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Migration & Relaunch

Content Inventory

A content inventory is a structured record of a website's relevant content, URLs, formats, and metadata.

A content inventory is a structured record of a website's relevant content, URLs, formats, and metadata. A complete inventory, clear mappings, testing, and post-launch monitoring reduce content, SEO, and operational risk. The concept is closely related to Content Audit and Content Migration.

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Content Audit

Content Migration

Redirect Mapping

Information Architecture

FAQ

Content Inventory

Why does a migration need a content inventory?
Without an inventory, it is unclear which content, URLs, and media actually have to move. It forms the basis for redirect mapping, effort estimates, and priorities. Missing pages otherwise surface only after go-live, usually through lost rankings or broken links. Building the inventory costs less than the damage caused by gaps.
How is a content inventory created?
It usually starts with an automated crawl of the website, supplemented by data from the CMS, the sitemap, and analytics reports. Automated lists often miss content behind logins or inside documents, which is then added manually. The spreadsheet is afterward extended with assessments and owners.
How does a content inventory differ from a content audit?
A content inventory records what exists, while a content audit evaluates it. The inventory supplies the data foundation as a complete list, and the audit adds quality and performance judgments plus recommendations. In practice the inventory comes first, because no reliable evaluation is possible without a full overview.
What information belongs in a content inventory?
Common columns are URL, title, page type, owner, creation and modification dates, format, and metadata such as title and description. For migrations, target structure and the planned treatment are added: keep, revise, or remove. Columns should follow the question at hand so the spreadsheet stays manageable.