Does Deleting Old Content Boost SEO? An In-Depth Look

In the ever-evolving world of search engine optimization (SEO), website owners and content creators are always looking for ways to improve their search rankings and visibility. One strategy that has gained attention in recent years is content pruning – the practice of deleting old, outdated, or low-performing content from a website.

The idea behind content pruning is that by removing irrelevant or low-quality pages, you can improve the overall quality and freshness of your site, which could potentially lead to a boost in search rankings. After all, Google wants to serve up the most relevant, useful, and up-to-date content to searchers.

However, the question remains: does deleting old content actually help with SEO? As with many aspects of SEO, the answer isn‘t a simple yes or no. Let‘s dive deeper into the pros and cons of content pruning and what Google itself has to say on the matter.

The Scale of Old and Low-Quality Content

Before we get into the details of content pruning, it‘s worth noting just how much old and potentially low-quality content exists on the web. According to a study by Ahrefs, the average website has:

61% of pages with no organic traffic
33% of pages with no backlinks
15% of pages with a word count under 200

While not all of these pages are necessarily low-quality or in need of deletion, these numbers suggest that many websites have a significant amount of content that isn‘t performing well or adding much value.

Another study by Skyword found that 65% of B2B marketers and 53% of B2C marketers have over 100 blog posts, and 28% and 15% respectively have over 1,000. With content libraries of this size, it‘s likely that at least some portion of those articles are outdated or irrelevant to the brand‘s current strategy.

What is Content Pruning?

Content pruning is the process of identifying and removing content from your website that is no longer valuable or relevant to your audience. This could include:

Outdated articles or blog posts
Low-quality or thin content pages
Redundant or duplicate content
Pages with little to no organic traffic or engagement

The goal of pruning is to streamline your website, improve content quality, and provide a better user experience. A site cluttered with old, irrelevant content can be difficult for users and search engines to navigate. By cleaning things up, you make it easier for visitors to find the information they‘re looking for and for Google to understand what your site is about.

Google‘s Stance on Deleting Old Content

So, what does Google have to say about content pruning? In short, they don‘t recommend deleting content just because it‘s old. Google‘s John Mueller has stated that the search engine doesn‘t automatically devalue pages that are several years old. In fact, he noted that some old content can be beneficial if it‘s still useful and relevant.

"I think the age of the content itself doesn‘t matter at all. We have some really old documentation on the web and it‘s still valid and we still show it," Mueller said in a Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout. "So just because something is old doesn‘t mean it‘s bad. And similarly, just because something is new doesn‘t mean it‘s good."

However, Mueller also acknowledged that pruning can be helpful in some cases. "If you have content that you think is low quality, where you don‘t think it really makes sense for it to be indexed, then obviously that‘s something I‘d consider removing and doing that," he said in another hangout.

The key takeaway is that age alone isn‘t a reason to remove content. What matters more is the quality, relevance, and usefulness of each page. Before hitting the delete button, ask yourself:

Is this content still accurate and up-to-date?
Does it provide value to my target audience?
Is it getting any organic traffic or engagement?
Does it align with my current brand and content strategy?

If the answer is no to most of those questions, then pruning may be appropriate. But if the content is still valuable, even if it‘s old, it‘s often better to update and refresh it rather than remove it entirely.

Case Studies: Does Content Pruning Boost SEO?

While Google‘s advice is helpful, it‘s also useful to look at real-world examples and data. Several case studies have shown positive SEO results from strategic content pruning:

In 2020, HubSpot deleted 3,000 old blog posts that they deemed low quality or irrelevant. Six months later, they reported a 50% increase in organic traffic and an 11% increase in leads.
Search Engine Journal conducted a content audit and removed hundreds of old, low-quality pages. They saw a 25% lift in organic traffic within 60 days.
Siege Media deleted 15% of their indexed pages and saw a 50% increase in organic traffic within a few months.
A B2B tech company removed 60% of their website pages and saw a 100% increase in conversions within a year, according to a case study by Brafton.

