Boost Your Marketing with an Effective B2B Content Audit
Ready for some hard truth about your B2B content strategy? Just creating 'good' content isn't enough anymore.
You might say, "If I craft compelling articles and infographics, won't my audience naturally engage?"
If only it were that simple...
To make a real impact with your digital assets, you need to be systematic. It's time to move away from the "pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey" approach of content creation and adopt an informed method — one where each piece of content is meticulously planned, produced and promoted.
This is where a thorough B2B Content Audit comes into play.
Let's dig a bit deeper. Performing regular audits isn't just about consistency in your digital assets. Regular audits not only ensure consistency, but also provide cost savings by streamlining resources and giving you an edge over competitors. By conducting regular audits, you can gain an advantage over your rivals while also maximizing the efficiency of your marketing strategies.
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Understanding the B2B Content Audit Process
The Power of Quantitative and Qualitative Criteria in Content Audits
Understanding the B2B Content Audit Process
Ever tried cleaning your room after a year? A mess, right?
A B2B content audit, in essence, is like tidying up that messy room.
But instead of old clothes and forgotten mementos, you're sorting through website content.
Defining a B2B Content Audit
This process involves assessing all digital assets associated with your brand.
Alistapart describes it as an analysis based on accuracy and findability among other SEO parameters.
The Need for Auditing Your Content
An audit lets you gauge what's working for your target audience. It also highlights what isn't quite hitting the mark. So you can fix it or toss it out entirely.
Making Use of Quantitative and Qualitative Criteria in Your Audit
We're talking about factors like engagement levels (quantitative) or branding consistency (qualitative).
Evaluating Quality & Relevance: The First Step Towards High Performing Content
Just think back to when we were discussing that messy room.
You won't keep worn-out items just because they have been around longer.
In fact, newer pieces may serve better. Moz explains how evaluating relevance helps refine this step further.
Dive Deeper into Effective B2B Audits: Creating An Inventory & Utilizing Tools Efficiently
So now we know why audits matter. But where do we start?
Create an inventory first. This means listing down all content pieces you've got.
Take stock of all the content pieces you have and spread them out on the bed for a better view.
How to Handle Unused Content & Make Audits More Efficient?
Are you aware of the insights shared on SiriusDecisions blog? It's a goldmine for professionals like us.
The Power of Quantitative and Qualitative Criteria in Content Audits
Content audits aren't a game of guesswork.
You need the right tools to dig deep into your B2B content's performance.
That’s where quantitative and qualitative criteria come into play.
Evaluating Content Quality and Relevance
Determining the value of your content isn't just a visual inspection. It needs hard data.
Enter: quantitative criteria, such as exposure, engagement, conversion rates - all those juicy numbers Google Analytics throws at you.
Analyzing these metrics lets you see what's working for your target audience...and what isn’t. Is a particular blog post getting organic traffic but failing on social shares? Or are some pieces simply bouncing off users faster than an over-inflated beach ball?
Screaming Frog or any other reliable SEO tool can be a lifesaver here. These audit tools provide critical insights into factors like word count, meta description accuracy or if title tags are up-to-snuff with SEO practices.
This is only half the battle though.
To create truly effective B2B SaaS content that aligns with your marketing efforts and buyer's journey stage – you need to go deeper...
Cue qualitative criteria – our subjective friend who cares less about 'what' happened (hello bounce rate) but rather 'why' it happened.
This means evaluating things like relevance, branding alignment & whether your current content provides value to its readers.
If we consider each piece of audited written work as part of an ongoing conversation between brand and user – does yours keep them hooked? Does it help lead generation by being engaging enough?
It's not easy to provide an answer to those queries. But that’s why qualitative criteria are crucial for a thorough content audit.
Everyday Information Architecture provides an in-depth look at this approach, and it's worth your time.
Simply put, when you blend quantitative and qualitative assessments together, it lets you grasp the complete scope of your content's impact.
Key Takeaway:
Blend both data-driven insights and personal feedback for a holistic view. Analyzing hard metrics is vital, but also remember to delve into subjective aspects like reader satisfaction and relevance. This balanced approach will give you a clearer picture of your content's true value in the B2B landscape.
How to Perform an Effective B2B Content Audit
A successful B2B content audit is like a well-orchestrated symphony. Each instrument plays its part, contributing to the overall harmony.
The Score: Identifying Your Content Inventory
Your first step? Creating your content inventory. It's akin to writing down every instrument in your orchestra. This encompasses all things from blog articles to whitepapers and webinars. If it's content and on your website, it should be cataloged.
The Conductor: Tools for Efficient Auditing
No maestro conducts without a baton; similarly no SEO expert audits without their tools. Screaming Frog or Google Analytics can serve as useful allies during this process. These auditing tools give you insights into metrics such as organic traffic, bounce rate and social shares that help determine the performance of each piece of content.
