Content audit starter template for government websites
Most content audits stall before they ship a single decision. Teams build a 30-column spreadsheet, fill in 50 rows, and quietly drop the project. The audit becomes its own piece of stale content.
The fix is not a bigger spreadsheet. It is a smaller one with clearer decisions attached.
This template is the minimum viable structure: eight columns, one row per page, every row ending with an action. Add more columns only when a real decision requires one.
How to decide each row
The Action column is the whole point, so it needs a rule rather than a feeling. Work down this list and stop at the first one that fits.
Retire if nobody can name an owner, the page has had fewer than 100 views in 12 months, and no legal or records obligation requires it to stay published.
Merge if another page answers the same question better, or the two together confuse a reader about which is authoritative.
Move if the content is right but sits where nobody looking for it would think to look.
Fix if the page is the right page in the right place and the words are the problem.
Keep if none of the above applies. Record a review date anyway.
A row with an action and no reason is a decision nobody can defend in six months. That is what the Reason column is for.
One thing to check before you retire anything
Australian Government websites are Commonwealth records under the Archives Act 1983. That has a practical consequence most content teams do not know about.
You cannot decommission an agency public website until the National Library's harvest is confirmed, or a copy has been captured and transferred. The National Archives sets this out in its guidance on archiving Australian Government websites, and the disposal classes sit in AFDA Express Version 2, Publication.
This applies to decommissioning a site, not to retiring a page inside a live one. But if your audit is heading towards a consolidation, find out early. It is a hard gate and it has a lead time.
What good looks like
When you finish, sort by the Action column. The pattern in the data becomes the next sprint of work: the pages to retire, the redirects to ship, the owners to assign.
A good audit is not the spreadsheet. It is the list of decisions the spreadsheet produces. If a column on your current audit does not lead to an action, ask what it is for.
Get the template
Use it two ways. Download the branded version, or open the accordion below and copy the audit starter into your own spreadsheet.
Content audit starter template
A minimum viable content audit: eight columns, one row per page, every row ending with an action.
How to use this template
This is the smallest spreadsheet that still ships decisions. Use it to get from a list of URLs to a list of actions. Add columns only when a real decision requires one.
How to run the audit
- List every page on the site. Pull your URL list from your CMS, sitemap.xml, or analytics. If you cannot get a complete list, do not start.
- Set a date for the audit. Audits without deadlines become projects without endings.
- Decide each page against the decision rule below, and record the call in the Action column.
- Sort by the Action column when you finish. The pattern in the data becomes the next sprint of work.
The decision rule
Work down this list for each page and stop at the first one that fits.
- Retire if nobody can name an owner, the page has had fewer than 100 views in 12 months, and no legal or records obligation requires it to stay published.
- Merge if another page answers the same question better, or the two together confuse a reader about which is authoritative.
- Move if the content is right but sits where nobody looking for it would think to look.
- Fix if the page is the right page in the right place and the words are the problem.
- Keep if none of the above applies. Record a review date anyway.
Before decommissioning a whole site rather than retiring pages inside one, check the National Archives requirement: an agency public website cannot be decommissioned until the National Library harvest is confirmed, or a copy is captured and transferred.
The eight starter columns
| Column | What goes in it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| URL | Full URL of the page | So you can find it again |
| Page title | The current H1 or title tag | Faster to scan than URLs |
| Section | Where the page sits in the IA | Helps you spot patterns |
| Owner | Named person, not a team | Accountability for the page's future |
| Last reviewed | Date of last formal review, not last CMS edit | Surfaces orphaned pages |
| Action | Keep, Fix, Merge, Move, Retire | Output of your decision rule |
| Reason | One sentence explaining the action | Defends the decision later |
| Notes | Anything that affects the action | Open field for context |
Eight columns is enough to start. Resist adding more until you have audited 20 pages and know what is missing.
Optional columns
Add these only when a real decision requires one:
- Page views. Add when you need traffic to break a tie between keep and retire.
- Word count. Add when you are triaging pages for a plain language rewrite.
- Accessibility score. Add when accessibility remediation is a named outcome of the audit.
- Linked-from pages. Add when you need to find and fix inbound links before you move or retire a page.
- Source of truth. Add when the same information appears on more than one page and you need to pick the canonical one.
Pacing
Audit in batches. Do 20 pages, review what the spreadsheet is and is not telling you, then adjust before you continue. Do not fill hundreds of rows before you make a single decision.
Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash.
Did this land?
I write these to be used, not just read. Tell me if this wouldn't work in your organisation, and why.