Content audit template
Every page scored keep, refresh, consolidate, or prune — with the evidence behind each verdict.
- Google Search Console
- Sanity / CMS
- Google Sheets
- Linear
Audit all 312 blog URLs. Verdict per page, and tell me what to prune.
- Built inventory of 312 URLsAttached 16 months of impressions, clicks, and position data
- Detected overlapping intent23 pages compete with a stronger page on the same query
- Scored currency and information gain41 pages carry outdated claims; 18 add nothing unique
- Assigned verdictsKeep 188, refresh 78, consolidate 28, prune 18
Only 18 pages are true prune candidates — all zero-impression, no clear target query. The bigger opportunity is the 78 refreshes holding 34,000 monthly impressions between them. Twenty-eight consolidations have named merge targets and a redirect map.
A content audit template is only useful if it ends in a decision per URL. This one inventories the library, scores each page on traffic, intent match, and quality signals, and returns one of four verdicts — keep, refresh, consolidate, or prune — with the reason attached.
What is a content audit template?
A structured review of everything you have published, scored against what it earns and whether it still matches intent. Where a content inventory just lists pages, an audit assigns each one a verdict and the action that follows.
Inventory and score the library
- Build a full page inventory with performance attached
- Detect duplicate and overlapping intent across pages
- Score currency: outdated claims, stale dates, dead references
- Flag pages with no identifiable target query
Assign a verdict per URL
- Keep, refresh, consolidate, or prune with a stated reason
- Name the merge target for consolidation candidates
- Recommend redirect targets for pruned URLs
Turn verdicts into work
- Rank refreshes by impressions at stake
- Batch consolidations that share a merge target
- Note the internal links that need updating after each change
How does the audit identify thin content?
Not by word count. It looks for pages with no unique information gain, no distinct target query, negligible impressions after a fair indexing window, and heavy overlap with a better page on your own site. Short and specific is fine; long and derivative is not.
How does a content audit decide prune or refresh?
Refresh when the page targets a query you want and simply lost currency or depth. Prune or redirect when the query has no business value, when a stronger page on your site already serves it, or when the page exists only because someone once needed a blog post.
Can you export the content audit as a spreadsheet?
Yes — URL, target query, impressions, clicks, position, verdict, reason, and next action come out as columns you can paste into Sheets. The scoring and the verdicts arrive filled in rather than as a template to complete.
How the content audit template works across your stack
The agent reads your CMS or sitemap for the inventory and Search Console for impressions, clicks, and position history, then compares pages against each other to find overlap. Verdicts export to Sheets or Linear, and pruned URLs come with redirect targets so the cleanup does not strand internal links.
- Google Search Console
- Sanity / CMS
- Google Sheets
- Linear
Who uses this content audit template
- Content leads with large libraries
- Find the fifty pages dragging on quality signals without reading all four hundred.
- SEO consultants
- Justify pruning recommendations with per-URL evidence clients can check.
- Teams after a migration
- Spot the orphaned and duplicated pages a migration always leaves behind.
How to run this content audit template in Metaflow
Point the agent at the library
A sitemap, a CMS connection, or a URL list — plus Search Console for performance.
Set the decision thresholds
Define what counts as negligible traffic and how old is too old for your category.
Review verdicts by group
Pages arrive grouped by verdict with reasons, so you approve batches rather than URLs.
Execute and update internal links
Apply refreshes, merges, and redirects, then re-point the internal links the audit flagged.
What you provide
- Sitemap, CMS connection, or URL list
- Search Console access
- Traffic and recency thresholds
What you get back
- Per-URL verdict with reason
- Refresh queue ranked by impressions at stake
- Consolidation pairs and redirect map
- Internal links needing updates
Why use this content audit template?
Ends in one of four verdicts per URL, never a score with no action
Thin content is judged on information gain, not word count
Consolidations arrive with a named merge target
Flags the internal links that break when you prune
Content audit template FAQs
How do you create a content audit?
Inventory every published URL, attach performance and intent data, compare pages against each other for overlap, then assign each one a verdict with a reason. The inventory is the easy part; the discipline is forcing a decision on every row.
What tools do you need for a content audit?
A crawl or CMS export for the inventory and Search Console for performance. The judgment layer — deciding refresh versus prune — is where this template replaces the manual pass.
Does pruning content help SEO?
Removing genuinely low-value pages can help by concentrating crawl attention and internal authority on pages that earn. It is not a growth tactic on its own, and pruning pages that hold impressions is a self-inflicted loss — which is why every verdict here cites the data behind it.
How often should you audit content?
Annually for the full library, quarterly for the pages that drive most of your traffic. High-velocity publishers benefit from a rolling audit where a slice gets reviewed each month.
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Key takeaways
- Every row needs a verdict — audits without decisions change nothing
- Judge thin content by information gain, not length
- Fix internal links after pruning or you trade one problem for another