Hubspot Content Audit Guide: How to Clean Up and Optimize Your Content

A structured content audit inspired by Hubspot best practices can transform a cluttered website into a focused, high-performing content engine. By following a clear process, you can understand what you have, what works, and where to improve so your content aligns with business goals and audience needs.

This step-by-step guide walks you through planning, executing, and acting on a full website content audit, modeled on the approach described in the original Hubspot content audit article.

Why a Hubspot-Style Content Audit Matters

Over time, websites collect outdated, duplicate, or low-value pages. A Hubspot-style content audit helps you:

• See every piece of content in one place.
• Find high-impact pages to promote or update.
• Eliminate redundant or weak content.
• Align topics to your current strategy and offers.

Instead of guessing what to fix, you use data and clear categories to decide what stays, what goes, and what needs optimization.

Step 1: Define Your Hubspot-Inspired Audit Goals

Before collecting URLs, clarify what success looks like. The original process from Hubspot emphasizes starting with goals so your audit decisions stay focused.

Examples of audit goals include:

• Increase organic traffic to key offers.
• Improve lead generation from existing posts.
• Consolidate overlapping articles into stronger pillar pages.
• Update outdated content that still attracts traffic.

Write your goals down and keep them visible while you work through the audit. Each decision you make about a page should support at least one of these goals.

Step 2: Inventory Your Content the Hubspot Way

The next step is to build a complete list of your content. Following a Hubspot-style method, you want a spreadsheet that shows every page and the most important performance details.

How to Collect All URLs

You can gather URLs by:

• Exporting from your CMS or site map.
• Using an SEO crawler tool to list all indexable pages.
• Manually adding high-value assets like landing pages, PDFs, or tools.

Place these URLs into a spreadsheet with one row per page.

What to Track in Your Spreadsheet

Modeled on the Hubspot approach, your audit spreadsheet should include columns such as:

• Page URL
• Page title
• Content type (blog, landing page, product page, etc.)
• Primary topic or keyword
• Publish date and last updated date
• Traffic (sessions or pageviews)
• Conversions or key actions
• Backlinks or referring domains

Use whatever analytics and SEO tools you have to fill in as much data as possible. More complete data means more confident decisions later.

Step 3: Categorize Each Page with Hubspot-Style Labels

Once your inventory is in place, categorize each page using simple, consistent labels. A Hubspot-inspired framework keeps this part straightforward and actionable.

Example Content Status Categories

Create a column called “Status” and use labels such as:

• Keep – High-performing, aligned with your current strategy.
• Update – Good potential but needs improvements.
• Consolidate – Overlapping with other pages; should be merged.
• Remove – Outdated, low traffic, or off-strategy.

Decide on these categories before you start reviewing pages. Consistency is crucial so that your audit results can be turned into a clear action plan.

Use Data to Support Your Decisions

Instead of relying only on instinct, borrow from the Hubspot mindset and lean heavily on metrics. For each page, compare:

• Traffic trends over time.
• Conversion rates or goal completions.
• Engagement metrics like time on page and bounce rate.
• Search rankings for target keywords.

Pages with stable or growing traffic and conversions are usually labeled “Keep” or “Update.” Pages that bring no visits, links, or conversions, and do not fit your current offers, often become “Remove.”

Step 4: Prioritize Updates Using Hubspot-Inspired Criteria

After every URL has a status, you need to prioritize what to tackle first. A Hubspot-style content audit uses a simple, impact-focused system.

Build a Priority Column

Add a “Priority” column to your spreadsheet and assign values such as:

• High – Quick wins or mission-critical pages.
• Medium – Helpful improvements with moderate impact.
• Low – Nice-to-have changes or very old content.

When assigning priorities, focus on:

• Pages with strong traffic but poor conversion.
• Posts ranking on page 2 of search results.
• Content close to revenue-generating offers.
• Pillar content and important supporting cluster posts.

This approach mirrors how Hubspot recommends working on pages where a small improvement can deliver significant results.

Step 5: Create a Hubspot-Style Action Plan

With statuses and priorities set, translate your audit into a simple action plan. This plan shows exactly what to do with each group of pages.

Common Actions for Each Status

• Keep
  • Monitor performance.
  • Improve internal linking.
  • Update CTAs or forms if needed.
• Update
  • Refresh statistics and examples.
  • Improve structure, headings, and readability.
  • Align with current products or services.
• Consolidate
  • Choose a primary page to keep.
  • Merge overlapping content into that page.
  • Redirect older URLs to the main page.
• Remove
  • Unpublish or delete content.
  • Set proper redirects when needed.
  • Update internal links that pointed to removed pages.

Consider grouping your tasks by type so your team can work in focused sprints, similar to how a Hubspot content team would handle improvements at scale.

Step 6: Optimize Content Using Hubspot Best Practices

When you begin updating pages, apply optimization principles modeled on the Hubspot methodology.

On-Page Optimization Checklist

For each “Update” or “Consolidate” page, review:

• Title and meta description: Reflect the core topic and search intent.
• Headings: Use clear hierarchy with descriptive keywords.
• Intro paragraphs: Explain the value quickly and clearly.
• Internal links: Point to related posts, product pages, and key offers.
• Calls-to-action (CTAs): Match the visitor’s stage in the journey.
• Formatting: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings for readability.

This structured process keeps your updates aligned with both user experience and search performance, echoing tactics used by Hubspot editorial teams.

Step 7: Document and Review Your Hubspot-Inspired Process

The value of your content audit grows over time when you document the process and repeat it regularly. A Hubspot-style approach treats the audit as an ongoing system, not a one-time project.

Document:

• Your goals and how you measured them.
• The categories and criteria you used to label pages.
• The template or spreadsheet you used.
• Lessons learned and changes you plan for the next audit cycle.

Schedule your next content audit, such as every six or twelve months, so that your website never drifts too far from your strategy or audience needs.

Next Steps After Your Hubspot Content Audit

Once your initial audit is complete, share the findings with stakeholders and create a realistic implementation calendar. Assign owners, due dates, and metrics for the top-priority pages so that your hard audit work turns into real business outcomes.

If you want strategic support applying a Hubspot-style content audit to your broader SEO and lead generation plan, you can explore consulting services from Consultevo to help align your content, offers, and analytics.

By adopting this practical, repeatable framework, you keep your content ecosystem clean, focused, and ready to support long-term growth.

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