Welcome to the Happeo ABCs of Intranets, where we break down the essential elements of a thriving digital workplace, from A to Z. And where better to begin than with "A" for Audits – specifically, Content Audits for your intranet.
It might not sound like the flashiest topic, but a thorough content audit is the bedrock of an effective, engaging, and ultimately successful intranet. Think of it as spring cleaning for your digital HQ. Without it, your intranet can quickly become cluttered, outdated, and a source of frustration rather than a hub of productivity.
Why You Absolutely Need a Content Audit for Your Intranet
Let's face it: intranets face two opposite pitfalls when it comes to content– they either accumulate content like nobody's business or they are populated once and never again. From HR policies and team announcements to project documentation and archived news, the sheer volume can be overwhelming and the lack of confidence in its accuracy waning.
Without regular review, expect to have content that is:
- Outdated and Inaccurate: Old policies, incorrect contact information, or irrelevant news leads directly to misinformation and erodes employee trust in the intranet. They'll waste time seeking accurate information elsewhere, or–even worse–make poor decisions based on wrong information.
- Redundant: “Project Brief_Final_v3_FINAL FINAL”. We have all been there. Multiple versions of the same document or overlapping information create significant confusion for employees across all lines of business and from the top down, leading to wild goose chases and wasted efforts.
- Difficult to Find: A mountain of unorganized content is like a needle in a haystack. Some employees give up before even getting started. And for those who do, if they can't quickly locate what they need, they'll give up on the intranet as a trustworthy central source of truth altogether, rendering valuable resources invisible and useless.
- Non-Compliant: Outdated legal, regulatory, or company policy information poses significant risks, including potential fines, legal issues, or reputational damage. An audit ensures you're always compliant.
- Underutilized: Valuable content, despite the effort put into creating it, gets buried and never seen. This negates its purpose, hindering knowledge sharing, employee development, and overall strategic alignment. (Which is why Happeo connects its intranet and targets comms features in one platform).
A content audit can help you as an intranet leader proactively tackle these issues, transforming your intranet from a digital junkyard into a streamlined, valuable resource.
The Tangible Benefits of a Well-Executed Intranet Content Audit
The effort you put into a content audit pays dividends across your organization:
- Improved User Experience (UX): When content is accurate, easy to find, and relevant, employees have a smoother, more positive experience. This boosts adoption and engagement organically.
- Increased Productivity: Less time spent searching for information means more time spent on core tasks, collaborating, and–quite frankly–getting things done. Clear, accurate information also reduces errors and rework, saving hours per week for every employee.
- Enhanced Information Governance: You can gain a clearer picture of your content landscape through regular auditing, allowing you to establish better policies for creation, review, and archival.
- Reduced Risk: By identifying and updating non-compliant or inaccurate information, you mitigate potential legal and operational risks.
- Better Decision-Making: When employees have access to the right, up-to-date information, they can make more informed decisions and feel more connected to their purpose in the organization and how their work truly drives impact.
- Cost Savings: While not always immediately obvious, a streamlined intranet reduces server storage needs (especially when it seamlessly integrates with your existing Drive), improves system performance, and minimizes the need for employees to "verify" information outside the intranet.
- Clearer Content Strategy: The audit process reveals gaps in content, areas of high engagement, and opportunities to create more valuable resources. Keep reading to hear how Happeo’s Knowledge Engine can help you close knowledge gaps using AI.
Getting Started: How to Kick Off Your Intranet Content Audit
The thought of auditing all your intranet content might seem daunting, but breaking it down into manageable steps can make it more achievable:
1. Define Your Scope and Goals:
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- Are you auditing the entire intranet, or just specific teams or departments
- What are your primary objectives? (e.g., improve search, ensure compliance, identify redundant content, prepare for a migration).
- Establish clear success metrics (e.g., reduction in stale content by X%, improved search success rates).
2. Assemble Your Team:
- Ideally, you'll have a core project lead (often from Internal Comms, IT, or HR).
- Identify key content owners from different departments. These are the subject matter experts who know their content best.
- Even with a lean team, designating clear responsibilities is crucial.