These examples suggest that pruning can indeed give websites an SEO boost, when done properly. However, it‘s important to note that these sites likely had a significant amount of low-quality or irrelevant content dragging down their overall performance. For websites that are already in good shape content-wise, the impact of pruning may be less dramatic.

It‘s also worth considering the potential downsides of deleting old content:

Loss of backlinks: If other sites are linking to your old content, deleting those pages means losing that link equity. Backlinks are a major ranking factor, so removing pages with a lot of links can hurt your SEO. According to Backlinko, the #1 result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10.
Reduced site size: For large websites, having a high volume of quality pages can be an advantage. Removing too much content could shrink your footprint. A study by Terakeet found that websites with over 1,000 indexable pages get 9.5x more organic traffic than those with under 50 pages.
Annoyed users: If people are still finding value in your old content, deleting it could frustrate them and damage brand trust. A survey by Brafton found that 46% of people said they would be less likely to buy from a brand in the future if they had a poor experience with the website.

The bottom line is that content pruning can be effective for SEO, but it needs to be done judiciously and as part of a broader content strategy. Blindly deleting old posts is rarely the right approach.

How to Identify Content for Pruning

So how do you know which content should be removed and which should be kept or improved? Here are some key factors to consider when auditing your content:

Traffic: Is the page getting any organic traffic? You can use Google Analytics or Search Console to see which pages are receiving clicks from search.
Engagement: Once people land on the page, are they engaging with the content? Look at metrics like bounce rate, time on page, and pages per session to gauge how interested readers are.
Backlinks: Does the page have any valuable backlinks from other websites? Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz can show you the quantity and quality of backlinks to each URL.
Relevance: Is the content still relevant to your target audience and aligned with your current brand strategy? Even if a page is getting some traffic, it may not be worth keeping if it‘s not a good fit anymore.
Quality: Does the content meet your current standards for depth, accuracy, and polish? Low-quality or thin pages are prime candidates for pruning.
Duplication: Do you have other pages that cover the same topic? Consolidating similar content into a single page can often provide a better user experience than having multiple weak pages.

One helpful tool for content audits is Google‘s Search Console. It allows you to see which pages are indexed, getting impressions and clicks in search, and flagged for any manual actions or errors.

Search Console also has a "Coverage" report that groups pages into categories like Errors, Valid with warnings, Valid, and Excluded. This can help you identify pages that aren‘t even being indexed by Google and may be good candidates for pruning.

An Example Content Audit and Pruning Process

To illustrate how a content pruning process might work in practice, let‘s walk through a hypothetical example.

Say you have a website with a blog that has 500 posts going back five years. You suspect that some of the older content is no longer relevant or high-quality. Here‘s how you could approach pruning:

Export a list of all blog post URLs along with key metrics like organic traffic, bounce rate, and backlinks. You can get this data from Google Analytics, Search Console, and your SEO tool of choice.
Sort the list by the metrics that matter most to you. For example, you might start by looking at posts with zero organic traffic in the last 6-12 months.
Review each post on the shortlist and ask the key questions about quality, relevance, and value to your audience. Take notes on whether each post should be kept as-is, updated, consolidated with another post, or deleted.
For posts that you‘ve marked for deletion, check if they have any valuable backlinks. If so, consider redirecting the URL to a similar post rather than letting it 404.
Create a plan for updating the posts you‘re keeping. Prioritize based on potential impact. For example, refreshing a high-traffic post might deliver a bigger SEO boost than a low-traffic one.
As you delete and update, keep an eye on your overall traffic and rankings. If you see a dip, you may need to slow down or reassess your approach.

This is just one potential process, but it illustrates the importance of making data-informed decisions and considering multiple factors before removing content.

