Content pruning: how to delete your old content without fear

Help search engines make sense of what you’re all about and direct people to the right place.

When someone does a Google search in your industry, your site might well be considered. At that point, the algorithm needs to decide which page to include in the results.

This means that if you have 7 articles spread over the past 5 years that talk about the exact same widget or subject matter, which should Google show in its results?

You might end up lower in the results because of that.

And what if, in your content, write not only about interior design, but also about mortgages and home maintenance, is your site really the best source of information on the latest trends in bathroom design?

This is where content pruning comes in.

“Content pruning is the process of running a content audit and removing, updating, consolidating, and/or redirecting the low-value pages on your site.” (source: Hubspot)

Struggling to get performance out of your content? If your content team is living through content chaos on a daily basis, schedule a quick call with us to discuss Content strategy and content operations. We can help you get all your ducks in a row.

This should be regular hygiene that is included in your content program. Making sure you have the best content possible available and making sure you are making it very clear what you are to the algorithms that now populate our world.

Aja Frost, from Hubspot, wrote a great and extensive guide on how to go about going all Marie Kondo on your website.

She explains which tools you can use to find which content assets are not generating real value and could be deleted or combined with other content to form a longer-form piece (for example).

The process also allows you to see which pages do generate traffic but might be dated (thus might not be bringing the most value it could to your audience). This is where you might go in and update the content with a couple additional paragraphs or updating its vocabulary or any other element that will bring up to today’s standards.

The goal behind this is to make sure your content is not only optimized on a per-asset basis, but also as a whole so that Google and others can really have a clear view on when and where to send visitors.

So, when is your next content pruning initiative planned for? Let us know and schedule a consultation with our experts at Toast today.