Content Inventory, Audit, & Management

Last updated: 1/5/2026 (Updates (Google Sheet))

This content inventory template can get you started. It is set up to document many aspects of your website, they help evaluate your content for the audit.

Tabs

This Google Sheet consists of 8 tabs: Content, Start Here, Export URL, GA4 Data, Documents, Redirects, Updates, and Formulas. Most of the work on the content audit will be in the Content tab.

• Content and Posts: The tab will contain all the webpages on your website (inventory).
• Start Here: This tab helps to set up the Content tab with the title, website URL, Sample Content Inventory link, various (Data Validation) lists used on the Content tab, a list of the Content tab’s sections, an explanation of the Index used on the Content tab, and resources for types of web content and target audience.
• Export URL: This tab is set up to use for the URLs on the website. It can include data from the Export URL plugin, but other tools can be used to gather all the URLs. The information in this tab populates sections of the Content and Posts tab. Updating the information in this tab will update on the content tab.
• GA4 Data: This tab is set up for the Google Analytics data. The information in this tab populates sections of the Content and Posts tab. Updating the information in this tab will update on the content tab.
• Documents: This tab about documents can be used an inventory for each document on the website and include audit information needed to make a decision about it.
• Redirects: A tab to catalog any redirects needed on the website. It is set up for export as a CSV file to upload to the Redirect plugin.
• Updates: This tab will document any updates made to the template.
• Formulas: This tab documents the formulas used throughout the sheet, mostly on the Content and Posts tabs.

Content and Posts Tab

• Inventory
  • Page Details (1, 2, and 3)
  • Analytics
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Accessibility Check
  • Content Check
• Audit
  • Content Assessment
  • Documents, Video, & Audio
  • Priority
  • Decisions
• Management
  • Responsible Parties
  • Maintenance

Video for Introduction to Content Inventory, Audit & Accessibility Deadline Trainig

The Content Inventory used in this section is the Page Details section of the Content and Posts tab, columns A-K and the URLs tab, columns A-H.

Export URLs

Tools

• Export URLs (WordPress plugin)
  Submit a general help web support ticket if you need the Export URLs plugin added to your website.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider (Installation)

Export These Files

Suggestion: Export three different Post Type files.

• All Types with all Export fields and Post Status you choose
• Pages with only Export fields Title and URL and the same Post Status as All Types
• Posts with only Export fields Title, URL, and Publish Date and the same Post Status as All Types (if applicable)

Steps for the Exported URLs Plugin

1. Export the URLs from your website as a CSV file.
   For All Types CSV file, the Content Inventory URLs tab has columns for URL, Title, Categories, Tags, Author, Published Date, Modified Date, Status. These options are available in the Export URL plugin. At least select Title and URL options.
2. Remove the website URL from the list of URLs for all CSV files.
   Search and Replace is a quick way to remove the website URL. This is the one you entered into the Start Here tab, column B, row 3.
   Notice: It doesn’t have the trailing forward slash.
   Example:
   Find: https://web.wsu.edu
   Replace with: [left blank]
3. Copy the All Types CSV file results into the appropriate column in the URLs tab on the Content Inventory.
   Important: From the All Types CSV file, the Title and URL columns must switch places. It will be easier to move columns around in the export file. Match the columns with the appropriate row 1 titles on the URLs tab. Switching columns around in the URLs tab will change the results on the Content and Posts tabs.

Steps for Screaming Frog

The free version of Screaming Frog will index 500 web pages. Review the instructions to get the best results from this tool. This tool will provide the URLs and Page Title. In the Content Inventory, URLs tab columns C-H will need to be manually entered if you decide to use them.

Reorganize URLs

This section used the Pages and Posts CSV file.

