When it comes to creating original, meaningful content for your online audience, the arsenal of tools and services at our disposal has grown exponentially over the past years. Whether you are a one-man army blogger or work as a content creator in a company, performing regular audits of your site’s content has become an industry norm.
According to Smart Insights, 76% of marketers rely on organic traffic to measure their content’s success, with 67% claiming that SEO is the most efficient marketing tactic which can bring in new leads and traffic to the website.
In addition, a report published by 99 Firms indicates that content marketing costs up to 41% less than paid search ranking, with 84% of marketing specialists agreeing that it leads to a net positive impact on brand awareness.
However, in order for content to perform well compared to other links and websites in SERP, auditing its performance and sprucing up your SEO from time to time can indeed make a difference.
That being said, let’s take a look at some of the best web tools designed with content auditing in mind, as well as several concrete reasons as to why you should use them going forward.
The Advantages of Performing Content Audits
Before we dive into content audit tools worth implementing into your marketing strategy, let’s discuss the “why” behind the process to better determine its importance. Content auditing represents the process of scanning and analyzing your on-site content for its performance in accordance with current SEO and SERP trends.
Regardless of your content production intensity or marketing budget allocated to online publishing, performing a content audit in scheduled intervals can effectively maximize your content’s performance at any given moment.
Small changes to your keyword selection, hyperlinks, multimedia content, as well as major ones such as future topics to explore can also be more accurately planned by a content audit. Failing to conduct an audit on your website from time to time can lead to severe drops in your SERP ranking and subsequently result in less traffic and engagement. As such, some of the most essential and noteworthy benefits of content auditing include:
- Quick reaction to SEO bottlenecks and underperforming content
- Improved website structuring and content planning
- Spot opportunities and topics for future content production
- Objective analysis of your content’s quality and performance over time
- Higher SERP ranking, brand awareness and industry authority
Content Audit Tools to Check Out
1. Google Search Console
To start things off, it’s worth pointing to Google’s own content audit services given their involvement in global and local SEO trends. Google Search Console is a great entry-level tool for performing a content audit, giving insight into website elements such as load times, broken link detection, as well as your site’s position in SERP. You can quickly modify your content across the website and set custom alerts for potential bottlenecks in the future. Additionally, Google Search Console also provides mobile usability tests which can further improve your content audit’s end-results, making this tool a good everyday choice for both individual and enterprise-level users.
2. My Site Auditor
On the other end of the spectrum, we have My Site Auditor, a professional content audit tool suitable for large websites and agencies which specialize in SEO services.
The advantage of My Site Auditor lies in its plugin integration, allowing you to make it a standard addition to your daily optimization and content publishing efforts.
The tool comes equipped with a plethora of written content functions that allow for keyword targeting and density optimization, both important elements of SERP ranking.
It offers numerous personalization options in the form of audit data analysis filters, full customer servicing support as well as pre-designed audit forms for you to take advantage of.
3. SEOptimer
When it comes to free and instantaneous content audits for your website, you can’t go wrong with SEOptimer. The tool is designed with split-second content analysis and recommendations based on the links you provide it with. SEOptimer can be made a standard tool in your content production and optimization efforts due to its dedicated plugin which also allows for PDF exporting of performed content analysis. This is a simple and straightforward tool with customization options ranging from different UI languages to business-level website monitoring with the aim to improve your content audit activities in the future.
4. Content Insight
Content audit can be performed both site-wide and per page, depending on your website’s scale and requirements.
Content Insight is a platform designed with that mindset, allowing for individual pages to be analyzed for their performance against SEO, including written content, multimedia and hyperlinks respectively. This is a versatile platform which aims to provide user-friendly analysis reports with attached page screenshots and analysis filtering options, improving its UX and functionality in terms of auditing your website. “As a bonus, Content Insight features Google services integration in terms of access to analytical SEO standards at any moment, making the platform valuable regardless of the capacities at which your site currently operates,” says Diana Adjadj, marketer and a contributing writer.
5. Marketing Grader
At first glance, Marketing Grader is not unlike other content audit tools available on the web given its minimalistic landing page – until you move beyond the initial welcome page. Marketing Grader is a platform powered by HubSpot and features a rich assortment of content audit tools capable of transforming your SEO ranking optimization efforts top to bottom. Its functionality extends from page-per-page auditing and optimization up to social media performance, mobile optimization, current lead generation and potential avenues for improvement just to name a few. While it may be overwhelming to beginners in content auditing, Marketing Grader is an enterprise-level tool perfect for large global websites and eCommerce platforms.
7. Yoast SEO 
It’s difficult to talk about SEO and search ranking without pointing to one of the most pivotal content audit tools out there – Yoast SEO. The tool is designed around written content optimization, keyword targeting, metadata, as well as future content planning in relation to your site’s niche. Yoast SEO can be utilized before, during and after content has been created and published, giving ongoing insight into current trends shifts in audience interests and SEO standards. Likewise, Yoast SEO can provide you with social media performance insight and lead to greater audience engagement on all online fronts, making it a great tool for both indie content creators and company representatives alike.
