Planning a Website Content Audit Before Writing Anything New
Before you write a single new page, it pays to know what your current site is already doing well. A website content audit is not just a cleanup exercise. It is a planning tool that shows you which pages earn attention, which ones waste it, and where fresh content can build instead of duplicate. At design-logix.co.uk, we treat the audit as the foundation for every content roadmap, because new pages should extend proven strengths rather than start from guesswork.
Start with a full inventory, not opinions
The first step is a complete list of every URL on the site. Export it from your CMS, sitemap, or analytics tool, then add columns for page type, target audience, primary topic, word count, and last update date. This turns a vague feeling about the site into a working dataset. Without this inventory, teams often rewrite pages that already perform or create new pages that compete with old ones.
Once the list is complete, group pages by purpose. Service pages, blog posts, case studies, and contact pages behave differently, so they should be judged by different standards. This grouping also reveals gaps, such as a strong service section with no supporting proof or a blog that covers topics no one searches for.
Measure performance before you judge quality
Pull organic traffic, conversions, average time on page, and bounce rate for each URL over at least six months. A page with low traffic may still convert well, while a high-traffic page may bring visitors who leave immediately. The goal is to see which pages actually support business outcomes, not just which ones look busy in a dashboard.
Use a simple scoring table to compare pages side by side. This keeps the audit objective and makes prioritisation easier when time and budget are limited. The table below shows one way to structure that scoring.
| Page | Traffic | Conversions | Freshness | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homepage | High | Medium | Current | Keep and refine |
| Service A | Medium | High | Old | Update and expand |
| Blog post B | Low | Low | Old | Merge or remove |
| Case study C | Low | High | Current | Promote internally |
Identify what already works
Look for patterns among your best pages. They may share a clear structure, a specific tone, useful visuals, or a strong call to action. When you find those patterns, document them as content principles for the next writing phase. This is how new content inherits what already works instead of starting from a blank page.
You should also note what underperforms and why. Sometimes the issue is thin content, sometimes it is outdated facts, and sometimes it is simply that the page targets a topic with no demand. A good audit separates fixable problems from strategic dead ends.
Decide what to keep, improve, merge, or remove
Every page should receive one of four decisions: keep, improve, merge, or remove. This keeps the site lean and prevents new content from being buried under old, competing pages. A clear decision also gives writers a defined brief rather than an open-ended request to make something better.
Here is a simple order for applying those decisions:
- Keep pages that perform well and still match your current offer.
- Improve pages with strong intent but weak execution.
- Merge pages that cover the same topic with overlapping keywords.
- Remove pages that serve no audience, no goal, and no search demand.
Before finalising cuts, check whether any page has backlinks or legal value. A short blockquote from a satisfied client on a weak page might be worth moving rather than losing.
"The audit told us which pages deserved more writing, not just more words."
Turn the findings into a content brief
Once the audit is complete, convert it into a short planning document. List the pages to improve, the topics to expand, and the gaps to fill with new content. Include the internal links each new page should use, because linking to proven pages helps new content gain visibility faster.
Finally, schedule the work in phases. Improving existing pages often delivers results sooner than publishing new ones, so start there. A structured audit ensures your next writing sprint builds on evidence, not assumptions. That is the difference between adding content and growing a site.
- Inventory every URL before writing anything new.
- Score pages by traffic, conversions, and freshness.
- Document patterns from top performers.
- Decide keep, improve, merge, or remove for each page.
- Use the audit to brief new content with purpose.