1. Reorganize the URLs.
   • Page Type file: Move the pages around to match the menu.
     Option: Move orphan pages, pages not in the menu, to the bottom of the list. Leave these pages for the audit to figure out where they belong within the website and within the menu.
   • Post Type file: If the posts are organized by publish date, ensure the list is ordered appropriately.
2. Add the sorted URLs to the appropriate tab.
   • Page Type file: Content tab, column B, Row 3. The first URL in the list should be your homepage.
   • Post Type file: Add the post URLs, to Posts tab, column B, Row 3.
3. Automatically, the information from the URL tab will populate columns D-J of the Content and Posts tab.
   • Blog: Since blogs tend to be organized by publish date, make sure the list is ordered appropriately.

Page Details Sections In the Content and Posts Tabs

The most important information in the Page Details is the Link (URL) and title from columns B and D. All the other information can help with auditing the content.

Page Details (Section 1) and Page IDs

Page ID in column A will help organize the website. See the Start Here tab of the content inventory, Rows 30-41 for more details. These numbers can help you order the (All) Pages on your website if the URL matches its location within the website. This will only work if the URL matches the structure of the website.

Caution: If pages are not organized with child and grandchildren pages, then this step will not work when updating the Order. However, this allows you to restructure the Pages and URLs of your website. Do this with caution and utilize Redirects.

Further reading: Moz: Why do web addresses matter for SEO? and SEO best practices for human readable URLs

Page Details (Section 2)

Section 2 will be populated from the URLs tab and all that you have included. Information in the Last Modified column F can help prioritize the review and remediation of the web page. There is conditional formatting to highlight web pages modified (edited) over a year ago. This highlight is dynamic and uses the current date for the calculation.

Page Details (Section 3)

Page Details Section 3, columns D to K, provides information about the web page to help understand its purpose and if it is meeting the intended audience’s needs. Information in Section 3 can help you prioritize the review and remediation of the web page.

Columns M to O are dropdown lists from the Start Here tab, column E to F. Articles about Target Audience and Content tiles can be found in the Start Here tab, rows 25 to 28. This is optional but can help during the audit.

Future Proofing

At a future date, when the content inventory needs to be updated with newly published web pages and edits, you can use the Export URLs plugin to get the updated information with 3 file types.

• All Types with all Export fields and Post Status you choose. Same as before.
• Pages with only Export fields, Title and URL and the same Post Status as All Types.
  Use the Show Filter Options to show Date Range: Select the Starting date as the Date in the Start Here tab, column B, Row 4, and the ending date as the current date. Follow the same steps as before. However, you will need to copy the row above or below to the new row to get all the formulas and conditional formatting.
• Posts with only Export fields Title, URL, and Publish Date and the same Post Status as All Types (if applicable).
  Use the Show Filter Options to show Date Range: Select the Starting date as the Date in the Start Here tab, column B, Row 4, and the ending date as the current date. Follow the same steps as before. However, you will need to copy the row above or below to the new row to get all the formulas and conditional formatting.

Video for Page Details and Export URLs Training

The Content Inventory used in this section is the Analytics section of the Content and Posts tab, columns T-X and the Analytics tab, columns A-H.

Access to Google Analytics is necessary for this section.

Google Analytics

1. Navigate to Pages and Screens in your Google Analytics account.
   From the Reports tab on the Main Page navigation, select Business objectives or Life cycle. Then select the Understand web and/or app traffic or Engagement dropdown menu (respectively). Finally, select Pages and screens. The first column of the analytics table is labeled Page path and screen class.
2. Select the date range for the data.
   From the Date range section in the upper right of the webpage, select the dropdown icon. Select the start date and end date, or use the calendar preset options.
   Recommendation: Use a year timeframe to view to get a full scope of traffic on your website.
3. Export the data by selecting the share icon from the toolbar below the date range. Export the data, either as a CSV file or Google Sheets. 

