How to Create a Simple Blog Content Audit Spreadsheet

Recently we talked about the basics of blog content audits. In the comments, Joanna Haugen asked about using spreadsheets to track your plans and progress as you go through the content audit process. I promised a simple tutorial on creating one, and that's what you'll find here.

Export Your WordPress Data

The first thing you'll want to do is export key data from WordPress. You can automate this process using WordPress plugins which can pull your post titles, publication dates, authors, custom fields, and more quickly and easily.

For this tutorial we're going to use the Export to Text plugin (currently at version 2.2).

Install this plugin as you would any other WordPress plugin:

  • Click or mouseover "Plugins" in your WordPress admin area (in the left navigation column).
  • Click "Add new."
  • Search for the "Export to Text" plugin.
  • Click "Install Now."
  • Click the OK button if you get a prompt.
  • Click the link to activate the plugin.

Once you've activated the Export to Text plugin, you can find its settings under "Tools" in the left column menu in your WordPress admin area.

Click the "Export to text" link as demonstrated in the screenshot above. You'll be taken to the following screen where you can choose your export settings.

Check the settings you want. Anything you check will end up in your spreadsheet, so choose the things that are relevant to the kind of content you want to audit (just blog posts, posts in a certain date range, posts from a particular author, posts in a certain category, etc.).

Then click the "Download as TXT file" button near the top right of your screen.

Access and Edit Your Spreadsheet

Now that you've downloaded a TXT file of your data, open your spreadsheet software. Then open the TXT file you downloaded in that program.

You should get something that looks like this:

You can see the exported fields (and you can adjust the width for each of them as appropriate).

The last field called "Content Updates?" is one I manually added for audit purposes. It's where I can quickly mark Y (for yes) or N (for no) when I look at the content and ask myself "does this post need to be edited or updated?"

The only problem I found with this export plugin is that all custom fields are lumped into one category. That means my meta title, description, and keywords for each post are all displayed in one field.

That might be fine if your concern is whether or not those things were added. But if you want to see the content of those SEO-related fields quickly for editing purposes, it will be a bit clunky.

In that case, I'd recommend using the WordPress SEO plugin Sharon Hurley Hall previously mentioned here. It lets you easily view and edit meta data in your post archives right from your WordPress admin area.

Of course you can add more fields than the one I added for this tutorial. For example, you might add fields like:

  • Comment count
  • Tweets (number of times it was shared)
  • Google +1s
  • Facebook Likes
  • Link Updates? (Are there broken links that need to be adjusted? -- I use the Broken Link Checker plugin for this.)
  • Formatting Issues? (Is the post consistent with sitewide formatting rules?)
  • Incoming links (Check third party sources for estimates so you know which posts are attracting links, and which need offsite SEO help.)
  • Attachments, downloads, or images for the post

What you add will depend on the kind of content audit you're interested in and what you're looking to improve (SEO? Social Interaction? On-site consistency?).

What else would you add to a blog content audit spreadsheet? Do you use other WordPress plugins to export this kind of data? Share your tips, suggestions, or recommended resources with us in the comments to help other readers learn about their options.

Profile image for Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, consultant, and indie author. She runs numerous websites & blogs including All Freelance Writing, Freelance Writing Pros, NakedPR, and Kiss My Biz.

Jenn has 25 years' experience as a professional writer and editor and over 20 years' experience in marketing and PR (working heavily in digital PR, online marketing, social media, SEO, new media, and thought leadership publication). She also has 19 years' professional blogging and web publishing experience (including web development) and around 18 years of experience as an indie author / publisher.

Jenn also writes fiction under multiple pen names and is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association.

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9 thoughts on “How to Create a Simple Blog Content Audit Spreadsheet”

  1. Came to this from Cathy Millers Google+ post: https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?dsh=S-1509722169%3A1689170219105862&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fplus.google.com%2F113979430456558102632%2Fposts%2FGuJAgvUW8Pe&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fplus.google.com%2F113979430456558102632%2Fposts%2FGuJAgvUW8Pe&ifkv=AeDOFXgeWXKFuRf9_YcXACJW55N95H-OLxeWOcvsiPp7zqIS9eqLscMY3GeJ2Ll0L1_5A9eUMFLz&osid=1&passive=1209600&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin

    I was just think about something like this and was going to attempt to start one myself. These tips should make things much easier for me.

    I am relatively new to WordPress and keep finding so much stuff.

    Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by Steve (and thank you Cathy for referring him). Happy to have you here. 🙂

      I hope you come up with the perfect content audit spreadsheet for you needs, and I’m glad this post might help.

      I’ve been using WordPress for quite a few years now, and I’m still learning and finding new things to do with it. That’s half the fun! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Wow, Jennifer, I wish I had seen this before I started my own project. Well, that would have involved time-travel, as I started the blog to ebook project in Sept., 2012. LOL

    Still, I will look at this plug-in and see it it simplifies the process.

    Cheers,

    Mitch

    Reply

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