many of the improvements that make a redesign worthwhile.

Here's a practical way to run one, even if you've never looked at your website as a spreadsheet before.

Step 1: Build Your Inventory

Start a spreadsheet with one row per page. For a small site, you can click through the main menu and footer and copy each address by hand. For larger sites, your content management system can usually list all pages and posts, and your XML sitemap, often found at /sitemap.xml, lists the pages you've told search engines about.

Don't forget the pages that aren't in the menu: old blog posts, landing pages from past promotions, downloadable PDFs and the thank-you pages that appear after someone submits a form. Useful columns include:

• URL
• Page title
• What the page is about, in a few words
• Date last updated, if known
• Visits over the past year, from your analytics
• Clicks from search, from the Performance report in Google Search Console
• Who is responsible for the page
• Decision and notes

Step 2: Judge Each Page Honestly

Now work through the rows and ask a few questions of every page:

1. Is it accurate today? Check prices, hours, staff names, services and policies.
2. Is it useful to a real visitor, or does it exist only because someone once thought the site should have it?
3. Does it overlap with another page that says nearly the same thing?
4. Does it get visits or search clicks, or have links from other websites?
5. Is it easy to read, with clear headings and short paragraphs?

Google's guidance on creating helpful content offers a good reality check. It encourages site owners to ask whether a page provides original, substantial information, and whether a reader would leave feeling they had learned enough to reach their goal.

Step 3: Decide to Keep, Update, Merge or Remove

Give every page one of four labels:

• Keep: the page is accurate, useful and performing well. Move it over largely as it is, ideally at the same URL.
• Update: the topic is worth having, but the details are stale or the writing is weak. Rewrite or refresh it.
• Merge: several thin pages cover the same ground. Combine them into one stronger page and redirect the old addresses to it.
• Remove: the page is outdated, irrelevant or duplicated, with no traffic or links worth preserving.

Imagine a plumbing company with three separate pages titled Drain Cleaning, Clogged Drains and Drain Services, each a single paragraph long. Merging them into one thorough page about drains, with the retired addresses redirecting to it, gives visitors one complete answer instead of three partial ones.

Be thoughtful about removals. Google's documentation discourages deleting content in bulk simply because you believe it will help your rankings. Remove pages because they no longer serve visitors, not as a search tactic.

When you remove a page that has no good replacement, it's acceptable for its old address to return a 404 (not found) status, which tells Google the page no longer exists. If there is a closely related page, use a permanent redirect instead so visitors and links land somewhere useful.

Step 4: Find the Gaps

An audit isn't only about what you have; it's also about what's missing. Compare your inventory with the questions customers actually ask by phone, by email and in person. Gaps that often show up on small-business sites include:

• Clear descriptions of each main service, rather than one page listing everything
• Pricing, or at least an explanation of what affects price
• Service areas, hours and how to get started
• Answers to frequently asked questions
• Current photos of your work, team or location

Add these to the spreadsheet as new rows marked New, so they're planned alongside everything else.

Step 5: Write for the New Site

With decisions made, the writing begins. A few habits make pages easier to use:

• Lead with what the visitor needs, putting the answer, service or next step near the top.
• Use headings that describe what follows, so people scanning can find their part quickly.
• Keep paragraphs short, since many visitors will be reading on a phone.
• Use the words your customers use. If they say AC repair, don't call it climate system remediation.
• Write link text that describes the destination instead of click here.
• Add alt text, a short written description, to images that carry information.

Google's SEO Starter Guide makes similar points. It recommends breaking long content into paragraphs and sections with headings, keeping content original and up to date, and using descriptive link text. These habits help readers first, and search engines benefit too.

One caution: don't change a page's date to make it look fresh if the content hasn't substantially changed. Google specifically says this doesn't help.

Step 6: Assign Owners and Deadlines

Content often takes longer than any other part of a redesign, so treat the audit spreadsheet as a project plan. Each new or updated page needs a writer, a reviewer and a due date, and photos and approvals should be gathered at the same time.

Keep the spreadsheet after launch, too. The column of old URLs and their decisions becomes your redirect checklist, and having a full inventory makes the next content review far quicker than this one.

Key takeaways

• List every page, including the ones that aren't in your menu, before the redesign begins.
• Label each page keep, update, merge or remove based on accuracy, usefulness and performance.
• Redirect merged or replaced pages to their closest match; let truly retired pages return a 404.
• Fill the gaps by answering the questions customers actually ask.
• Treat content as a project with owners and deadlines, and start it early.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
• Google Search Central: How HTTP status codes and network errors affect Google Search
• Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changes