3. Choose Your Tools:
- Spreadsheets: Google Sheets or Excel are indispensable for tracking content. Happeo provides customers with a toolkit to do this!
- Content Inventory Template: Create columns for:
- Content Title/Page Name
- URL
- Content Owner
- Last Modified Date
- Review Date (Next Audit)
- Content Type (e.g., policy, news, document, video)
- Audience
- Purpose/Goal
- Status (Keep, Revise, Archive/Delete, Migrate)
- Notes/Action Items
- Intranet Analytics: Happeo's analytics can show you page views, popular content, and search terms, helping you identify highly used or problematic areas.
4. Establish Your Audit Criteria:
- Accuracy: Is the information correct and up-to-date?
- Relevance: Is it still needed by employees? Does it serve a current purpose?
- Clarity: Is it easy to understand? Is the language concise?
- Completeness: Does it provide all necessary information?
- Compliance: Does it meet legal, regulatory, or company policy requirements?
- Engagement: Is it being used? (Leverage analytics here).
- Duplication: Does this content exist elsewhere on the intranet or in other systems?
How to Conduct the Audit (Even with a Lean Team)
For a dedicated team: Divide and conquer. Assign sections or content types to different team members.
For a lean team: Prioritization is key.
1. Start Small (If necessary): If the sheer volume is overwhelming, pick the most critical sections first (e.g., HR policies, core company information).
2. Focus on High-Impact Areas: Use your intranet analytics to identify:
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- Most viewed pages: Ensure these are accurate and up-to-date.
- Least viewed pages: Are they still necessary? Can they be archived?
- Common search terms: Are employees finding what they're looking for? Are there content gaps?
3. Empower Content Owners: Provide clear guidelines and templates to department heads or designated content owners. Ask them to review their own sections using your defined criteria. This distributes the workload and leverages their expertise. This includes senior leadership. They are the perfect candidates to advocate for and provide direction during change using an intranet.
- 4. Leverage User Feedback: Encourage employees to report outdated or incorrect information. A simple "Report an issue" button or feedback form on intranet pages can be invaluable.
- 5. Develop an Action Plan: For each piece of content, determine its fate:
- Keep: It's accurate, relevant, and useful.
- Revise: It needs updates, clarification, or reorganization.
- Archive/Delete: It's outdated, redundant, or no longer needed. Make sure to communicate deletions if they affect widely used resources.
- Migrate: The content belongs in a different location or system.
How Often Should You Audit Your Intranet Content?
This isn't a one-and-done task. Content audits should be an ongoing process:
- Major Audits (Comprehensive): Annually or biennially, especially if your organization undergoes significant changes (e.g., mergers, new products, major policy shifts).
- Mini-Audits/Targeted Reviews: Quarterly or bi-annually for specific high-priority areas (e.g., HR benefits, IT policies).
- Ongoing Content Governance: Integrate content review into the content creation lifecycle. Every piece of content published should have a designated owner and a review date. Happeo's content management features can help streamline this.
Leveraging AI to Supercharge Your Content Audit
AI is rapidly transforming how we manage and analyze information, and content audits are no exception. While AI won't replace human judgment, it can be a powerful assistant, especially for lean teams.
There are lots of tools to help internal comms and intranet leaders make auditing easier, and Happeo has found a way to automate a bulk of this process with its Knowledge Engine. The Knowledge Engine mobilizes content accuracy by automatically detecting content gaps, alerting the proper stakeholders, assisting in content creation, and distributing the information to the employees who need it most–all automatically.
Learn more about Happeo’s Knowledge Engine.
The Hardest Part May Be Getting Started, But Don’t Let it Stop You
A content audit, while demanding, is an investment that pays off exponentially for your intranet and your entire organization. It's about more than just decluttering; it's about building a digital workplace that is efficient, trustworthy, and genuinely supports your employees.
Reviewing, optimizing, and maintaining your intranet content on a regular basis can help you transform it from a mere repository into a dynamic, indispensable hub of information and collaboration. So, take a deep breath, gather your team (or yourself!), and start auditing. A more productive intranet awaits.
Curious to learn more about Happeo? Book a custom demo.