Content Inventory

4. Add the GA data to the Analytics tab.
   Select all but the data table headers to copy and paste into the Analytics tab.
   The columns are set with the standard columns from Google Analytics. If you’ve added columns or rearranged columns, you will need to move columns around to match what is in the Analytics tab.
5. The Analytics section, columns T-X, in the Content and Posts tab, will populate with the data from the Analytics tab. 
6. Update the Time Period cells in the Content and Posts tabs, columns U-W, row 1.
7. Conditional Formatting: To see the conditional formatting, highlight columns T-X. Then select Format from the menu bar, and Conditional Formatting from the dropdown menu. This will display the conditional formatting for those columns.
   
   The Views column, column T, uses formatting to highlight in green pages that receive a pageview greater than 365, a rough estimate of approximately one view per day. Highlighted in red is a number less than 52, or roughly one view per week.
   Things to consider: You’ll be considering these and other questions during the auditing process.
   Does the page that receives a view a week, expected or warranted? Is the web page that receives a view a day, expected or warranted? Is the page easy or difficult to find in the navigation?
   
   The Average engagement time per active user column, column W, is formatted to highlight in green pages where the average view is more than a minute. Highlighted in red where the average view is more than 10 seconds. Highlighted in orange where the average view is between 10 to 30 seconds.
   Things to consider: You’ll be considering these and other questions during the auditing process.
   Less than 10 seconds: Is the web page with less than 10 seconds of view time providing the needed and expected information?
   Between 10 and 30 seconds: Should these pages have a longer view time? Is the page organized in such a way that it is difficult to find information? Does the page title and heading structure easy to understand the topic of the page?
   More than a minute: Is the web page with view time of more than a minute expected based on the page’s information?
8. More Formulas: Use the formulas for column T or W to help create other conditional formatting for the other columns. 

Additional Resources

• Google Analytics: [GA4] Engagement overview report
• Search Engine Optimization: Where to Start Series: Part 2: Assessing Your Website’s Health: Google Analytics
• How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages? “first 10 seconds“

Video for Analytics Training

The Content Inventory used in this section is the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) section of the Content and Posts tab, columns Z to AE.

The information in this section is for search engine and social media posts.

WSUWP Social Media Tools

Is the WSUWP Social Media Tools plugin activated on your WordPress website?

This plugin gives you the search and social share panel on your webpages. Between the Excerpt and Feature image in the Page Panel or the Post title, Post snippet and image in the Search and Social Share, these fields are for search engines and social media platforms.

Title

The title is in column Z populates with the Page Title from Column D, the Website Name from the Start Here tab, cell B2, and the University name in the Formula tab cell D4.

This formula matches the Title tag created in our WordPress platform.

Title Count

This is the character count for the Title. The conditional formatting highlights when the title count that is less than 75 characters (green) and over 75 characters (red).

Things to consider: You’ll be considering these and other questions during the auditing process. Is the title concise and informative? Does it represent the content on the web page?

Excerpt

There isn’t an easy way to export this information. An easy way to get the excepts for your pages and posts is with the News List block. If you want images too, use the Card Group as a Feed for your pages and posts. Then copy the excerpt over to the Excerpt column, Column AB.

See Sample Page for Content Inventory: SEO Training for details to set up the News List block.

This column contains conditional formatting to highlight […] with orange. This is the “too long” indicator in the excerpt. If an except isn’t entered, WordPress will add the first part of the web page as the excerpt. The square brackets and ellipses […] is at the end of this excerpt. If the page doesn’t have an excerpt, add NONE. Conditional formatting will highlight NONE as red.

Things to consider: You’ll be considering these and other questions during the auditing process. Is the excerpt a description of hte wed page? Is the most imporant information first?

Excerpt Count

This is the character count for the Excerpt. It contains conditional formatting to highlight excerpts less than 155 characters (green) and over 155 characters (red).

See Meta Description Optimization in the Optimizing Content section from Part 3: Optimizing your Website of our Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Where to Start Series.

Feature Image

There isn’t an easy way to get this information. An easy way to see pages and images is to use the Card Group as a Feed for your pages and posts. Add the file name to the Feature Image, column AD. Using the file name will make it easy to find in the media library, if needed.

