We’ve all been there — you’re reviewing your content, and suddenly, you notice a drop in traffic or rankings on pages that used to perform well.
Don’t panic. It’s a natural part of the content lifecycle.
As content ages, it can start to lose effectiveness, which may cause dips in search rankings and traffic.
The good news is that content decay can be reversed. With the right updates and content optimization, you can bring your content back to life and keep it performing well.
Learn to combat content decay and refresh your library as we discuss:
• What Is Content Decay?
• Factors Rotting Your Content
• How To Detect Content Decay
• How To Fix Content Decay Before It Rots Your SEO
• Content Maintenance Tips for Long-Term Success
• Combat Content Decay for Good
What Is Content Decay?
Again, content decay happens when your content gradually loses organic traffic and search rankings. This can happen even if you haven’t made any changes to the content.
Some signs that a content decay fix is due include:
• Slow growth
• Traffic leveling off and gradually decreasing
• Rankings remaining stagnant
• Fewer impressions in search results
• Declining click-through rates (CTR)
• Reduced engagement metrics like time on page or bounce rate
• Lower conversion rates despite consistent traffic
What Could Be Rotting Your Content?
It’s important to identify what might be dulling your content in the first place to understand where updates or improvements are needed. Some possible offenders include:
• Outdated Information: Content with outdated facts, statistics or examples quickly loses value as users and search engines prioritize more updated sources.
• Algorithm Updates: Changes in search engine algorithms can push previously high-ranking content down the results page.
• Better Competitor Content: Competitors publishing more detailed, up-to-date content targeting the same keywords can siphon traffic from your page.
• Shifts in User Intent: As user expectations evolve, content that no longer meets consumer needs may lose relevance.
• Declining Topic Interest: A natural drop in interest or search volume for a topic can lead to reduced traffic, even for well-optimized content.
• Keyword Cannibalization: When multiple pages on your site target the same keywords, they can compete against each other, hurting overall rankings
• SERP Features Taking Over: Search features like snippets, local listings or answer boxes can capture clicks, leaving less traffic for traditional organic results.
Here’s How To Detect Content Decay
• Use Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA) to check drops in clicks, impressions and average position.
• Audit top-ranking pages quarterly.
• Use AI-powered tools to set up alerts on performance dips.
More on each below.
1. Use Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA)
Analytics tools like GSC and GA offer key data on how to boost old content performance. You can see each article’s organic traffic over time or compare date ranges to see if traffic is rising, plateauing or declining.
Compare content period-over-period using Google Analytics.
Watch for declines in metrics like CTR and impressions, as these can signal content that needs updating.
GSC also allows you to review search queries for each article, which provides a clearer view of how well you’re meeting your audience’s needs.
2. Audit Top-Ranking Pages Quarterly
Here’s the thing: Even the most well-written, fully optimized pages, complete with visuals, graphs and impressive engagement metrics, can still succumb to content decay.
Don’t wait until your content has flatlined to take action. Make it a habit to audit your key pages at least quarterly. Time-sensitive topics, such as regulations and policies, seasonal content, product information and news articles, will need more frequent updates.
3. Use AI-Powered Tools To Set Up Alerts on Performance Dips
If budget allows, AI tools can monitor your content’s performance and alert you to drops in traffic, rankings or engagement. This saves time by automatically tracking content decay indicators so you can respond quickly when issues arise.
5 Ways To Fix Content Decay Before It Hurts Your SEO
Once you know what’s causing the decay, use these steps to refresh blog content:
1. Prune Your Content
Content pruning is purging your site of obsolete, low-performing content so you can improve your search engine performance.
Pruning doesn’t always involve removing pages, as even low-traffic content can still provide search engine optimization (SEO) value, conversions and engagement.
That said, you have three options when pruning your content:
• Refreshing: Update website content to improve its quality, accuracy or relevance.
• Consolidating: Merging similar or duplicate content into a single, stronger resource.
• Removing: Eliminate content that doesn’t qualify for refreshing or consolidation.
Learn more about each type of content decay fix below.
Refresh Blog Content
Update website content to keep it fresh, especially for pieces with a short shelf life, like those mentioning specific dates or statistical data. Freshness is key for relevance, which is what Google and readers want.
Updating content can be as simple as changing the date in your title and meta description, or it may involve rewriting the entire article. Focus on improving the value of your content by replacing outdated information with current data.
To update website content and boost old content performance:
• Check if the information is still accurate and helpful. Update your angles, add new examples and revise tutorials to keep them relevant.
• Ensure internal and external links are still working and relevant.
• Add more internal links to related old articles. Use site search or tools like InLinks to find linking opportunities.
• Review headings to ensure they match search intent and are optimized for your topic.
