Content Audit Template

Content Audit Template

What is it?

A content audit template is a tool that helps you organize and analyze existing presentation content. It provides a step-by-step process to evaluate content and identify areas that need improvement. This includes aspects like the structure of the content, clarifying the message, aligning it with objectives, and enhancing its visual appeal.

When undertaking content overhauls or updates, utilizing a spreadsheet allows for easy visibility and understanding of the content landscape. It enables the team to "see" the entirety of the content, which can be challenging in a traditional slide show format. Tracking and documenting changes is easier and any modifications or updates can be accurately recorded, ensuring transparency, accountability, and effective project management.

You can also use it if you’re building a template system for a client. It enables you to gain a deep understanding of their content landscape, identify common elements or patterns that can be incorporated into the template system, and uncover gaps or areas where the templates can be optimized. This ensures that the template system meets the client's needs, makes content creation easier, and improves the overall consistency and effectiveness of their presentation development process.

      When to use it

      1. Comprehensive content overhauls and updates: When you need to make significant changes to your content and want to keep track of those changes in an organized manner.
      2. When you need a bird's-eye view: If you want to see all your content at once, understand its overall structure, and identify any gaps or areas that need improvement.

       

      Remember to

      1. Customize the spreadsheet: You can modify the layout, formatting, and styling of the template to make it more readable and user-friendly according to project scope and preferences.
      2. Ensure that the spreadsheet is easily accessible to all team members involved in the content audit.

      Step-by-step

      1

      Set-up the spreadsheet

      Open a new spreadsheet in your preferred spreadsheet software (e.g., Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel). Create separate tabs or sheets for each section of the content audit, such as "Project Details," "Existing Content and Analysis," "Gap Analysis," "Updated Presentation," and "Summary and Conclusion."

      2

      Tab 1: Project details

      Create sections to capture key project details like presentation title, summary, and objectives. You can use shared columns labeled "Existing," "Analysis," and "Recommended Update" to document your review of these details.

      3

      Tab 2: Existing content and analysis

      Set-up columns that reflect the scope of the presentation: sections, slide titles, content summary, time, resources, notes

      4

      Tab 3: Gap analysis

      Create sections to document any identified gaps or missing content elements that need to be addressed. It doesn't matter if these are columns or rows, just plan it out and be consistent.

      5

      Tab 4: Updated presentation

      Duplicate Tab 2 (Existing content and analysis) and use it to make updates to the presentation content.

      To make it easier to track the changes, you can create a color key to visually distinguish the extent of changes made to different parts of the presentation. For example, you can assign different colors to indicate minor edits, substantial revisions, or entirely new content.

      6

      Tab 5: Summary of changes

      Include sections in this tab to summarize your findings, highlight key takeaways from the content audit, and provide recommended actions based on your analysis.