Tuning Up: Evaluating Performance Metrics
To stay relevant in search engine optimization (SEO), each section of our 'orchestra' must play in tune. How do we ensure this? By evaluating specific data points within our performance metrics.
Analyzing word count might reveal if length impacts engagement rates while studying title tags could highlight any missed keyword opportunities.
Hitting The Right Notes With Your Target Audience
Social Shares:
This measures how often readers share your SaaS content with others via social media platforms - much like music fans sharing songs they love.
Average Time Spent:
Similar to a listener enjoying a full concert, the more time users spend on your content, the better.
The Grand Finale: Making Necessary Adjustments
In an orchestra, sometimes certain instruments need tweaking for that perfect harmony. Similarly, in our audit process we might discover outdated content or blog posts not aligned with SEO practices.
This is where we truly shine.
Key Takeaway:
Notes with your audience. This analysis can help you spot patterns, identify gaps in your content strategy, and find opportunities for improvement. With a keen eye on data-driven insights, you're well-equipped to tune up your B2B content marketing symphony to its finest pitch.
The Impact of Unused B2B Content
Here's a shocking stat: SiriusDecisions estimates that 65% of B2B content ends up unused. It’s like buying a brand-new car, only to leave it gathering dust in the garage. Why?
The answer is simple yet frustrating: Many times, this valuable resource remains unseen or unfindable by salespeople.
In fact, around 80% of marketing assets are ignored due to being unusable or hard to find. That’s efficiency down the drain.
Tackling Unused Content with an Audit
An audit can help fix this issue and maximize your content utilization. Think about it as cleaning out your closet - you rediscover clothes you forgot you had and discard those no longer serving their purpose.
Audit helps us stay relevant on Google by identifying outdated information, performance metrics like bounce rate and social shares while considering our target audience at every journey stage. This data-driven approach ensures we don't just create content; we curate effective pieces designed for lead generation.
Finding Hidden Gems
Remember finding that vintage jacket in your closet clean-up? The same happens when auditing your website's content.
We often unearth high-performing blog posts buried under newer ones or identify saas contents needing slight tweaks to boost organic traffic further. A good old SEO practice here could mean revamping title tags or meta descriptions using apt keywords for better search engine optimization.
Saving Time & Resources
"Why reinvent the wheel when you can polish the existing one?"
Content audit helps identify content pieces already performing well. It makes sense to capitalize on these rather than starting from scratch, right? By doing so, we save valuable time and resources while ensuring our marketing efforts are aligned with what works.
Avoiding Duplication
website to spot duplicate content is crucial. This can help boost your SEO performance and improve visibility online. Ensure that your B2B marketing attempts are not being hindered by duplicated material.
Key Takeaway:
You're not just decluttering, but also optimizing your content. You give new life to overlooked pieces and make sure they align with your current strategy. It's like revamping an old car - you add value where it was previously unseen.
Cost Savings and Efficiency Gains from Content Audits
Audit your content, and you might just strike gold.
Or save a million bucks like Manulife.
The Magic of Efficiency in the Audit Process
An audit is not some drab number-crunching exercise.
Nope, it's an opportunity to fine-tune your marketing funnel. It helps streamline workflows, nixes breakdowns, boosts efficiency.
Finding Gold Mines: The Story of Manulife’s Million-Dollar Savings
Crazy as it sounds; a content audit helped Manulife, yes that financial behemoth save $1 million.
Tackling Unused B2B Content
B2B marketers often grapple with unused assets - pieces meticulously crafted but sadly never used by salespeople or potential customers. These become wasted resources – akin to money flushed down the drain.
The Efficient Way Forward? Regular Content Audits.
If you want cost savings similar to Manulife's, start with regular audits.
Why?
Auditing can help identify outdated content – blogs that are no longer relevant or aligned with current SEO practices.
Auditing can provide valuable insights into performance metrics such as bounce rate and social shares.
Last but certainly not least - auditing ensures all created content serves a specific goal towards lead generation or conversion rates.
In short,
To stay relevant on Google search engine and maintain organic traffic, audits are not just recommended; they're essential.
It's Not Just About Cost Savings
Yes, cost savings are a huge plus of regular content audits. But that’s not all.
Audits also help create quality content tailored to your target audience at each buyer's journey stage.
Maintaining Consistency with Regular Content Audits
Consistency in digital assets is like the glue that holds your brand together. It's not just about having a matching color scheme or similar graphics.
Your content needs to be aligned, too. That’s where regular content audits come into play.
The Role of Regular Content Audits
Imagine your website as a busy train station and your content pieces are the trains. Just as passengers rely on consistent schedules for their journeys, so does your target audience depend on consistency in your B2B SaaS content.
