Reviewing existing blog content is crucial. Sales teams often disregard 80% of marketing content because it’s either irrelevant or hard to find, as per the Content Marketing Institute.
In this guide, we’ll explore conducting a blog audit, enhancing the efficacy of content audits, and mastering SEO audits.
Ready to ensure your content shines in your readers’ search results?
Keep reading!
What Are the Differences Between a Blog Audit, Content Audit, and an SEO Audit?
Audits play a crucial role in keeping track of your page SEO, blogs, and content marketing strategy’s effectiveness.
You can perform audits on your entire website, specific landing pages, or individual blogs.
Blog audits evaluate the quality and relevance of your content.
Moreover, a blog audit involves a detailed inspection of your blog, encompassing:
- SEO
- Social sharing
- Email marketing
- Blog layout and design
- Monetization strategy
A search engine optimization (SEO) audit, however, concentrates on the technical elements of your website, including the utilization of:
- Keywords
- Links (internal and external)
- Heading structures
A content audit assesses and reviews the content on your blog or website, along with its performance metrics.
The Importance of SEO Blog Audits
Content audits evaluate the significance of your blogs to your audience, while SEO audits serve as the most efficient way to notify you about organic traffic on your website.
Content marketing heavily relies on SEO strategies to ensure that new content is not just informative and pertinent, but also easily discoverable by your desired audience.
By grasping the basics of SEO, you can enhance the likelihood of your blog reaching your intended audience.
A blog SEO strategy involves a thorough analysis of metrics using analytics tools like Google Analytics.
Most of these tools are integrated into leading blogging platforms, such as WordPress.
You can also make use of our SEO audit tools, which are equally helpful.
Understanding Google Analytics and how it impacts search engine results will assist you in developing a successful approach, but more on that later.
For now, a great way to begin is by conducting your first audit.
How to Audit Your Blog Content
Auditing your blog content enables you to enhance your overall content strategy by pinpointing its weaknesses.
Consider these factors when conducting your blog audit:
- Know your goals
- Collect and analyze data
- Draw up an action plan
- Adjust your content marketing strategy if necessary
Ensure your content remains pertinent, top-notch, and easily discoverable. Content audit tools streamline the process, making it both easy and swift.
WordPress stands out as a top choice for bloggers looking to share their content online, offering robust auditing features. One such tool, Yoast, streamlines the process of reviewing your blog’s SEO and content quality.
No matter which platform you’re on, there are essential steps to take before diving into auditing:
1. Use a template to organize and plan your audit
To initiate your audit, start by creating a comprehensive list of all your blog posts.
The easiest method to gather this information is by exporting your blog’s data to a spreadsheet.
You can achieve this using WordPress’s Yoast plugin. Alternatively, utilize tools like Google Webmaster Tools dashboard, Screaming Frog, or SEO Spider Tool.
If you lack access to these tools, various online templates can help organize your content efficiently. These templates typically recommend including blog titles, URLs, and performance metrics.
Once you’ve assembled a list of all your blogs and their respective URLs, establish a labeling system to evaluate the effectiveness of each one.
Consider creating a color code for this task, with labels for keeping a post unchanged, enhancing it, or removing it.
Now focus on pinpointing which blogs require attention.
2. Check the analytics
Content auditing tools like Yoast for WordPress can quickly identify posts needing maintenance.
They use a simple system of red, yellow, or green dots to indicate the status of each blog post.
If you’re fortunate enough to have access to a tool like Yoast, you can simply click on each post to see how it’s rated across different categories.
Whether it’s an automated analysis or done manually, you can create a to-do list based on the color codes used in the tool.
3. Learn from your mistakes
If you’re new to blogging, conducting your initial blog audit is a fantastic way to delve into SEO, crafting top-notch content, and refining your approach.
A lot of bloggers realize that their favored content types and topics have changed along with their goals and passions.
Blogs posted years back might not hold relevance today.
Understanding what draws in new customers can also guide you in concentrating your efforts on these topics.
Handy Blog Audit Checklist
Audits vary in complexity, and the choice depends on your available time and expertise.
Here’s how to assess the effectiveness of your blog within your content marketing strategy:
Intentional content creation
Intentional content development involves staying updated with what resonates in your target market. You aim to consistently deliver the content your audience craves.
Moreover, it means crafting valuable, top-notch pieces that surpass mere keyword stuffing—the widely criticized tactic of excessively using keywords to artificially elevate your post’s visibility in search results.
The best blog audit process doesn’t just analyze SEO signals and user behavior data; it delves deeper into the most effective themes and content types, empowering you to fine-tune your strategy.
Setting target keywords
Selecting the right keywords for your content is essential for reaching your desired audience effectively.
Various content management systems, such as WordPress, enable you to designate a target keyword for guiding your blog assessment.
In the realm of auditing tools, the target keyword plays a vital role in assessing the relevance and quality of your content.
Keywords help search engine algorithms deliver pertinent results to users.
