Most websites are bloated with "zombie pages"—content that gets no traffic, no links, and drives no sales. A content audit is the process of pruning this dead weight to help your healthy content rank higher.

The 4 Outcomes of an Audit

For every URL on your site, you must make one of four decisions:

  1. Keep: The page has traffic, links, and conversions. Do nothing.
  2. Update: The page has impressions but low clicks. It needs a refresh (better title, fresher data).
  3. Merge: You have two articles on the same topic ("Cannibalization"). Combine them into one "Power Page" and 301 redirect the weaker one.
  4. Delete: The page has zero value. Return a 410 (Gone) or 301 redirect it to a category page.

The Manual Audit Process

To do this manually, you will need to export data from Google Search Console (for traffic) and your backlink checker (for authority). If a page has high authority backlinks, never delete it without a redirect, or you will lose site authority. (See: Understanding Link Value).

Automating the Audit

Manual spreadsheets are prone to error. Zyro's Optimization Hub automatically categorizes your pages by "Content Decay" and "Value Opportunity," telling you exactly which pages to prune and which to polish.

Next Step: Run an instant Content Audit with Zyro.