• Check that images and multimedia are up to date, and improve alt tags and file sizes for faster loading.
Consolidate Content
Another way to prune content is to consolidate multiple pieces into one comprehensive post. This reduces competition among your content and prevents keyword cannibalization. It also makes it easier for readers to find all the information they need in one place.
Here are some tips for consolidating your content:
• Identify which posts can be combined based on similar topics or overlapping keywords.
• Rewrite and restructure the content to flow seamlessly as one cohesive piece. This may involve removing redundant information, updating outdated facts and adding new insights.
• Implement 301 redirects from the old posts to the new consolidated posts to ensure uninterrupted traffic flow.
• Update internal links within your website to point to the new consolidated post as a comprehensive source of information on the topic.
Delete Content
So, when is deleting content the best option? You can choose this method if:
• The content is outdated and no longer relevant.
• The content is performing poorly, even after updating or consolidating.
• The content does not align with your current brand message or target audience.
• The content has received negative feedback or backlash from readers.
How often should you be pruning content? Larger websites should prune content every one to three months to make the process more manageable, while smaller sites can do it once or twice a year.
If the process feels too overwhelming for your in-house team, consider outsourcing it to content marketing experts.
2. Expand Old Content
Sometimes, content underperforms because it needs more topical depth. If competitors cover it better, they’ll likely outrank you. You can refresh blog content by adding value, context and fresh insights.
For example, if you have a guide on “Social Media Marketing Trends in 2022,” refresh it with the latest trends and data for 2024.
Remember, more words don’t equate to better rankings. You still need quality content that shows “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, ” as Google puts it.
How much you need to expand depends on the keyword and how detailed you want your piece to be. Content updates can be anywhere from a few hundred words to about a thousand.
3. Repromote Old Content
Don’t let your old content go to waste. Repromoting it can bring in new traffic and engagement, especially if you have just updated or consolidated it.
Here are some ways to go about this type of content decay fix:
• Send out multiple email blasts to your subscribers highlighting the updated or consolidated post.
• Share the post on social media as if it were new content. Use eye-catching visuals and engaging captions to attract clicks.
• Utilize paid ads to drive traffic to the post.
• Consider guest posting on other authoritative websites and including links to your updated or consolidated content. This will promote your post and help build backlinks for SEO.
4. Create Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is timeless pieces that stay useful and relevant for years. These articles often answer common questions or solve recurring problems and only require occasional updates to keep fresh.
While not all your content needs to be evergreen, it’s a smart addition to your content marketing strategy as it’s easy to manage, requires minimal updates and delivers lasting value.
Examples of evergreen content:
• How-To Guide or Tutorial: Step-by-step instructions for completing a task or learning a skill.
• FAQ: Answers to common questions in your niche.
• Guide: In-depth information on a specific topic.
• Listicle: A list of tips, recommendations or resources for your audience.
• Expert Interview: A conversation with an industry expert.
• Case Study: A report showing how a customer used your product to solve a problem.
• Resource Library: A collection of tools, templates or references.
• Infographic: A visual representation of information or data.
If you need help brainstorming and creating the right content for your business, it always pays to consult with the pros.
5. Repurpose Old Content
Content repurposing, or content recycling, is taking existing content and presenting it in a different format to extend its reach and lifespan.
For example, you can turn an old blog post into a video or podcast episode, long videos into short reels, create infographics from data-driven articles or compile several relevant posts into an ebook.
Content Maintenance Tips for Long-Term Success
Maintaining your content can help slow down content decay. Here are some content maintenance tips to help boost old content performance:
1. Schedule Regular Reviews
Schedule post-publication reviews for all content every few months. Time-sensitive topics may need more frequent updates, while evergreen pieces can be revisited annually.
2. Update Time-Sensitive Content First
Some topics, like regulations or policies, change often and need regular updates. Use metadata to track these pieces and schedule updates around the times when changes are expected.
3. Refresh or Remove Underperforming Content
Revisit content with declining keyword rankings to regain visibility, starting with high-traffic pages. Update outdated information, improve keywords or refresh visuals to boost old content performance. For poorly performing pieces, decide whether content optimization is necessary or should be removed entirely.
4. Use Data to Guide Your Content Marketing Strategy
Your content optimization process and overall content marketing strategy should be guided by metrics but remain flexible. Some content might show low performance yet still serve a niche audience, enhance branding or provide seasonal value.
Combat Content Decay for Good With Thrive
Content decay is a continuous battle, but you can win the fight against outdated or irrelevant content with the right strategies and resources.
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency’s content marketing services can help you stay on top of your content game. We conduct content audits, optimize content for search engine performance, promote it through various channels, monitor performance and more.
We also create content for social media to widen your reach.
Breathe life into your content and rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs) – speak to our experts today.