8. Woopra 
Creating a streamlined and user-friendly customer’s journey on your website is essential for both engagement and subsequent conversion of your visitors. Woopra is a content audit tool created with those goals in mind, allowing for real-time monitoring and analytics of important site performance features such as funnels and audience segmentation in accordance with existing content. The advantage of Woopra compared to other content audit tools on our list lies in its automation and the ability for you to set different activities within the platform to perform autonomously. In addition to that, Woopra features full integration with services such as HubSpot and DropBox, further elevating its functionality, making it a great enterprise-level content audit tool to consider.
9. Nibbler 
The functionality offered by Nibbler, a streamlined content audit tool with a minimalist UI, offers more than meets the eye. You can not only review your website and individual pages against current SEO algorithms but also detect potential keywords to integrate into future content production. Given the user-side reliance on catchy titles and subheadings, Nibbler can also advise you on how to optimize your headings and topics to better reflect audience expectations. Nibbler also features rudimentary spelling and proofreading functionality in addition to its SERP analysis tools, making it a great platform to rely on in daily production and site maintenance.
10. Blaze 
If content inventory and ongoing monitoring is something you are looking for, then Blaze is the right tool for your audit needs. Blaze can create a detailed inventory of your current content and ensure that all future production remains focused on your niche audience expectations. What sets Blaze apart is its reliance on customer support features which allow you to get in touch with the team’s representative and receive advice and feedback on your site’s current position on SERP. This differentiates Blaze from other tools which offer automation and algorithm-based content analysis features, making it a good choice for sites with enormous amounts of published content or page counts.
11. Deep Crawl 
As the name might suggest, Deep Crawl is a content audit and inventory tool designed with in-depth research and analysis in mind. Its so-called “crawls” allow for fully customizable content analysis through filters such as site structure research, load time optimization, link analysis, keyword assessment and more. Deep Crawl is a high-grade content audit tool which can best be utilized by content creation teams and SEO departments to fully optimize different websites on the fly. Additionally, Deep Crawl can also provide you with thorough analysis of your competitions’ websites and networking efforts, making it a logical part of enterprise-level teams and businesses.
12. Woo Rank 
Websites whose functionality extends from blogging and content production into sales and customer outreach tend to require more competitive SEO optimization – making WooRank an ideal tool to consider. Woo Rank is a content audit platform with an emphasis on actionable and practical advice concerning your site’s performance. The feature list of Woo Rank extends from standard content auditing and keyword optimization to SEO monitoring and rudimentary sales tools in the platform itself. WooRank can be used both as a dedicated online platform or a plugin present on your website depending on your site’s scale and requirements, making it a straightforward and flexible tool to be used by users of all calibers.
13. SEO Report Card 
Sometimes you might not have enough time to dedicate to thorough content auditing and simply want to check how your site performs in SERP momentarily. SEO Report Card is a service designed to do just that by performing a quick and easy audit of your site compared to your industry’s standards. The platform is capable of an accurate analysis of your site’s link building efficiency, ranking analysis, trust metrics as well as accessibility and indexing, making it a great choice for user-friendly content auditing. While not as in-depth as other tools on our list, SEO Report Card is a good entry-level choice for bloggers, eCommerce owners and those even slightly curious about their site’s performance.
14. Web CEO 
If you are looking for an all-in-one content auditing tool with an extensive optimization arsenal, Web CEO should become a top contender. The platform is created with complete website monitoring, optimization and ongoing auditing in mind, featuring tools dedicated to backlinks, link building, social media analysis and competitor research to name a few. Web CEO can facilitate multiple website monitoring, report card generation in multiple formats and SEO alerts in accordance with your needs. Given its complexity and feature-rich nature, Web CEO is a great content audit collaboration tool for SEO teams and marketing departments to take advantage of.
15. Screaming Frog 
Finally, using a dedicated desktop software tool for content auditing might be a good choice for you depending on the scale at which your site operates. Screaming Frog is a tool created for just those purposes, allowing for extensive auditing and SEO optimization to take place with over 30 filters and search options to choose from. The tool allows you to find broken links, discover duplicate content online, analyze page metadata and crawl through your site in search of underperforming pages and content among other things. As with some of the other tools on our list, Screaming Frog may be overkill for bloggers and baseline level content auditing – however, its functionality makes it a must for business-grade websites with high traffic and engagement generation goals.
An Ongoing Effort
The content audit and inventory tools we’ve discussed only begin to scratch the surface of what goes into website optimization and ongoing site monitoring. Thus, it’s important for you to choose the right platform for your site and stick with it long-term to allow for better familiarity with its functions and streamlined day-to-day use. Don’t neglect content auditing and web content inventory standards – while your content may perform well today, your competition is bound to take action to ensure that their links rank better than others in the industry. This makes ongoing optimization and monitoring a more than a welcome addition, which can, in turn, result in far better performance, brand recognition and revenue generation for your website going forward.
About the Author
Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. Now she works as a freelance writer at TopEssayWriting and ClassyEssay
