Content Audit and Refresh Plan

Audit existing content and create a focused refresh plan based on value, relevance, and effort.
Marketing - Content Marketing - Content Audit and Refresh Plan

Who it's for

Content marketers, SEO teams, Marketing managers, Founders, Website managers

Get Ready

Prepare the Required Inputs listed in the Workflow Prompt. Use as much detail as necessary.

How to use this prompt

1. Copy the Workflow Prompt.
2. Paste it into your AI tool.
3. Replace the "Required Inputs"
4. Run the prompt.

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Workflow Prompt

				
					You are a content audit and refresh planner. Your task is to evaluate existing content and create a practical refresh plan that improves usefulness, relevance, and business value.

### Required Input
- Content List: [Paste URLs, titles, or a table of existing content, e.g. 20 blog posts with title, URL, date, and topic.]
- Business Goal: [What the refresh should support, e.g. lead generation, organic traffic, product education, sales enablement.]
- Target Audience: [Who the content is for, e.g. “HR leaders at mid-sized companies.”]
- Current Performance Data: [Include available data, e.g. traffic, conversions, rankings, engagement, or “no data available.”]
- Priority Topics or Offers: [Topics, products, services, or campaigns the content should support.]
- Brand or Messaging Updates: [Any new positioning, tone, claims, features, or outdated points to reflect.]
- Resource Constraints: [Team capacity, timeline, writing support, design support, technical limits.]
- Refresh Scope: [Light refresh, full rewrite, consolidation, republishing, pruning, or unsure.]

### Input Validation
Review all required inputs before starting. If the content list is incomplete, the goal is vague, performance data is missing without explanation, or priorities are unclear, ask focused clarification questions. If performance data is unavailable, proceed only after confirming that the audit should use qualitative judgement.

### Instructions
1. Organise the content into logical groups by topic, funnel stage, audience need, or content type. Do not treat every item as equal.
2. Assess each content item using practical criteria: relevance to the target audience, alignment with business goal, freshness, clarity, depth, search or discovery potential, conversion opportunity, and effort required.
3. Identify which items should be refreshed, consolidated, expanded, repurposed, left unchanged, redirected, or removed. Be decisive and explain the reasoning in plain language.
4. For refresh candidates, specify the exact improvements needed. Consider headline updates, clearer structure, stronger examples, better CTAs, updated facts, added FAQs, improved internal links, stronger opening sections, clearer audience fit, and removal of outdated material.
5. Prioritise the plan using impact versus effort. Highlight quick wins, strategic updates, and lower-priority items.
6. Recommend how each refreshed asset should support the business goal, including suitable CTA placement, related offers, internal links, or sales enablement use.
7. Create a realistic execution roadmap that respects the resource constraints. Avoid assuming a large team or specialist tools.
8. Keep recommendations specific. Do not say “improve SEO” without explaining what should be improved and where.

### Output
Provide the final answer in this structure:

1. Audit Summary
- Total items reviewed:
- Main opportunity:
- Main risk:
- Recommended refresh approach:

2. Content Grouping
Group the content by theme, audience need, or funnel stage.

3. Content Audit Table
Create a table with columns: Content Item, Current Issue, Recommended Action, Priority, Effort, Reason.

4. Refresh Recommendations
For each priority item, include:
- What to change:
- What to add:
- What to remove or update:
- Suggested CTA:
- Internal link opportunities:

5. Priority Roadmap
Separate into: Quick Wins, Strategic Refreshes, Consolidation or Pruning, Leave As Is.

6. 30-Day Execution Plan
Create a practical weekly plan.

7. Measurement Plan
List simple success signals to track after the refresh.
				
			

Optional advanced instructions

				
					Prioritise the refresh plan for maximum impact with the lowest realistic production effort.
				
			

Example output

Audit Summary

Total items reviewed: 8 content assets.

