Key takeaways
- List every indexable URL, then add clicks, impressions, links and conversions.
- Give each page one decision: keep, improve, merge or remove.
- Merge pages that compete for the same searches and redirect the rest.
- Plan by impact: pages close to page one first.
Content audits are one of the deliverables we produce under your brand in white label SEO. They pair well with a technical SEO audit: one fixes how pages work, the other what they say.
What is a content audit?
A content audit is a review of every page on a site, combining what the page says with how it performs, to decide what to keep, improve, merge or remove. Its goal is a site where each page has a clear purpose and a clear search it serves, without overlaps or thin pages that dilute quality.
The data a content audit needs
| Data | Source |
|---|---|
| Every indexable URL | A site crawl and the sitemap |
| Indexing status | Search Console Page indexing report |
| Clicks, impressions, queries per page | Search Console Performance report |
| Conversions per page | The client's analytics |
| Links pointing to each page | Search Console Links report or an SEO suite |
The Page indexing report also shows pages Google crawled but chose not to index, which are often the first candidates to improve or remove.
How do you decide what to do with each page?
Keep pages that perform and are up to date. Improve pages with impressions but few clicks, or pages ranking just off page one. Merge pages that cover the same topic and compete for the same searches. Remove pages with no traffic, no links and no purpose. Every decision should be written next to the URL with a reason.
| Decision | Typical signs | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Traffic, conversions, accurate | Light refresh when needed |
| Improve | Impressions, positions 5 to 20, outdated | Rewrite, expand, retitle |
| Merge | Two pages, same intent | Combine, 301 the weaker URL |
| Remove | No traffic, links or purpose | 404 or 410, or redirect if linked |
When merging, use permanent redirects; Google treats them as a strong signal that the target should be canonical, as its page on redirects and Google Search explains.
How do you judge content quality, not just numbers?
Read the page as the client's customer would. Does it answer the question fully, show real experience, give specifics and make the next step obvious? Google's helpful content questions are a good checklist. Numbers tell you where to look; reading tells you what is wrong and how to fix it.
Use Google's helpful, people-first content questions, and brief rewrites with our E-E-A-T content brief template.
How do you turn the audit into a plan?
Sort the decisions by impact and effort. Start with pages close to page one and merges that remove overlap, because they usually move fastest. Schedule removals and redirects in one batch. Share a short summary with the client: pages per decision, the first month of work and which results to watch.
Track results per page in Search Console's Performance report. Content gaps against competitors come from a competitor analysis. Need audits delivered in your template? Book a call.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a site have a content audit?
Once a year for most sites, more often for large or fast-growing ones.
Is deleting pages risky?
Not for pages with no traffic, links or purpose. Redirect any page that has links.
Should the client approve removals?
Yes. Some pages matter for reasons the data does not show.
Does a content audit help AI search visibility?
Clear, non-overlapping pages are easier for any system to understand and quote.
What tool is best for a content audit?
A crawler, Search Console and a spreadsheet are enough for most sites.
About the author
Juan José Giraldo is a senior SEO specialist with 5+ years of experience. He works on technical and local SEO for 600+ US car dealerships and supervises the SEO of 18 US e-commerce stores. He runs White Label SEO LATAM from Medellín, Colombia, and delivers white label SEO for agencies in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Read more · LinkedIn.