Content inventory

A content inventory is the process and the result of cataloging the entire contents of a website. An allied practice—a content audit—is the process of evaluating that content. A content inventory and a content audit are closely related concepts, and they are often conducted in tandem.

Description

A content inventory typically includes all information assets on a website, such as web pages, meta elements, images, audio and video files, and document files. A content inventory is a quantitative analysis of a website. It simply logs what is on a website. The content inventory will answer the question: “What is there?” and can be the start of a website review. A related is a content audit, a qualitative analysis of information assets on a website. It is the assessment of that content and its place in relationship to surrounding Web pages and information assets. The content audit will answer the question: “Is it any good?”
Over the years, techniques for creating and managing a content inventory have been developed and refined in the field of website content management.
A spreadsheet application is the preferred tool for keeping a content inventory; the data can be easily configured and manipulated. Typical categories in a content inventory include the following:

Link — The URL for the page
Format — For example,.HTML, .pdf, .doc, .ppt
Meta page title — Page title as it appears in the meta tag</li><li> <a href="/wiki/Meta_keywords">Meta keywords</a> — Keywords as they <a href="/wiki/Appear">appear</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Meta_tag">meta name="keywords" tag element</a></li><li> Meta description — Text as it appears in the <a href="/wiki/Meta_tag">meta name="description" tag element</a></li><li> <a href="/wiki/Content">Content</a> owner — Person responsible for maintaining page content</li><li> Date page last updated — Date of last page update</li><li> Audit Comments — Audit findings and notes</li></ul>Other descriptors may <a href="/wiki/Need_to">need to</a> be captured on the inventory sheet. <a href="/wiki/Content_management">Content management</a> experts advise capturing information that might be useful for both short- and long-term purposes. Other information could include:<br><ul><li> the overall <a href="/wiki/Topic">topic</a> or area to which the page belongs</li><li> a short description of the information on the page</li><li> when the page was created, the date of the last revision, and when the <a href="/wiki/Next_page">next page</a> review is due</li><li> pages this page links to</li><li> pages that <a href="/wiki/Link">link</a> to this page</li><li> page status – <a href="/wiki/Keep">keep</a>, delete, revise, in revision process, planned, being written, being edited, in review, ready for posting, or posted</li><li> rank of the page on the website – is it a <a href="/wiki/Top_50">top 50</a> pages? a bottom 50 page? Initial efforts might be more focused on those pages that visitors use the most and least.</li></ul>Other tabs in the inventory workbook can be created to track related information, such as <a href="/wiki/Meta_keywords">meta keywords</a>, new Web pages to develop, website tools and resources, or content inventories for sub-areas of the main website. <a href="/wiki/Creating">Creating</a> a single, shared <a href="/wiki/Location">location</a> for information related to a website can be helpful for all <a href="/wiki/Website_content">website content</a> managers, <a href="/wiki/Writers">writers</a>, editors, and publishers.<br>Populating the <a href="/wiki/Spreadsheet">spreadsheet</a> is a painstaking task, but some <a href="/wiki/Up-front">up-front</a> work can be automated with software, and other tools and resources can assist the audit work.<br><h2>Value</h2>A content inventory and a content audit are performed to understand what is on a website and why it is there. The inventory sheet, once completed and revised as the site is updated with new content and information assets, can also become a resource for help in maintaining <a href="/wiki/Website_governance">website governance</a>.<br>For an existing website, the information cataloged in a content inventory and content audit will be a resource to help manage all of the information assets on the website. The information gathered in the inventory can also be used to <a href="/wiki/Plan_a">plan a</a> website re-design or site migration to a <a href="/wiki/Web_content_management_system">web content management system</a>. When planning a new website, a content inventory can be a useful <a href="/wiki/Project_management">project management</a> tool: as a guide to map <a href="/wiki/Information_architecture">information architecture</a> and to track new pages, page revision dates, content owners, and so on.<br> </article> </main> <aside> <div class="sidebar-widget"><div class="sidebar-header"><h3>Books</h3></div><ul class="top-10-list"><li><a href="/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary"><span class="rank">1</span> Project Hail Mary <span class="pop-tag">36,266</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Wuthering_Heights"><span class="rank">2</span> Wuthering Heights <span class="pop-tag">19,402</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Gregg_shorthand"><span class="rank">3</span> Gregg shorthand <span class="pop-tag">13,480</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/I_Am_Legend_(novel)"><span class="rank">4</span> I Am Legend (novel) <span class="pop-tag">12,851</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo"><span class="rank">5</span> The Count of Monte Cristo <span class="pop-tag">9,073</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Dungeon_Crawler_Carl"><span class="rank">6</span> Dungeon Crawler Carl <span class="pop-tag">7,267</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Hamlet"><span class="rank">7</span> Hamlet <span class="pop-tag">7,090</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Tales_of_Dunk_and_Egg"><span class="rank">8</span> Tales of Dunk and Egg <span class="pop-tag">6,985</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Frankenstein"><span class="rank">9</span> Frankenstein <span class="pop-tag">6,907</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Bridgerton_(novel_series)"><span class="rank">10</span> Bridgerton (novel series) <span class="pop-tag">6,598</span></a></li></ul></div><div class="sidebar-widget"><div class="sidebar-header"><h3>Films</h3></div><ul class="top-10-list"><li><a href="/wiki/The_Bride!"