Website Content Audit Template: Free Working Files

The available content audit template is a blank prioritisation worksheet that you can adapt for page-level decisions. AuditWeb does not currently provide a prebuilt Google Sheets or Excel workbook with formulas or sample rows.

Build the URL inventory in your preferred spreadsheet and use the downloadable worksheet for findings that need a documented decision. This method keeps raw platform data separate from editorial judgement.

What the Template Includes

The worksheet records the issue, affected scope, evidence, expected impact, confidence, effort, dependencies, change risk, owner and success check. Duplicate the finding block for each recommendation.

Pair it with the blank implementation tracker after a recommendation is accepted. The tracker distinguishes a released change from a verified result and provides a place for production evidence.

Column Descriptions

Create one inventory row per canonical content URL. Use these columns as a practical starting point:

• Identity: canonical URL, title, content type, topic, owner and publication or review date.
• Search evidence: Search Console clicks, impressions, CTR and average position for a recorded date range and search type.
• On-site evidence: analytics landing-page metrics and conversions using the site's own event definitions.
• Authority evidence: referring domains, important links and the provider's export date.
• Editorial review: intended task, accuracy, source quality, overlap, maintenance need and proposed action.
• Delivery: owner, priority rationale, dependency, acceptance criteria and retest date.

Google explains that Search Console is the source for Google Search performance while analytics describes behaviour on the site. The totals do not necessarily match because the systems measure different events; use the Google comparison guidance when joining the data.

Scoring System

Use scoring only when the bands are calibrated to the site's distribution and business goals. Universal cut-offs for traffic, engagement, word count, links or average position can misclassify valuable pages.

A transparent decision can be more useful than a composite number. Record impact as high, medium or low with a reason; confidence as confirmed, probable or untested; and effort as an estimate with dependencies. Keep measured outcomes separate from forecasts.

How to Fill It In

1. Inventory: combine crawl, sitemap, analytics and CMS URLs and resolve variants to the intended canonical URL.
2. Join evidence: import comparable Search Console and analytics periods and document filters or missing data.
3. Review pages: assess the actual reader task, accuracy, overlap, conversion role and links that would be lost.
4. Choose an action: keep, update, consolidate, redirect, remove or investigate. Record a destination before any consolidation or redirect.
5. Prioritise: use the worksheet to explain impact, confidence, effort, risk and the observable success check.
6. Track: move accepted work into the implementation tracker and verify released changes in production.

Customisation Tips

Add business-specific fields such as product line, legal review status, market, language or qualified-lead contribution when they affect the decision. Avoid collecting metrics that nobody will use.

Store personal data and private performance exports outside a public repository. Give collaborators only the access needed for the agreed audit period.

Download

Download the blank prioritisation worksheet and download the blank implementation tracker. Both files are Markdown and can be copied into a spreadsheet, document or ticketing system.

Use the content audit process to build the inventory and the content audit service page if you need a scoped review completed for you.