Ensure that each of your blogs incorporates a specific target keyword.
Make sure it appears in your title, introduction, various headings, and conclusion, as well as throughout the rest of your text.
You can also incorporate several secondary keywords throughout your article.
Heading structures
Selecting the right heading categories for your content sections plays a vital role in how search engines analyze it and how readers find relevant information.
Accurately identifying which headers are Heading 1, 2, 3, and so forth helps in structuring the content effectively and creating a clear outline for those who skim through it.
Visuals
Let’s get straight to the point: your website requires top-notch, captivating images.
Pictures, whether they’re photos, screenshots, infographics, GIFs, videos, graphs, or charts, have a significant impact. They increase clicks, shares, and engagement. Plus, it’s worth noting that we process visual content 60,000 times faster than text.
The Proof:
- Infographics get shared 3x more than other types of content on social media.
- Posts with pictures receive 94% more views.
- We remember 65% of what we see but only 10% of what we read.
- Posts with vibrant images make people 80% more likely to read them.
When thinking about the images on your page, remember these key tips:
- Choose top-notch, relevant images that match your content instead of generic stock photos.
- Optimize images with TinyPNG to speed up loading and reduce data usage.
- Add captions below images—they’re read 300% more than the main content, so make them count!
Meta description, titles, and tags
Content management solutions typically enable you to craft SEO elements like search result titles, meta descriptions, tags, and more.
Rather than leaving this to search engines, it’s better to take charge and create them yourself.
Recent analysis of 30,000 keyword search results reveals that Google rewrites meta descriptions over 70% of the time.
Crafting your SEO title differently from your blog title is often advisable. Always keep your audience in mind and aim to be concise while still addressing the searcher’s query effectively.
Meta descriptions are short blurbs visible under the search result headlines. They should accurately summarize the content’s topic.
Skilled bloggers may explore meta tags and other advanced options to aid search engines in categorizing their content effectively.
Building up backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that guide visitors to your content.
Creating backlinks signals to search engines that your website is a reliable, credible source of valuable information.
Though acquiring backlinks isn’t always entirely in your hands, you can promote your blogs by sharing links in social media posts and urging others to spread your content.
This might enhance your conversion rate and SERP ranking.
Utilize backlink checker tools to assess whether you should increase your efforts in building your list.
Incorporating internal links
Internal links are active links within your content that guide readers to other relevant sections of your website.
Incorporate links to related blog posts or landing pages on your site. This helps to captivate visitors and prolong their stay on your website.
This can also increase the likelihood of them discovering something they’re interested in purchasing.
Sticking to word count
Maintaining an optimal word count is vital for SEO and engaging your audience.
Research shows specific word count ranges are more effective for achieving high search rankings and retaining reader interest.
Above all, prioritize the value of each word. Avoid unnecessary content just to meet a quota, and ensure your writing provides genuine value to your audience.
While long-form content generally performs well, it’s essential to research your topic and audience preferences carefully.
Often, 500 words might not cover the depth needed for complex topics. To truly stand out as a thought leader and offer valuable insights to your readers, aim for blog posts that are at least 1,000 words.
Based on recent research from HubSpot, the ideal length for blog posts is 2,100 words. This length ensures your content is engaging, meaningful, and likely to rank well in search results. To ensure effectiveness, target a word count between 2,000 and 2,500.
Opt-ins and social shares
Most content marketers employ a strategy that extends beyond mere blogging.
Presumably, you also utilize email marketing, maintain social media profiles, and engage in other forms of interaction.
Ensure that social share buttons and opt-ins are easily accessible for both new and returning visitors seeking engagement.
Moreover, ensure your blogs are optimized for social media posts.
Examine your bounce rate and user behavior. Lastly, analyze how your visitors typically interact with your content.
Metrics such as the duration of their stay on your site and the frequency of link clicks serve as valuable indicators of your blog’s effectiveness.
Monitoring the bounce rate is crucial because it shows whether visitors leave your site soon after arriving, rather than engaging with it.
The Overall Quality
Always proofread your work, and remember that there are many tools available to assist with this task. It can be hard to spot your own mistakes or awkward phrasing immediately after writing.
Two helpful tools for this purpose include:
- Hemingway – a free editor that can help you with correct grammar and syntax, while also offering suggestions to simplify and strengthen your sentences.
- SEMrush’s SEO Content Assistant – this tool can enhance your content and provide suggestions on how to improve its potential SEO ranking.
- Grammarly is a free proofreading app, but you need to upgrade to premium for all features. I like the other two more because Grammarly might flag text that’s not wrong.
Final Thoughts
With our helpful blog audit checklist and a better grasp of SEO and content creation best practices, you’ll boost traffic and engagement on your site like never before.
Keep in mind that a successful blog audit takes time and offers valuable learning opportunities.
The GREAT Guest Posts is here to help you enhance your website’s performance, be it through content creation, SEO, or other marketing tactics.
Author: Jugnu Nagar
SEO Specialist