Auditing tools like Google Analytics can help you identify outdated blog posts or irrelevant web pages – much like an announcement at the station informing passengers of any delays or cancellations.
Avoiding Derailment: The Audit Process
To keep everything running smoothly, use metrics such as bounce rate and average time spent on each page during an audit process. They'll give you insights into how well specific types of contents are performing against others - kind of like comparing express trains with local ones.
Fuel Your Marketing Funnel With Quality Content
If high-quality articles are high-speed bullet trains, then low-performing blogs might feel more akin to sluggish freight services — useful but hardly efficient for lead generation efforts. To avoid this scenario remember to check if all forms of written work meet SEO practices including appropriate meta description and title tag lengths; make sure they're optimized for organic search traffic using primary keywords and ensure social shares numbers reflect positively upon them too. Here's a guide I found really helpful when conducting my own B2B content audits.
Patching Up Leaks: Maintaining Organic Traffic
When it comes to organic traffic, the content audit tool is your repair crew. They can help identify and fix leaks in your SEO strategy that may be causing drops in search engine rankings or conversion rates.
The End Result: Consistency Equals Success
Remember those software systems updates? Brand guidelines changes? Or perhaps shifts in company goals?
All of these elements are integral parts of the discussion. Let's dive deeper into each one to fully grasp their significance.
Key Takeaway:
Consistency is the glue of your B2B SaaS content. Regular audits, using tools like Google Analytics, help keep your digital assets aligned and updated. Track metrics such as bounce rate and time spent on each page to gauge performance. Always ensure SEO practices are met for organic traffic growth, while continuously checking social shares reflect well on your brand.
Success Stories from Effective Content Audits
Let's take a look at some inspiring tales of success from those who have undertaken successful content audits.
So let's delve into real-life examples of companies that have seen significant improvements through effective content auditing.
The Tale of Contently: Minor Revisions Lead to Major Savings
Contently is an excellent example.
This B2B SaaS company discovered 22 articles in their content inventory that needed minor revisions during an internal audit. What does this mean? It means they saved time and money by updating existing pieces instead of creating new ones - efficiency at its finest.
The Manulife Story: From Overlooked Assets to $1 Million in Savings
You've heard the saying "time is money", but what about "content is cash"?
Manulife's B2B content audit resulted in savings estimated at over $1 million. They did it by identifying outdated assets and revamping them for current use rather than spending on new ones.
SiriusDecisions' Surprising Findings: The Hidden Cost of Unused Content
A staggering statistic comes from SiriusDecisions', stating that 65% of B2B content ends up unused. That’s like cooking a feast only to throw most of it away – not very efficient or cost-effective, huh? Through regular audits, you can identify such overlooked assets and make sure they’re put to work for your business.
Tendo Communications’ Approach: Streamlining Workflows & Saving Time
Tendo helps B2B SaaS companies fix workflow breakdowns by conducting regular content audits. They identified which pieces of content were working and which weren’t, resulting in more effective marketing efforts.
Audit your existing material regularly. It's like spring cleaning for your website’s content.
It might catch you off guard, discovering unused assets or outdated information. Or even something more unexpected.
Key Takeaway:
Regular check-ups can uncover hidden treasures in your content library. They let you find gaps, make necessary tweaks and save valuable resources. This way, businesses like Contently, Manulife or SiriusDecisions have experienced major savings and efficiency boosts.
FAQs in Relation to B2B Content Audit
What types of content do you currently have on your website?
We host a mix, from blog posts and whitepapers to videos and case studies, all geared towards helping our B2B customers.
How often is the content updated and refreshed?
We regularly update our material every quarter. We're always adding fresh insights to keep pace with market trends.
Are there any gaps in the topics covered by your current content?
Absolutely not. Our comprehensive audit ensures we cover everything that's relevant for our target audience.
Is there a clear call-to-action within each piece of content?
Certainly. Each piece has clear CTAs directing visitors towards desired actions like downloads or contact forms.
Does the existing content align with your overall business goals and objectives?
All our digital assets are aligned perfectly with company-wide strategies aimed at supporting growth targets.
Conclusion
Now you know. A B2B content audit is not just a task, it's an investment in your marketing strategy.
From this read, you've learned how qualitative and quantitative criteria come into play when auditing content. It's about evaluating relevance and accuracy as much as it’s about checking exposure and engagement.
You've also seen the impact of unused assets on your efficiency – they're a hidden cost that can be uncovered with regular audits.
Above all, remember this: An effective audit helps maintain consistency across digital assets while revealing opportunities for savings and improvements. So take the plunge!
No more shooting in the dark; get strategic with your content creation today through comprehensive auditing!
Want to 2x signups and demos? We helped generate $5M+ in client revenue across 22+ b2b tech companies. Book a free traffic analysis now to see where our 3-sprint organic scaling framework could take your revenue.