See Sample Page for Content Inventory: SEO Training for details to set up the Card Group block.

Notes

This column is for your any notes for this section. You may want to note that the title or expert needs to be reworked, an images needs to change or add an image. Add what ever you think will be useful as you are filling out these column during the Audit protion.

Additional Resources

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Where to Start Series
• Open Graph: Preview how your web pages will look on social media platforms.

Video of SEO Training

The Content Inventory used in this section is the Accessibility Check section (columns AG to AN) and Content Check (columns AP to AZ) of the Content and Posts tabs.

Accessibility Check

Columns AG to AJ help identify the type of accessibility issues found on the web pages. This information helps with prioritizing the content during the audit. Use the Accessibility and Usability plugin or WAVE to identify the accessibility issues. Check all pages with the WAVE tool. The WAVE Link (column AL) links to the webpage in the WAVE tool. Use column AM for acknowledging check in the webpage in WAVE. Add any notes to the A11y Notes in column AN.

Accessibility and Usability Plugin Option

Use the Accessibility and Usability panel or the Accessibility column on the All Pages and Posts within WordPress to note the Errors, Alerts, Warnings, No Data, and Clear of Errors. Use the Accessibility and Usability panel in conjunction with the WAVE tool.

Reminder:

Web Communication will not publish websites with error and “No Data” in the Accessibility column. This is for all published, password-protected, and private pages. The Accessibility column on the All Pages and Posts web pages.

See our Launch a Website: Accessibility Requirements

WAVE Option

Use AL and AM for checking the web page in WAVE. Column AL has a link to the web page in the WAVE accessibility checker. If necessary, update columns AG and AH when the WAVE tools identify errors and warnings. Check all pages with an accessibility checker, such as WAVE. 

Content Check

Content Check section, column AP to AZ, reviews the quality of the content and identifies some content types that are important to review during the audit.

1. Quality Check: Checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. There are several tools available for free. These tools also offer more services for a fee.
   • Grammarly extension (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
   • Hemingway Editor (website)
   • LanguageTool Extension (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
2. Readability: Check the readability of the content to ensure the content is easy to read and understand. See Readability for more details on improving the readability of your content. Aim for the lower secondary education level (6th-9th grade).
   Tools:
   • Crafty Level (Chrome only) checks the Flesch-Kincaid reading level for highlighted text. 
   • Jisū (FireFox), after updating the settings and selecting the Flesch-Kincaid reading level, this add-on calculates the reading level for highlighted text.
   • Readability Scoring System Plus (Chrome and Edge) provides a link to the Readability Scoring System Plus web page, where you can paste in your content for testing. 
   • Other calculators from our Readability page will help calculate the grade level of the content and allow you to remove proper names and titles from the calculation, as suggested.
3. Link Check: Check the page for bad links. These tools can help you check the links. Add any notes about the links in Notes, column AZ. 
   • Check my Links: Available for Chrome and Edge
   • Broken Link Checker: Chrome, Edge, and FireFox
4. Images and Alt Text: Does it describe the image in relation to the surrounding text? Tools:
   • WAVE (website) and browser extensions: This is a full-page accessibility automatic check.
     • Wave: Alternative text result documentation: These are the WAVE results associated with alternative text.
   • Web Developer (Browser Add-on): This browser extension features an Images tab with a Display Alt Attributes option. The alt text for images is below the image.
5. Breadcrumb Match: The breadcrumb and URL structure should match the page’s location in the menu. Add notes about the mismatch of the webpage’s URL, breadcrumb, and placement in the menu.

Complex Content

The content types in column AU to AY can be complex and need extra steps during the audit. Use the checkboxes to note when there are these content types on the webpage. Include details about these content types in the Notes, column AZ.  

