Updated: December 22, 2015
The content on your website is important. As a webmaster, you definitely should update your content on a regular basis, but this doesn’t mean it’s always best to junk all of your outdated content. The content found on your website is actually much more important than just providing information to your visitors.
Reasons to Keep Existing Content
- If you’ve had your website for any length of time, then your content has already been indexed by search engines. In addition, you’ve likely already handled visitor traffic; therefore, your website has already been ranked by Google based on your SEO value. If you delete this indexed content, you will likely see a drop in rankings. Even if you add new content, it can take time for the new content to be indexed and rebound your website’s position.
- When people stumble upon content they enjoy or find useful, they will often frequent that website for further information. If you remove your content, these individuals may quit returning to your site thinking that the information they’re after will not be there anymore.
- The more high quality information you have on a topic, the better your site will look to searchers and Google. If you can be seen as an authority on a given topic, Google will increase your ranking and your traffic will likely increase as well.
What to Do With Outdated Content
So what should you do with old content? When you decide that it is time for a content update on your website, you should ask yourself these four questions.
- Did the page or content see traffic, either organic or direct?
- What changes need to be made to ensure a positive user experience?
- Are there external links to the page and does it have proper internal links?
- Is the information on the page still useful to users?
After you’ve answered these questions, you should devise a system where your outdated information (content that is a year or more old) is given a facelift. You can rewrite the content, making it timelier and link to the newer page(s).
If you have further questions regarding the management of content on your website, take a look at our knowledge center and blog.
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