How to Conduct the Ultimate B2B Content Audit?

A well-executed B2B content audit is the key to ensuring your marketing materials work hard for your business.

With 8 years of B2B content strategy experience – including scaling a business to 7 figures through content – I've gained deep insights into the power of strategic content planning.

Let's explore how you can optimize your B2B content for maximum results.
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In this article, you will learn:

• What a B2B content audit is and why it's essential.
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• The core benefits of conducting a thorough content audit.
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• A step-by-step guide to running an effective audit yourself.
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• Tools that can streamline and enhance your audit process.

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What is a B2B Content Audit?

Think of a B2B content audit as your roadmap to content success. It's a thorough analysis of all your existing marketing materials – blog articles, videos, case studies, and more.

The goal?

• To find out what's working.
• What needs a refresh.
• Where those untapped opportunities lie.

A well-done audit gives you the strategic insights to:

• Analyze your content effectively.
• Uncover strengths and weaknesses.
• Create new content that aligns with your goals.
• Ensure every piece of content supports your content marketing efforts.

By taking stock of your content assets, you can make sure your content marketing is always pushing your business forward.

For a more in-depth explanation of what this entails, see CMI's definition of a content audit.
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Why Do You Need a B2B Content Audit?

Busy founders and marketers don't have time to waste on content that isn't performing.

A revealing statistic highlights the importance of measurement: 72% of successful companies are diligent about measuring their content marketing ROI, while almost half (47%) of B2B marketers don't track ROI at all.

Performing a content audit can help you:

• Identify Your Top Content: Know which pieces are driving traffic and leads. Learn how to replicate that success.
• Uncover Problem Areas: Find outdated content, gaps in your strategy, or underperforming pieces that need an update.
• Fuel Smarter Decisions: Base your content marketing on data, not guesswork.

With a content audit, you'll stop wasting resources on ineffective content and gain a clear plan to maximize your results.
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Benefits of a Content Audit

Think of a content audit as much more than a checklist – it reveals how to make your B2B marketing more effective. In fact, a Semrush study found that 61% of companies that succeed the most in content marketing run content audits 2+ times a year.

Here's how you will benefit from it:

1. Maintain Your Content Updated

• Quickly identify outdated or irrelevant information.
• Ensure your content reflects current trends and audience needs.
• Boost your content performance and search engine visibility.

2. Improve Your Overall Content Quality

• Pinpoint your best-performing pieces to guide future content creation and ensure you're building a content strategy that aligns with your goals.
• Discover what resonates with your audience to boost engagement.
• Conduct a B2B content audit to elevate your entire content library.

3. Generate New Content Ideas

• Analyze your content to find gaps in your existing strategy.
• Uncover underutilized topics and formats appealing to your audience.
• Repurpose top content into new forms to maximize reach.

4. Optimize for Search Visibility (B2B SEO)

• Optimize your content to target the right keywords.
• Identify technical SEO issues holding your content back.
• Improve rankings and boost your organic traffic.

5. Receive Data-Driven Insights to Make Informed Decisions

• Understand what content is performing, and why.
• Make strategic content investment decisions.
• Update the content that underperforms based on actionable data.
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How to Conduct a Content Audit Effectively

A successful content audit takes careful planning. Before you start it, make sure you know exactly what you want to achieve.

1. Define Your Goals

Why are you choosing to audit your content? Here are a few common goals to consider, with specific actions to help you achieve them:

• Boosting lead generation: Focus on identifying content that converts: blog articles, case studies, webinars, etc. Consider using content marketing frameworks for lead generation to guide your strategic approach.
• Improving SEO: Look for opportunities to optimize existing content with relevant keywords and improve technical SEO factors like title tags and meta descriptions.
• Enhancing user experience: Identify outdated content, confusing language, or broken links. Update or remove these elements to make your content more user-friendly.

Be specific! Clear goals make your audit actionable and give you a clear benchmark to measure success.

2. Inventory Your Current Content

Collect your content!

This is where you create a complete picture of your existing content. Here's a helpful checklist to get you started:

Remember: Don't forget internal resources like sales brochures or whitepapers.

A comprehensive content inventory ensures no valuable content gets overlooked during your audit.

3. Categorize and Map Your Content

Get strategic with your organization! Categorizing helps you understand the full scope of your content and find gaps and opportunities.

• Categorize by Topic: Group content based on the central theme it addresses. (e.g., "SEO Best Practices," "Product Features")
• Categorize by Content Stage: Sort content based on its role in the buyer's journey (e.g., "Top of Funnel Awareness," "Middle of Funnel Consideration")
• Categorize by Format: Organize content by its format (e.g., "Blog Article," "Case Study")

Mapping takes it a step further. Visually map your content to buyer personas and key touchpoints in their journey. This helps you see if you're addressing their needs at every stage.

Actionable Tip: Use a spreadsheet or a content management tool to make categorization and mapping efficient. Include columns for content type, publication date, target keyword, and any relevant notes.

4. Analyze Your Content

Now is where you dig for the insights that guide optimization. Combine these methods for a well-rounded analysis:

• Quantitative Metrics: Track data like pageviews, bounce rate, time-on-page, and lead conversions to see what's performing well and what might need improvement.
• Qualitative Factors: Is content clear, engaging, and tailored to your audience? Does it answer their questions and provide value? Don't underestimate subjective factors.
• Top Content Wins: Identify your top-performing pieces. Analyze them closely – what makes them successful? Replicate these elements in future content. If you need inspiration, check out these 3 B2B content marketing success stories for ideas. 

