What a content audit actually uncovers in a digital health organisation

Content doesn’t exist in a fixed state. While the words you’ve published remain until you’ve archived or updated them, it’s natural for content to decline over time and people’s responses to it to change. As your services and products evolve, your content might not always completely capture how your brand serves its patients and users. 

‍

That’s where content audits come in. They help to identify what’s working and what you need to fix or get rid of. In the digital health arena, these checks are crucial. That’s because your content exists within a regulated environment and will always be linked to health and wellbeing.

‍

Giving your website regular checks can uncover a slew of issues. But ultimately, they should help you win customers and build a strong presence in an era where AI is reshaping search. 

‍

Here are some of the things you might notice when your content needs an upgrade.

‍

You don’t have documented processes

‍

A content audit quickly reveals whether your team has well-documented systems and frameworks to work from. It shows up in the inconsistency of your tone of voice, the lack of content models (the structures, relationships, and attributes of different types of content) in your CMS, the volume of out-of-date content on your website and the way that your users are behaving. If they’re not converting, they may find it difficult to engage with your content in the way that it is currently presented.

‍

If you want your users to understand your brand and your value as a healthcare service provider, your team, no matter how big or small, has to work from the same playbook each and every time it produces content.

‍

Implementing documentation that gives your team the tools to create consistent content of high quality will give users a reason to visit and return to your products and services.

‍

Building out editorial guidelines and a content production process document that outlines how your content team will produce different types of content in collaboration with your clinical staff or non-clinical co-producers is a great starting point. In these documents you can outline acceptable terminology, content workflows, safeguarding through content and risk-based review schedules. 

‍

In my experience, these documents give all of your content stakeholders the chance to contribute and inform the tone and voice of your content. It also allows to think about the safety and clinical reliability aspects of developing health-based pages, UX and transactional copy. The inclusion of your content production stakeholders helps develop a well-rounded, carefully considered set of documents that more people are inclined to stick to than not.

‍

Updating them as you encounter content issues also makes them living documents that can be reflected on during your retrospective meetings and catch-ups. It’s not about making huge changes each time but incorporating guidance that will make more of your content usable and trustworthy. For example, if your health information blog pages don’t include review dates or the name of the clinician who has reviewed them, your process document should be updated to outline why they should be and how to format them. It ensures that your team know to add this information to your CMS before they publish any content.

‍

Accessibility and inclusion haven’t been considered

‍

When your content is accessible and inclusive, it gives every potential user or customer the chance to access your products and services. For brands operating in the digital health and wellness space, this is critically important. Getting it right shows your users and potential customers that you care about equity and respect their differences regardless of their background or ability.

‍

Alienating users through a lack of clear, accurate and considered content can reduce your brand’s impact. Some of your most important potential customers may be locked out of your services because the language used in your content is too complex or isn’t structured for assistive technologies like screen readers.

‍

Look out for signs that your content is:

• Culturally sensitive 
• Written in plain English
• Free from bias
• Closed captioned (video content).

‍

Developing guidelines for inclusion and accessibility can help your team create content that works for as many users as possible.

‍

But further to this, designing your digital services with user involvement helps to iron out challenges from the outset. Although your team may be aware of WCAG 2.2 guidelines and may try to action them, many patients still feel excluded from digital health products and spaces.

‍

Lord Darzi's independent investigation of the NHS in England found that “in some respects, particularly in its decision-making and systems, the patient voice is simply not loud enough.” And this affects the way that services run. It went on to say that “there are real problems in responsiveness of services to the people they are intended to serve.”¹

^‍

So getting your inclusion policies and guidance right is an essential part of creating a service or product that aligns with the values that leaders in healthcare aim to embrace.

‍

Internal stakeholders have been prioritised over your users

‍

It’s easy to fall into the trap of producing content that satisfies your internal stakeholders instead of your users. And it shows up in a variety of ways. Your navigation might feel awkward or structured in an unintuitive way. Your pages don’t answer user questions, and it’s started to affect your Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) visibility.

‍

Although your internal stakeholders will have an important role to play in setting your product roadmap and maintaining clinical accuracy, your users are the ones who will engage with your services, convert and generate revenue.

Genuinely addressing their needs through your content helps them find the products and services your stakeholders want to promote. Using the analytical platforms available to you as well as the feedback you receive from users can help you develop information architecture, landing pages and informational content that work. It will help users to perform the actions that generate revenue while helping them get closer to addressing their personal healthcare needs.

‍

Your journeys are clinically safe but structurally cumbersome

‍

As a digital health team, your content should be safe and in line with the clinical and regulatory standards of your industry. But as you build out journeys from onboarding through to consultation flows, you may spend less time thinking about the user experience.

‍

Do your journeys have more clicks in them than necessary? Does your content enable users to understand their next steps?

If your content is jargon-heavy or causing drop-off during key journeys, it needs to be addressed. You can strike a balance between clinical relevance and user experience, but to do this, you need to work closely with both your clinical team and users to create a viable content solution.

‍

Your content isn’t designed to convert

‍

Even if you’ve invested a significant amount of time into building landing pages for your products, you may notice that they aren’t converting in the way you would have hoped for or expected. There are several reasons why this might be happening:

‍

• Your CTAs are buried
• You’re not solving a specific user problem
• Your pages are general rather than catering to a specific audience
• Your pages are pretty, but they lack substance

‍

Think about the tools you have available to you to investigate some of these challenges. For example, with a heatmapping tool you can assess how users are engaging with your pages through their clicks and scroll patterns.

‍

Using a multi-method approach that includes analytics funnels, user feedback and support-chat analysis in your audit can help in identifying why your content isn’t converting. It also gives you the foundation you need to make a meaningful change to it.

‍

AI is confused by your outdated content

‍

AI has rapidly changed the ways that people look for and identify the health products and services that work for them. More than 40 million people worldwide use ChatGPT daily for health information, according to OpenAI.²

‍

The appeal? The level of personalisation. A user can ask a question and get a tailored response based on the AI assistant’s ability to search for, interpret and extract information from content available online. 

‍

So when your website is filled with old product pricing and promotions or conflicting health-related content, it becomes a liability. The unfixed problems on your website are relayed back to the consumer, affecting their perception of your brand.

‍

Taking the time to identify old content and prioritise fixes based on severity will have benefits not only for your appearance in AI-generated responses to user questions but for patients looking for safe, effective and appropriately priced products and services.

‍

Final thoughts

‍

Content audits help ensure that your products are accurately represented in the digital spaces where you present them. If your content is out of date, inaccurate or doesn’t consider the real needs of the people you expect to engage with it, it will undermine the success of your products.

‍

Giving your team the time to conduct them will result in improved internal processes, better brand perception and more opportunities for growth. 

‍

References

1. GOV.UK. (2024). Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England (accessible version). [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-investigation-of-the-nhs-in-england/independent-investigation-of-the-national-health-service-in-england-accessible-version#patient-voice-and-staff-engagement [Accessed 28 Sept. 2026].
2. Morrone, M. (2026). Exclusive: 40 million people turn to ChatGPT for health care. [online] Axios. Available at: https://www.axios.com/2026/01/05/chatgpt-openai-health-insurance-aca [Accessed 28 Sept. 2026].

‍