5. Form: Does the page have a form? Be sure to check for FERPA compliance, the confirmation message, and notifications. Don’t forget to test the form. Add any notes about the form in Notes, column AZ. 
6. Table: Is there a table on the page? Is it a data table or a layout table? Is this the best way to present the information for a layout table? Add any notes about the tables in Notes, column AZ.  
7. Document: Add any notes about the documents in Notes, column AZ.  
8. Video: Add any notes about the video in Notes, column AZ.  
9. Audio: Add any notes about the audio in Notes, column AZ.

Using the information from the Content check, columns AP to AZ, especially the Notes in column AZ, to decide the quality of the content. In the Start Here tab, you can change the options for the Content Quality list. Whether this content is good as is, needs revision, or should be deleted, assess its quality and determine whether revision is needed.

Updates to the Content Inventory Template

The Documents tab is updated. A new tab for Audio and Video has been added.

You can copy the new tabs from the Document and Audio & Video Tabs Sheet into your content inventory. Instructions for adding these tabs are in the Sample Content Inventory’s Updates tab.

Documents & Multimedia

Use the information from the Content and Posts’ tabs Content Check, specifically columns AW, AX, and AY, to identify the pages with document, audio, and video. Add this information to the Documents, Video, Audio Audit section, columns BE to BK. Add more details about these items to the Documents, Audio & Video tabs

1. Identify the quantity of documents, videos, and audio
2. Use the quality dropdown list to give you an overview of how up-to-date and accessible it is. 
3. The Documents, Audio & Video tabs provide more details on their accessibility and remediation.

Documents, Audio & Video tabs

Similar to the content inventory for web pages, these tabs are for the documents, audio & video.

Columns A- E provide information about the item, including URL, the page URL where it is located, document type, author (if known), and modified date (or uploaded date)

For Documents, Columns F and G can help after you’ve reviewed the item for accessibility. Columns H-L provide information related to remediating the item.

For Audio and Video, Columns F-G help identify if a transcript, caption, or audio description is needed. Columns I-J can help after you’ve reviewed the item for accessibility. Columns K-O provide information related to remediating the item.

Checking for Accessibility

Word

• Creating an Accessible Microsoft Word Document
• Word Processor Resources

PDFs

• Inaccessible PDFs? How to know when to use HTML webpages instead of PDFs
• Creating an Accessible PDF
• PDF Resources

PowerPoint

• Presentations Resources

Excel

• Spreadsheet Resources

Audio and Video

• Audio and Video (Core Concept)
• Audio, Video, and Accessibility
• Audio Descriptions
• Captioning
• Transcript

Reminder

• Audio-only must have a transcript.
• Video-only must have an audio description or a transcript.
• Multimedia must have synchronized captions and audio descriptions. It should have a transcript.

Clean up Document Storage

Removing unused content helps your website avoid becoming a graveyard for outdated information that can still be found online. It also helps people working on the website avoid finding and using obsolete files.

By adding tags or workflows to media and documents, you can see what is being used on the website and what isn’t. Use the information from the Content Inventory Documents tab. Use the A11y, Next Steps, and Remediation status as tags for files in the Media library, or as workflow for files in the Documents. As you review and remediate documents, you can update the tags and workflow state.

Media Library – Tags

1. Create A11y, Next Steps, and Remediation status tags.
   Recommendation is to add -inventory to keep these tagging separate from others. 
2. Media Library View: List
   In List view, the Media library shows the tag column. Use the Screen Options drop-down if you don’t see tags. 

Documents – Workflow

1. Add A11y, Next Steps, and Remediation status to the Workflow States. Recommendation is to add -inventory to keep the workflow. Using these -inventory workflow states will not affect the document’s visibility. 
2. When changing the workflow state, a summary field will appear for you to add information. The revision log does not identify the Workflow state. I recommend adding the Workflow state information to the Summary.

The Priority section, columns BM to BS, helps you identify pages that need the most help with revision and remediation. Use the information in the content sections to identify the priority pages in that area. The pages with the most issues should be addressed first during revision and remediation. Opening and closing sections can help you view the content inventory information while viewing the Audit Priority information.

