Skip to main content

If your website isn’t ranking well on search engines or isn’t converting visitors into customers, it’s time for a performance SEO content audit.

A content audit is not about technical code or back-end systems—it’s about evaluating the performance of your existing content so it works harder for your business.


Why a Performance SEO Content Audit Matters

Over time, even well-written content can lose its effectiveness. Search algorithms change, competitors update their sites, and customer expectations evolve. A performance content audit identifies what’s driving traffic and leads—and what’s holding you back.

With this approach, a content audit can help you:

  • Pinpoint which blog posts and pages generate the most traffic
  • Spot underperforming content that needs updating
  • Identify high-traffic pages that don’t convert well
  • Remove outdated or irrelevant articles
  • Find gaps where new, optimized content can be added
  • Improve your SEO by strengthening titles, keywords, and internal links

How to Do a Performance SEO Content Audit

Unlike a technical audit, a performance SEO audit focuses on content quality, search visibility, and user engagement. Here’s how you can do it step by step:

  1. Start with a Full Content Inventory
    Export or list all of your pages and posts in a spreadsheet. Include the URL, title, and content type. This creates a foundation for tracking what you’ll analyze.
  2. Check Search Visibility
    Use Google Search Console to review impressions, clicks, and average position. Look for pages with high impressions but low click-through rates—these may need stronger titles and meta descriptions.
  3. Evaluate Engagement Metrics
    In Google Analytics, review bounce rate, time on page, and conversions. Pages with high bounce rates or low engagement should be revised to improve readability, flow, or CTAs.
  4. Review Content Depth and Quality
    Ask: Does this page answer the search intent fully? Is it detailed enough compared to competitors? Does it include images, headers, and structured formatting to keep users engaged?
  5. Check Keyword Alignment
    Ensure each page has a clear target keyword and that it’s naturally included in the title, meta description, headers, and body text. Avoid keyword stuffing—focus on intent and clarity.
  6. Look for Internal Linking Opportunities
    Make sure important pages link to each other. Add links from high-traffic posts to service or product pages to guide visitors toward conversions.
  7. Identify Content Gaps
    Compare your topics with customer questions, competitor content, and industry trends. Create new content where gaps exist or expand thin content.
  8. Prioritize and Take Action
    Flag content as Keep, Update, Consolidate, or Remove. Start with quick wins like updating titles, adding CTAs, and refreshing outdated stats before tackling larger rewrites.

This manual approach avoids relying on third-party scanning sites and ensures you’re auditing content with your unique goals and audience in mind.


Step 1: Define Your SEO Goal

Every audit starts with a clear objective. For example:

  • Do you want to increase organic traffic?
  • Are you focused on boosting conversions?
  • Do you need to align your site with updated SEO best practices?

Defining your SEO performance goal ensures your audit delivers measurable results.


Step 2: Collect Your Website Content

The next step is to compile a full list of your content. This includes:

  • Page and post titles
  • URLs
  • Categories and tags

This master list helps ensure nothing gets overlooked during the audit.


Step 3: Gather SEO & Performance Data

With your content inventory in place, the focus turns to SEO metrics and user engagement data. Common data points include:

  • SEO titles and meta descriptions
  • Target keywords
  • Pageviews and traffic sources
  • Average search rankings
  • Bounce rate and time on page
  • Internal and external link counts
  • Social shares and engagement

These indicators show both how search engines rank your content and how visitors interact with it.


Step 4: Analyze Content Performance

Once the data is collected, the analysis begins. Each page or post falls into one of four categories:

  • Keep as is — high-performing content that’s already optimized
  • Update or expand — content that has potential but needs improvements
  • Consolidate — overlapping content that should be combined into a stronger, single piece
  • Remove — content that is outdated, irrelevant, or provides no value

For example:

  • A page with good traffic but low conversions may need better CTAs.
  • A post with solid engagement but poor search rankings may need stronger keyword targeting.
  • Thin content may need expansion with more depth, examples, or visuals.

Step 5: Put Your Audit Into Action

A content audit is only as valuable as the changes it inspires. Using your findings, you can:

  • Refresh blog posts with updated keywords, statistics, and visuals
  • Improve SEO titles and descriptions for stronger click-through rates
  • Add or adjust calls-to-action to drive leads and conversions
  • Create new content to target uncovered keywords or topics

The goal isn’t just to clean up—it’s to build a content strategy that drives long-term SEO growth.


Overwhelmed? We can help!

Our team specializes in performance SEO audits that uncover opportunities and turn insights into results.

Contact Us Today