Questions to Guide Your DMO’s Website Content Audit

June 11, 2019
By Kerrie Yancey

For most of us, outdated or erroneous content is right up there with its absence—if it isn’t useful to us, what’s the point of it being there, right? It can be a problem. (Boy, if there were ever a time to insert the Infomercial Montage [First World Problems] video, now might be our only chance; sure, none of us actually do the heavy sighs and theatrical arm flailing. Still, it’s humorous!)

But really though…the sheer amount of online content available today has left most meeting planners intolerant of a website (or the ‘Meetings’ section of a website) where the content doesn’t provide the right value for them. Neglected pages can, unfortunately, make your DMO lose credibility and seem archaic; and it can cause planners to reroute their search to another destination’s site (remember, sighs and arms flailing…not good!).

We see it a lot, too. The leisure pages are spiffed up and razzle dazzled, while the ‘Meetings’ section of a website comes off as an afterthought.

We know your DMO has a vested interest in the planner’s journey, so we want to make sure your content reflects it. Here are some handy questions that can help guide your content audit and provide value and ideas for future content!

But First, What Is a Content Audit?

The word ‘audit’ can have such an intimidating connotation, can’t it? Sure, at its roots, an audit is qualitative and in-depth, but there is a bare-bones way to look at it:

A content audit of the meetings section of your DMO’s website or ‘Meetings’ microsite is a breakdown of each page to make sure the content is the best it can be for your audience and that it’s achieving your goals.

Why Audit Your Content?

Auditing your DMO’s website content helps you determine what is outdated, irrelevant, duplicated or no longer accurate (content on your city’s ‘new’ developments and renovation projects comes to mind.) Plus, the audit can help increase organic search performance and show that your destination is on top of keeping content relevant.

When Auditing Each Page, Ask Questions Like:

Does this content solve planners’ questions/problems?
Does it show our destination’s unique value?
Does it encourage turning visitors from search into conversions?
Does this page have content opportunities to move them further down our sales funnel?
Is this everything planners want/need to know about the destination as a meeting location?
Do we have more to tell them about what groups can do in the area?
Would a planner feel that the content on our site accurately represents our destination if they visited?
Are we showing what we do/offer in a way that search engines can easily crawl, index, understand?

Take stock in what you find and make plans to address the questions that are not easily answered; this is where you’ll fill those content crannies and get more out of each page’s real estate.

One Thing to Note…

While these are some quick questions you can address to help you zhuzh up your content, effective audits go much deeper than just asking questions. Inventory needs to be taken; insights from past content needs to be pulled; SEO and content marketing data need to be gathered; content companions like your social platforms need to be monitored, and strategic thought needs to be put behind any application of upcoming content initiatives. It’s a process. And a rewarding one when done well!

Let us help you.