Content inventory and decay audit
Every indexable page on your site, with 16 months of Search Console data beside it and one of five verdicts: keep, refresh, merge, redirect or retire.
from $1,450 for up to 300 URLs · 10 business days
Book an editorial reviewBuy the decay audit, from $1,450Content decay is quiet. A page loses a few clicks a month for a year, nothing breaks, and nobody notices. Site-wide totals hide it, because the pages that grew cover for the ones that shrank. This content audit service looks at each URL on its own, over 16 months, and ends with a verdict for every one and a short list of what to fix first.
What the verdict sheet looks like
One row per URL. The real sheet has more columns (impressions, average position, word count, last updated). These are the ones that decide the verdict.
| URL | Clicks, months 1–8 | Clicks, months 9–16 | Overlaps with | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /blog/winterize-sprinkler-system/ | 3,120 | 1,480 | none | Refresh | Still the right page. The steps are out of date. |
| /blog/sprinkler-winterizing-cost/ | 610 | 540 | /blog/winterize-sprinkler-system/ | Merge | Same question, clicks split two ways. |
| /blog/our-new-truck/ | 4 | 0 | none | Retire | No search demand, no links. |
| /services/sprinkler-repair/ | 2,050 | 2,210 | none | Keep | Growing. Leave it alone. |
| /blog/drip-irrigation-basics/ | 280 | 95 | none | Refresh | Lost about two-thirds of its clicks. |
Sample, no client data. A made-up irrigation company.
Cannibalization pairs, explained
Two of your pages rank for the same searches, and Google keeps swapping which one it shows. Neither settles, and often neither does as well as one clear page would. The audit lists every pair it finds in Search Console, the queries they share, and which URL should win. Usually the fix is a merge and a redirect. Sometimes it's just a sharper title on one of them.
What's included
- An inventory of every indexable URL, with 16 months of Search Console data
- A verdict for each URL: keep, refresh, merge, redirect or retire
- Cannibalization pairs, with the queries they share
- Your top 20 refresh candidates, ranked by clicks lost
- A 90-day maintenance plan
- A 45-minute walkthrough call
Not included
- Doing the refreshes and merges: Content refresh, or a Cadence plan
- A technical SEO audit. We'll mention anything obvious, but crawl errors and speed aren't what this looks at.
- Restructuring links site-wide: Content architecture
- Sites over 1,500 URLs, which we quote after a review call
Who owns the audit?
You do. The sheet and the 90-day plan are yours to use with your own team or another agency. The data came from your Search Console in the first place.
Price
From $1,450 for up to 300 indexable URLs
Each further 300 URLs adds $350, up to 1,500 URLs. Bigger sites are quoted.
- Up to 300 URLs · $1,450
- 301–600 URLs · $1,800
- 601–900 URLs · $2,150
- 901–1,200 URLs · $2,500
- 1,201–1,500 URLs · $2,850
- Over 1,500 URLs · quoted
Start a Cadence plan within 30 days of buying the audit and $500 of it comes off your first month.
Full pricing and slot rulesHow to buy it
In a Cadence plan
On the desk, no call needed
Every Cadence plan includes a monthly decay watch on your sitemap and Search Console, on up to 150, 500 or 2,000 URLs.
Questions people ask
What sets the audit price, and what comes back?
From $1,450 for a site with up to 300 indexable URLs, plus $350 for each further 300, up to 1,500. You pick the size band before you pay, so the price can't move afterwards. It covers the inventory, a verdict per URL, cannibalization pairs, the top 20 refresh list, a 90-day plan and a 45-minute walkthrough.
How long from kickoff to a finished report?
10 business days from the day we get Search Console access. We book the walkthrough for after you've had a chance to read the sheet.
Who owns the finished report once it's delivered?
It arrives as a spreadsheet and a short plan document in your shared drive, not as a login to a tool of ours. If you cancel before delivery, you get the sheet as it stands and a refund of the price minus our time at $125 an hour.
Does the audit fix anything itself?
No. The audit makes the calls, and carrying them out is a separate job. Refreshes and merges are Content refresh, or slots in a Cadence plan. Fixing link structure across the site is Content architecture. Setting up a dashboard so you can watch decay yourself is Content measurement.
Which access does the audit need?
Viewer access to the Google Search Console property. We send the steps after you pay. The audit doesn't need CMS access, and we never need passwords. If the property holds less than 16 months of data, we use what's there and say so in the report.
Start with the free scan.
Give it a domain and it shows how stale the sitemap looks. If the answer worries you, the audit is the next step.