5. Implement an Action Plan

A content audit is useless without action. Create a clear action plan to capitalize on your insights.

Here's a simple structure to help:

Tip: Start with quick wins for early momentum!
Can you easily update a few outdated blog posts to improve their SEO or readability?

You can also use this content distribution guide to craft a distribution plan that maximizes reach and impact.

6. Do a Competitive Content Analysis

To optimize your strategy, it's vital to understand how your content stacks up against the competition. Analyze these elements:

Ask yourself these questions while analyzing competitors:

• Engagement: How are people interacting with their content (shares, comments, etc.)? Are you getting similar engagement, and if not, what makes their content more shareable?
• Traffic: Are they attracting more visitors to similar content? Use tools like SEMrush to estimate their traffic and see how yours compares.
• Conversions: Are their content pieces generating more leads or sales? Analyze their calls-to-action (CTAs) and landing pages to learn from their approach.
• Gaps in your content: Are there topics they cover that you don't?
• Content formats: Are they using formats you haven't explored (e.g., webinars, infographics). Experimenting with new formats might attract a wider audience.

Identify their strengths and weaknesses – this reveals areas where you can outshine them.

Use these insights to:

• Find Inspiration: Emulate what works well for competitors while adding your unique value.
• Uncover Improvement Areas: Focus on boosting your content's performance in areas where competitors excel.

Note: Let competitive analysis inspire your content strategy. Don't just copy, but use their successes and failures as a roadmap to improve your content.

7. Review and Measure Your Results

An audit isn't a one-time fix. To stay on track with your goals, regularly review your progress:

• Track Action Plan Progress: Did you complete the tasks outlined in your action plan? Regularly update your plan with new insights.
• Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Are your content metrics (e.g., traffic, leads, engagement) improving? Choose KPIs that directly align with your initial content audit goals.
• Set Measurable Benchmarks: How is your content on your website performing after updates? Instead of aiming for vague improvement, set specific targets like "Increase organic traffic by 10% within the next quarter" or "Boost blog article shares by 20%".
• Continuous Improvement: Schedule regular reviews (e.g., quarterly or bi-annually) and use the data to re-evaluate your strategy. Adapt your approach based on what's working and what's not.

Remember: Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. A well-executed audit sets you on the right path to continually optimize your content strategy and achieve long-term success.

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4 Content Audit Tools You Should Use

A successful content audit process often requires some helpful tools.

Tools like SEMrush or Google Analytics can effectively evaluate content, identify opportunities to improve, and eliminate issues like duplicate content.

These tools help you to conduct a content audit thoroughly and optimize your content marketing strategy.

Here's my recommended toolkit:

1. SEMrush

Price: Free trial, then $120-$450/month

Why it's great for audits:

• Robust Audits: Get customized reports to identify areas for improvement and actionable recommendations.
• Integrations: Connect Google Analytics for a deeper dive into sitemaps and audience engagement.
• Content Optimization Tool: Analyze your existing content and find fresh ideas for future content creation.

2. Screaming Frog

Price: First 500 links free, unlimited for $209/year

Why it's great for audits:

• Website Crawler: Collects URLs from your sitemap for a comprehensive SEO audit list.
• Analysis & Categorization: Provides tons of website analysis categorized for easy action.
• Ideal for Smaller Sites: Perfect for auditing smaller sites with the free plan.

3. Google Search Console

Price: Free

Why it's great for audits:

• Track Search Performance: Monitor website and search data, ensuring your pages are indexed.
• Mobile Usability: Identifies any issues affecting the mobile experience.
• Integrates with Analytics: Connect Google Search Console with Google Analytics for even deeper SEO insights.

4. Google Analytics (GA4)

Price: Free, with paid premium options

Why it's great for audits:

• Audience Insights: Understand who's visiting your site, from where, and what they're doing.
• Buyer Journey Mapping: Get valuable insights into your buyer journey with Google's G4 update.
• Data Note: Remember, Google Analytics uses samples of data, which can slightly vary from other tools.

GA4 Features

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The Bottom Line

A comprehensive content audit for B2B is a powerful tool for boosting engagement, lead generation, and overall marketing success. It sets the stage for exceptional results.

By following the steps in this guide, you'll transform your content into a high-performance asset that drives growth.
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If you're a marketer looking to solve growth challenges through content, my B2B Content Marketing Course offers proven strategies and actionable frameworks. 

Discover the power of content marketing – Explore the course today!
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FAQs

1. How do I conduct a content audit for B2B?

Start by defining your goals (e.g., boost SEO, improve lead generation). Then, inventory your existing content, categorize it, analyze its performance, and develop an action plan. A content audit template can streamline this process.

2. What are the key benefits of performing a content audit?

A content audit helps for:

• Improved content quality: Pinpoint what's resonating with your audience.
• Enhanced SEO: Optimize your content for better search rankings.
• Data-driven decisions: Base your strategy on insights, not guesswork.
• Uncover new opportunities: Revamp old content, fill gaps, and repurpose top performers.

3. What types of content should I include in my content audit?

Include all your marketing content:

• Blog articles
• Website pages
• Ebooks & white papers
• Case studies
• Videos
• Social media content

4. How often should I perform a B2B content audit?

Aim to conduct content audits at least annually. More frequent audits may be beneficial if your website content changes frequently or you're actively scaling your content marketing.

5. Can a content audit template make my audit process easier?

Absolutely! A content audit template provides a structured framework for gathering and analyzing content data. It saves time, ensures you don't miss any critical elements, and helps track your progress. Search online for free templates or customize one to fit your specific needs.