URL Move

It could be important to identify pages where the URL will change. This will also help when setting up the redirects in the Safe Redirect Manager.

Alanytics Priority

Open the Analytics data in columns T to X and note in column BN the Analytics Priority pages with too few views or average engagement that could warrant revising the content.

A11y Priority

Open the Accessibility Check data in columns AG to AN and note in column BO any pages with Errors. Also, use the information in the A11y Notes, column AN, to identify any accessibility issues to address as a priority.

Document Remediation

Open the Content data to review columns AW to AZ, including notes about documents, audio, and video. Also, review the Documents, Video, and Audio Audit information in columns BE to BK. Prioritize pages with documents, audio, and video files as these take longer to produce accessible versions. Include additional information about these in Notes, column BS.

Content Priority

Review the Content Check in columns AP to AZ and the Content Assessment in columns BB and BC to prioritize which web pages need revisions. While many pages may need revisions and have higher priority, Column BQ can be used as the highest-priority check. Leave notes in Content Assessments for pages that don’t meet the high priority but still need revision.

High Priority Page

The High Priority Page check helps you identify those pages where it does not matter that the status for the other Priorities; this page is a priority. Whether determined by stakeholders, recruitment and marketing, or others, this is a way to identify and single out these pages.

Color Coding

An attempt was made to visually highlight pages of higher priority, either because they were identified as high-priority (red) or because they have multiple checks with conditional formatting. Unfortunately, this isn’t working on every row. To remove the conditional formatting, select column BM to BR, and in the Format menu, select Conditional Formatting. The Conditional formatting rules panel will appear with the rules for columns BM to BR. Delete (trash) the rules or try to fix them.

Decisions

The decisions section, columns BU to BX, is another step toward revising and remediations. Several of the columns contain dropdown lists linked to the Start Here tab. Column BU identifies which actions are being taken for the web page. Use the Start Here column P for the Actions list. Assign the web page to someone in column BV. This list is column L on the Start Here tab. Enter the due date for the web page’s revision in column BW. Select (double-click, enter, or long press) the cell to reveal a calendar. The Status list, column BX, helps identify the progress of the web page from with editor to published. Column O of the Start Here tab is the list for this dropdown.

Responsible Parties

Identify who is the person responsible for the webpage. This may be one person or three separate people.

Owner: The person responsible for deciding which content is added to the web page.

Author: This is the person responsible for writing the content for the web page.

Web Editor: Regardless of their editing access, the editor is the person who adds and updates content on the web page.

Another way this information is helpful is when someone asks for an update and is not a responsible party for the web page; people will know who to direct their questions to.

Maintenance

Published Date and Last Updated

Columns CD and CE take the information in the Page Details section, column E (Published Date) and column F (Last Modified Date).

Check Frequency

Column CF is a dropdown list from the Start Here tab, column K (Date to Check). Use this cell to identify how often the page should be checked for updates.

Date to Check

Column CG calculates the date to check the web page based on the Last Updated date in column CF. There is conditional formatting that sets the cell to green when the date to check hasn’t passed and to red when it has.

Updating Content Inventory

Since the URLs and Analytics tab information is pulled into the Content and Posts tab, the content inventory is easier to update. Add new imports of inforamtion into the URLs tab and Analytics tab. See Page Details (Export URLs) and Analytics section on this web page.

New web pages and posts will need to be added manually by inserting a row into the inventory. Add the Link and Page ID, see Page Details (Export URLs) section on this web page. The dropdown lists and checkboxes used throughout the inventory will populate in the new row. The formulas must be copied to the new row. You will need the formulas from columns D to K (Page Details), columns T to X (Analytics), Column AA and AC (Search Engine Optimization), Column AK (Accessibility Check), and Column CD to CG (Maintenance). Using an empty row in your inventory can help by copying the whole row into the new row. This will ensure the formulas are copied as well.