Best Practices for Content Pruning

If you do decide that content pruning is right for your website, here are some best practices to follow:

Conduct a content audit: Before removing anything, take inventory of all your site‘s pages and analyze their performance. Look at metrics like organic traffic, bounce rate, time on page, and backlinks.
Identify prune candidates: Flag content that is outdated, inaccurate, low-quality, or off-brand. Also consider pages that get little to no traffic or engagement.
Consider updating instead of deleting: For borderline cases, see if you can refresh or expand the content to make it more valuable. Update info, add new insights, and optimize for relevant keywords.
Use 301 redirects: If you do delete a page that has links pointing to it or gets some traffic, use a 301 redirect to send users to a similar, relevant page. This preserves link equity and provides a better user experience than a 404 error.
Take it slow: Avoid making huge changes to your site all at once. Prune in phases and monitor the impact as you go. If you see negative effects, you can always reverse course.
Consult SEO experts: If you‘re not confident in your pruning strategy, consider working with an SEO consultant or agency. They can provide guidance and help you avoid costly mistakes.

Alternatives to Content Deletion

If you‘re not ready to take the plunge with content pruning, there are other ways to optimize your old content for search engines:

Update and refresh: As mentioned earlier, bringing old posts up-to-date with new information and optimizations can make them more valuable to users and more attractive to Google.
Consolidate similar content: If you have multiple pages on the same topic, consider combining them into a single, authoritative resource. This can help avoid keyword cannibalization and provide a better user experience.
Improve internal linking: Linking to your old content from newer, high-performing pages can give them an SEO boost and drive more traffic their way.
Promote on social media: Resharing old content on social can bring it new life and engagement. You can also update social media posts to reflect any changes or additions you‘ve made to the content.

The Importance of a Holistic SEO Strategy

While content pruning can be a useful tactic, it‘s important to remember that it‘s just one piece of the SEO puzzle. To really succeed with search, you need a comprehensive strategy that includes:

Keyword research and optimization
High-quality, original content
Effective on-page SEO elements (titles, meta descriptions, header tags, etc.)
Earned backlinks from reputable websites
Fast site speed and mobile-friendliness
Positive user experience signals (low bounce rate, high time on site, etc.)

Pruning alone won‘t make up for deficiencies in other areas. It‘s best used as a complement to a well-rounded SEO strategy, not a crutch.

In fact, some experts argue that content creation should be a higher priority than pruning for most websites. A study by SEMrush found that websites that post new content 4-5 times per week see 3.5x more traffic than those that post 1-4 times per month.

That said, even the best content will struggle to perform if it‘s buried in a sea of low-quality or irrelevant pages. A balanced approach that includes both regular publishing and occasional pruning is likely the optimal strategy for most sites.

Key Takeaways

So, does deleting old content boost SEO? The answer is: it depends. When done strategically, content pruning can improve your website‘s overall quality and relevance, which may lead to better search rankings. However, it‘s not a guaranteed win, and there are potential drawbacks to consider.

Here are the key points to remember:

Content pruning is the process of removing outdated, low-quality, or irrelevant pages from your site.
Google doesn‘t recommend deleting content just because it‘s old. What matters more is the quality and usefulness of the content.
Several case studies have shown SEO gains from strategic content pruning, especially for sites with a lot of low-quality pages.
However, deleting content can also have downsides, like losing backlinks and frustrating users.
To identify pages for pruning, look at metrics like organic traffic, engagement, backlinks, relevance, and quality.
If you do prune, do so slowly and carefully. Redirect deleted URLs when appropriate and monitor the impact on your traffic and rankings.
Alternatives to deletion include updating old content, consolidating similar pages, improving internal links, and re-promoting on social media.
Content pruning should be part of a holistic SEO strategy that also includes things like keyword optimization, link building, and technical best practices.

In the end, the decision to prune or not to prune depends on your unique situation and goals. If your site is cluttered with a lot of junk content, then a careful pruning may be in order. But if your old content is still useful and relevant, it‘s often best to leave it be or find ways to give it new life.

As with any SEO strategy, the key is to always put your users first. Create content that educates, informs, and delights, and the search rankings will likely follow. And if you do decide to break out the pruning shears, just be sure to snip carefully and with a plan in mind.

By keeping these principles in mind and continually adapting to the ever-changing search landscape, you can keep your website optimized, effective, and valuable to your audience for years to come.