Main opportunity: Refresh high-intent HR operations content to support demo requests for a fictional employee onboarding platform called Onboardly.

Main risk: Several posts attract relevant readers but have outdated examples, weak CTAs, and no clear connection to the product.

Recommended refresh approach: Prioritise 3 quick wins, fully refresh 2 strategic posts, consolidate 2 overlapping posts, and leave 1 current asset unchanged.

Content Grouping

  • Problem awareness: Why New Hires Drop Off Before Day 30, Onboarding Mistakes Growing Teams Make.
  • Solution education: Employee Onboarding Checklist, How to Automate HR Admin Tasks, Manager Onboarding Guide.
  • Sales enablement: HR Software Comparison Guide, Onboarding ROI Calculator Article.
  • Low-priority content: Company Culture Trends 2022.

Content Audit Table

Content Item Current Issue Recommended Action Priority Effort Reason
Employee Onboarding Checklist High traffic but generic CTA Refresh and add downloadable checklist CTA High Low Strong fit for lead generation
Why New Hires Drop Off Before Day 30 Good topic but weak structure Rewrite opening and add examples High Medium Matches urgent audience pain
HR Software Comparison Guide Outdated competitor references Full update and republish High High Supports bottom-funnel decisions
How to Automate HR Admin Tasks Useful but lacks product connection Light refresh with internal links Medium Low Good education asset
Manager Onboarding Guide Thin examples Expand with manager checklist Medium Medium Supports product education
Onboarding Mistakes Growing Teams Make Overlaps with drop-off article Consolidate Medium Medium Prevents duplication
Onboarding ROI Calculator Article Strong offer but buried CTA Improve CTA placement High Low Direct lead capture opportunity
Company Culture Trends 2022 Outdated and low relevance Prune or redirect Low Low No longer supports priority offer

Refresh Recommendations

Employee Onboarding Checklist

  • What to change: Update headline to The Practical Employee Onboarding Checklist for Growing Teams.
  • What to add: Role-based checklist sections for HR, managers, and IT.
  • What to remove or update: Remove generic advice without action steps.
  • Suggested CTA: Download the editable onboarding checklist.
  • Internal link opportunities: Link to onboarding automation article and demo page.

HR Software Comparison Guide

  • What to change: Replace outdated vendor notes with current comparison criteria.
  • What to add: Buyer checklist, pricing evaluation questions, and implementation timeline section.
  • What to remove or update: Remove unsupported claims about competitors.
  • Suggested CTA: Book a 20-minute onboarding software walkthrough.
  • Internal link opportunities: Link to ROI calculator and product feature pages.

Onboarding ROI Calculator Article

  • What to change: Move calculator CTA above the first third of the article.
  • What to add: Example calculation for a 75-person company.
  • What to remove or update: Remove vague productivity claims.
  • Suggested CTA: Calculate your onboarding savings.
  • Internal link opportunities: Link to demo page and checklist article.

Priority Roadmap

  • Quick Wins: Employee Onboarding Checklist, Onboarding ROI Calculator Article, How to Automate HR Admin Tasks.
  • Strategic Refreshes: HR Software Comparison Guide, Why New Hires Drop Off Before Day 30.
  • Consolidation or Pruning: Merge Onboarding Mistakes Growing Teams Make into the drop-off article. Redirect Company Culture Trends 2022 if traffic exists.
  • Leave As Is: Keep current internal linking asset if it remains accurate.

30-Day Execution Plan

  • Week 1: Update quick-win CTAs, internal links, and titles.
  • Week 2: Rewrite the onboarding drop-off article and merge overlapping content.
  • Week 3: Refresh the HR software comparison guide.
  • Week 4: Republish priority posts, add links from newsletters, and review early performance.

Measurement Plan

  • Organic clicks to refreshed pages
  • CTA click-through rate
  • Checklist downloads
  • Demo requests assisted by refreshed content
  • Average engagement time
  • Internal link clicks to product pages

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