><span class="rank">1</span> The Bride! <span class="pop-tag">61,211</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Hoppers_(film)"><span class="rank">2</span> Hoppers (film) <span class="pop-tag">54,919</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/XXX_(film_series)"><span class="rank">3</span> XXX (film series) <span class="pop-tag">52,230</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary_(film)"><span class="rank">4</span> Project Hail Mary (film) <span class="pop-tag">48,295</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/The_Super_Mario_Galaxy_Movie"><span class="rank">5</span> The Super Mario Galaxy Movie <span class="pop-tag">40,974</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/XXX:_Return_of_Xander_Cage"><span class="rank">6</span> XXX: Return of Xander Cage <span class="pop-tag">37,559</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/XXX_(2002_film)"><span class="rank">7</span> XXX (2002 film) <span class="pop-tag">37,019</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Scream_7"><span class="rank">8</span> Scream 7 <span class="pop-tag">34,665</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Hamnet_(film)"><span class="rank">9</span> Hamnet (film) <span class="pop-tag">31,978</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/With_Love_(2026_film)"><span class="rank">10</span> With Love (2026 film) <span class="pop-tag">30,723</span></a></li></ul></div><div class="sidebar-widget"><div class="sidebar-header"><h3>Programming Languages</h3></div><ul class="top-10-list"><li><a href="/wiki/Python_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">1</span> Python (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">4,412</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/C_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">2</span> C (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">4,342</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Scratch_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">3</span> Scratch (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">3,453</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/C++"><span class="rank">4</span> C++ <span class="pop-tag">2,263</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/JavaScript"><span class="rank">5</span> JavaScript <span class="pop-tag">2,167</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Rust_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">6</span> Rust (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">2,041</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/YAML"><span class="rank">7</span> YAML <span class="pop-tag">1,620</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Java_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">8</span> Java (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">1,614</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/R_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">9</span> R (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">1,588</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Go_(programming_language)"><span class="rank">10</span> Go (programming language) <span class="pop-tag">1,457</span></a></li></ul></div><div class="sidebar-widget"><div class="sidebar-header"><h3>TV Series</h3></div><ul class="top-10-list"><li><a href="/wiki/One_Piece_(2023_TV_series)"><span class="rank">1</span> One Piece (2023 TV series) <span class="pop-tag">83,678</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Paradise_(2025_TV_series)"><span class="rank">2</span> Paradise (2025 TV series) <span class="pop-tag">53,522</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Young_Sherlock_(British_TV_series)"><span class="rank">3</span> Young Sherlock (British TV series) <span class="pop-tag">43,978</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Bridgerton"><span class="rank">4</span> Bridgerton <span class="pop-tag">40,936</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Love_Story_(2026_TV_series)"><span class="rank">5</span> Love Story (2026 TV series) <span class="pop-tag">39,425</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/DTF_St._Louis"><span class="rank">6</span> DTF St. Louis <span class="pop-tag">39,351</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/The_Pitt"><span class="rank">7</span> The Pitt <span class="pop-tag">35,417</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Rooster_(TV_series)"><span class="rank">8</span> Rooster (TV series) <span class="pop-tag">30,705</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/A_Knight_of_the_Seven_Kingdoms_(TV_series)"><span class="rank">9</span> A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 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<span class="pop-tag">9,154</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Resident_Evil_Village"><span class="rank">7</span> Resident Evil Village <span class="pop-tag">8,614</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Minecraft"><span class="rank">8</span> Minecraft <span class="pop-tag">8,370</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Marathon_(2026_video_game)"><span class="rank">9</span> Marathon (2026 video game) <span class="pop-tag">8,337</span></a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Resident_Evil_7:_Biohazard"><span class="rank">10</span> Resident Evil 7: Biohazard <span class="pop-tag">7,886</span></a></li></ul></div> </aside> </div> <footer> <div class="footer-content"> <div class="footer-info"> <p>© 2026 <a href="https://owiki.org" class="cc-link">OWIKI.org</a>.</p> <p>Content is available under <a href="/wiki/Creative_Commons" class="cc-link">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted.</p> </div> <div class="footer-system"> <p>Status: <span class="status-online">ONLINE</span></p> 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