How to Review Your Content Marketing Year

The year's ending. Before diving into next year's plans, take time to review what happened.

A proper year-end review isn't just looking at numbers. It's understanding what worked, what didn't, and why—so you can make better decisions going forward.

Here's how to conduct a useful content marketing review.

Gather Your Data

Traffic and Visibility

Pull reports for the full year:

• Total organic traffic: Year-over-year comparison
• Monthly trend: How did traffic change throughout the year?
• Top pages: Which content drove the most traffic?
• Search impressions: Are you appearing more in search results?
• Keyword rankings: Where do you rank for target keywords?

Sources: Google Analytics, Google Search Console

Conversions and Leads

Track business outcomes:

• Organic leads: Total leads from organic search
• Conversion rate: Leads / organic visitors
• Lead quality: Close rate of organic leads vs. other sources
• Revenue attributed: If trackable, revenue from organic leads

Sources: CRM, call tracking, conversion tracking

Content Production

Review what you actually produced:

• Articles published: Total for the year
• Publishing consistency: Did you hit your schedule?
• Content types: Mix of hero, support, seasonal
• Topics covered: What areas did you address?

Sources: Your content calendar, website audit

Investment

Calculate true costs:

• Content creation: Writing, editing, design
• Your time: Hours spent at your hourly rate
• Tools and services: Software, subscriptions
• Total investment: Add it all up

Sources: Invoices, time tracking, expense records

Analyze What Worked

Top Performing Content

Identify your winners:

• Which 5-10 pieces drove the most traffic?
• Which content generated the most conversions?
• What topics performed above average?
• What do successful pieces have in common?

Questions to answer:

• Why did these succeed?
• What can you replicate?
• Should you create more content like this?

Successful Strategies

What approaches produced results?

• Did certain content types outperform?
• Did seasonal content hit its targets?
• Did content clusters build authority?
• Did updating old content help?

Questions to answer:

• Which strategies should continue?
• Which should be doubled down on?
• What did you learn about what works?

Wins to Celebrate

What went well?

• Traffic milestones reached
• Rankings achieved
• Leads generated
• Consistency maintained
• Quality improved

Document your wins. They matter for morale and for understanding success.

Analyze What Didn't Work

Underperforming Content

Identify struggles:

• Which content got minimal traffic?
• What topics failed to rank?
• Which pieces didn't convert?
• What content wasn't worth the investment?

Questions to answer:

• Why did these fail?
• Was it the topic, the execution, or the competition?
• Should these be updated, consolidated, or abandoned?

Failed Strategies

What approaches didn't work?

• Topics that didn't resonate
• Timing that missed the mark
• Volume targets not hit
• Quality issues that persisted

Questions to answer:

• What should be stopped?
• What needs to change?
• What did you learn from failures?

Challenges and Obstacles

What got in the way?

• Consistency problems
• Resource constraints
• Quality issues
• Process breakdowns
• External factors

Questions to answer:

• Which challenges are fixable?
• What needs to change to overcome them?
• Were any obstacles unavoidable?

Calculate Your ROI

Basic ROI Calculation

ROI = (Revenue from Content - Cost of Content) / Cost of Content × 100

If you generated $75,000 in revenue from organic leads and invested $25,000:
ROI = ($75,000 - $25,000) / $25,000 × 100 = 200%

More Nuanced Analysis

Cost per lead:
Total investment / Total organic leads

Value per lead:
Total revenue / Total organic leads

Comparison to other channels:
How does organic CPL compare to paid channels?

Context Matters

Year 1 ROI often looks poor because you're still building. Compare:

• This year vs. last year (improvement)
• Content CPL vs. other channels
• Investment vs. ongoing value (content keeps working)

Don't judge year 1 by mature-program standards.

Identify Patterns and Insights

What Topics Resonate?

Look across your content:

• Which subject areas perform best?
• What types of questions get traction?
• Where is demand strongest?

What Format Works?

Analyze by content type:

• Hero content vs. support content performance
• List posts vs. comprehensive guides
• How-to vs. comparison content

What's Your Sweet Spot?

Your best-performing content reveals:

• Topics where you have genuine authority
• Areas where competition is beatable
• Questions your audience cares about

Double down on your sweet spot.

What Gaps Exist?

Your review should reveal:

• Topics you haven't covered
• Questions not yet answered
• Opportunities competitors have that you don't

Gaps become next year's priorities.

Plan for Next Year

Set Goals Based on Data

Use this year's data to set realistic targets:

• If Year 1: Growth targets for year 2
• If Year 2+: Incremental improvements on baseline

Goals should be:

• Specific and measurable
• Based on actual data, not hopes
• Ambitious but achievable

Prioritize Based on Learning

What changes should you make?

• Double down on: What worked
• Stop doing: What failed
• Start doing: Gaps identified
• Improve: What shows potential

Resource Appropriately

Based on results and goals:

• Does budget need to change?
• Is current capacity sufficient?
• Are there process improvements needed?
• Should anything be outsourced or brought in-house?

Create Next Year's Plan

Build a content plan that:

• Reflects lessons learned
• Addresses identified gaps
• Doubles down on what works
• Sets up measurable checkpoints

How Our Packs Fit After Your Review

The year-end review described in this article tells you what’s working and what’s not. Our product helps you act on that insight by generating:

• An automated LLM site review to understand your services and voice
• Local research to find high‑value topics in your market
• A 12‑month content calendar built around those priorities
• A Month‑1 content pack preview so you can validate quality before subscribing

We don’t provide analytics reviews or progress reports. You use your own data to decide which services and topics to emphasize, and we provide the calendar and articles to execute on that plan.

Document Everything

Create a Year-End Report

Document for future reference:

• Key metrics and trends
• Analysis and insights
• What worked and why
• What failed and why
• Recommendations for next year

Share with Stakeholders

If others are involved:

• Business partners
• Content providers
• Team members

Share results and plans.

Save for Comparison

Next year's review will be easier if you can compare:

• Keep your data accessible
• Note the context and circumstances
• Document any unusual factors

Common Review Mistakes

Only Looking at Positives

Cherry-picking wins ignores opportunities to learn from failures. Review both honestly.

Ignoring Context

Numbers without context mislead:

• Seasonal patterns affect results
• Industry events impact traffic
• Your own changes affect metrics

Consider the full picture.

Setting Unrealistic Year-2 Expectations

If year 1 went well, don't expect 10x growth in year 2. Growth rates typically slow as you build on a larger base.

Not Acting on Insights

A review is worthless if nothing changes. The point is to inform better decisions, not just to report numbers.

Skipping the Review

Busy season, year-end crunch—excuses abound. But flying blind into next year wastes the investment in this year's learning.

The Bottom Line

A year-end content marketing review should answer:

• What did we accomplish?
• What worked and why?
• What didn't work and why?
• What's the ROI?
• What should change next year?

Take time to do this properly. The insights inform better decisions, and the documentation helps track progress over time.

Content marketing is a long-term investment. Year-end reviews ensure you're investing wisely.

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Have meaningful content history to analyze? We'll review your last 12 months of content performance and show you what we'd focus on first next year. You'll get:

• Analysis of what's working and what's not
• Strategic recommendations based on your data
• Draft 12-month plan for next year aligned to your best opportunities
• A free Month-1 content pack so you can see the difference our approach makes

Whether you've been running content for years or just getting started, we'll show you how to turn insights into results.

Related Guides

• Anatomy of Content Marketing Success: What Works for Local Businesses
• What to Track: Essential Content Marketing Metrics for Local Businesses
• How to Calculate Content Marketing ROI (A Practical Guide)
• Planning Your Content Marketing for the Year Ahead