Can a content audit boost your company’s communication?

Being heard is tough in our busy world. And if you are heard, you need to make sure you deliver the right message to the right audience in the right tone. A content audit can help you do just that.

What is a content audit and why does my company need one? 

A content audit is a process which ranks your company’s content and communication material by judging it on its quality and relevance. First, you take stock of all your content. Secondly, you analyze it against the key criteria for you and your customers. Above all, through a content audit, you can find out the extent to which your communication is in line with what you want to say, and with the needs of your target group(s). In a nutshell:

1. First, we inventory your communications content
2. Secondly, we produce an analysis of your communications content, from two perspectives:
   A) Inside-out (from your company’s point of view)
   B) Outside-in (from the audience’s point of view)

Later, we will explore this process further.

How do you choose the scope of a content audit?

In a content audit, you can choose to look at all your communications content, or instead, you could focus on the most important parts of your communications, such as your website. Before, you can decide the scope in advance, perhaps by talking with the external party who will carry out the audit for or with you. This choice is linked to:

• the quantity and range of communications content you have
• its complexity
• the amount of time and money available

Everything your company communicates influences how the outside world sees you, so checking every element is vital. If you opt for a full content audit, you will map out all of the communications from your organization, including your:

• website(s)
• social media
• employees’ LinkedIn profiles
• executives’ tweets
• brochures
• presentations
• exhibition stand
• annual report
• job advertisements
• etc.

When should you use a content audit?

There are many scenarios in which a content audit can work. For example, if you:

• want to develop a new content strategy and map out what’s already there
• find that your organization’s image doesn’t match what you want
• or if your organization has grown or changed, and your communications content needs a clean-up

But sometimes it can be enough to only audit the main part of your communications content, like your website or your social media. One quick, easy audit step is a social media Quick  Scan. 

So the scope you choose for a content audit is a key part of the process. This is because it helps to define the criteria for your communications. And that means you can create an overview of what your content needs to be effective.

Why is a content audit important?

A content audit is important because your company and your market are constantly on the move. Because of that, content that was relevant yesterday might need to be changed tomorrow. Many organizations conduct a content audit once a year or every two years. From this, they can be sure that their content is correct, complete, and relevant.

What does a content audit deliver?

A good content audit gives you insight into the state of your communications and how you can improve it. In other words, you can see which content is good; which is poor, inconsistent, or outdated; and which is missing. Plus, a quality content audit will look at both the textual and the visual.

    ✓  Once you have finished the first steps, your content auditor will give you an overview of the strengths and weaknesses, with a list of clear                points for improvement.
    ✓ After this, you will know exactly what needs to be done for a successful content revision
    ✓ And you’ll also know what new content creation your audiences are looking for.

What criteria do you use to rate content?

In advance, you can determine the criteria by which you will rate the content. As we have seen, you do this from two angles: your own message as a company, i.e. the inside-out story, and the needs and questions of your customers, that is, the outside story.

The inside-out analysis

Start with general quality: correctness, completeness, consistency, and relevance. In the inside-out analysis, this can lead to questions such as:

• Does the content in our important internal communication match what we have in mind? Think of your vision statement, strategy documents, or employer branding,
• How does our external content tell the story of our company, our purpose, and our offer? Are important products, services, or features missing?
• Is the content fully up-to-date, or is there outdated information? For example, there might be changes that are not yet visible in the communication
• Does the content tell us our story in a consistent way, or are there any flaws, confusing elements, or differences in quality?
• For our content, is the language we use professional, perfect, and modern?
• Is our corporate identity consistently applied across our communications, and is it up-to-date?
• Do we have a clear tone of voice through all our content? Does our communication fit our brand and the goals we want to achieve? Are our ads attractive and our product descriptions informative?

The outside-in analysis

In an outside analysis, you place general quality criteria alongside the needs of your target groups. To find these, market research may be needed, but not always. Here, you can answer questions like:

• How well does our communication align with what is going on with our target groups?
• Do we know the questions our customers ask and does our content give clear answers to them?
• What trends to our customers have to deal with, and how are we responding to in our content?
• Does our content show that we understand what the customer wants, or do we tell our own story?

An audit based on these general communication criteria can already provide a large improvement for your content. If you want to go further, you can apply specific, or strategic, criteria.

What strategic criteria do you use to judge content?  

In addition to the general criteria we discussed above, you can look for specific or strategic criteria. For that, you want to closely look at the purpose of communications content. What do you want to achieve with it? Here are some examples:

• Do you want to use your LinkedIn profile to show your authority and attract more followers? If you do, provide solid, factual content, giving visitors knowledge.

• Is the purpose of your website to get product orders? Then give motivation through offers and deals. And make sure you have the clearest and easiest ordering process possible.

• Do you use social media to generate traffic towards your website? If so, how do you perform on social media, which posts do well and which don’t?

To evaluate and improve your content, you need to have a clear strategy. And for that, you need to know your goals, as well as the role your communication will play. Struggling to put it all together? We can help your company formulate your vision, your corporate story or brand strategy, and your purpose.

How do you do a content audit?

Overall, the content audit process can be summed up like this:

1. Choose the scope and criteria for the content audit
2. Inventory content
3. Analyze content based on general quality criteria and strategic criteria
   A) Inside-out (from your company’s point of view)
   B) Outside-in (from the audience’s point of view)
4. Find areas for improvement
5. Create a content revision and content creation plan
6. Refresh your content!

How can rebelieve help with a content audit?

Are you looking for a partner to go through your content with you? Feel free to contact rebelieve:

• Communication specialists with extensive experience and a broad perspective
• Strong in both B2B and B2C communications
• Internationally oriented: Dutch and native English
• Fast turnaround
• Effective problem solvers
• A fun and creative team to work with