In the latest episode of the Search Off The Record podcast, Google Search Relations team members John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman took a deep dive into dealing with “content decay” on websites.
Outdated content is a natural problem that all sites face over time, and Google has outlined strategies beyond simply deleting old pages.
While it is sometimes necessary to remove outdated content, Google recommends taking an intentional and format-specific approach to dealing with content decay.
Archive vs Transition Guides
Google discourages immediate removal of content that becomes obsolete, such as materials that refer to discontinued products or services.
Removing content too soon could confuse readers and lead to a poor experience, explains Sassman:
“So if I’m trying to figure out how what happened, I almost need to know that first. Like, ‘What happened to you?’ And otherwise it almost feels like a bug. Like, ‘I clicked on wrong link or did they redirect to the wrong thing?”
Sassman says you can avoid confusion by providing transitional “explanatory” pages during opt-out periods.
A temporary transition guide informs readers of outdated content while directing them to updated resources.
Sassman continues:
“This could be like an intermediate step where you might not do it forever, but you do it during the transition period where, for six months, it sends them toward the explanation, and then, it’s fine. , call it a day. Like enough time has passed. We can just redirect to the thing and people aren’t so confused anymore.”
When updates vs. When to write new content
For reference guides and content that provide an authoritative overview, Google suggests updating the information to maintain accuracy and relevance.
However, for archival purposes, major updates may warrant creating a new piece rather than editing the original.
Sassman explains:
“I still want to keep the original content as it was, in case we need to look back or refer to it, and changing or rehabilitating it into something new would almost be worth reposting as a new blog post if he had a lot more to say about it.”
Remove potentially harmful content
Google recommends removing pages in cases where outdated information is potentially harmful.
Sassman says he came to this conclusion when deciding what to do with a guide that includes outdated structured data:
“I think one thing we removed recently was the ‘How to structure the data’ documentation page, which I thought we should just get rid of…it almost seemed like it would be more confusing to leave it for a period of time
And it would actually be negative if people still add markup, thinking they’re going to get something. So what we ended up doing was deleting the page and redirecting to the changelog entry so that if people clicked on “How to structure data” still, if there was a link somewhere, still could find out what happened to this feature.
Internal Audit Processes
To keep your content up to date, Google advises implementing a system to audit old content and flag it for review.
Sassman says it sets up automatic alerts for pages that haven’t been checked in certain periods:
“Oh, so we have a little robot to come and remind us, ‘Hey, you should come and research this documentation page.’ x time has passed Please come check it out again to make sure all your links are still up to date, still fresh. “
Context is key
Google’s tips for dealing with content decay focus on understanding the context of outdated materials.
You want to prevent visitors from stumbling on unclearly outdated pages.
Additional tactics recommended by Google include:
Banners or prominent notices that clarify the dated nature of a page List original publication dates Provide online annotations that explain how older references or screenshots may be out of date
How this can help you
Following Google’s recommendations for dealing with content decay can benefit you in several ways:
Improved user experience: By providing clear explanations, transition guides, and redirects, you can ensure that visitors don’t encounter confusing or broken pages.
Maintain trust and credibility: Removing potentially harmful or inaccurate content and keeping your information up-to-date demonstrates your commitment to providing reliable and trustworthy resources.
Better SEO: Regularly auditing and updating your pages can benefit your website’s search ranking and visibility.
Archival purposes: By creating new content instead of editing older pieces, you can keep a historical record of your website’s evolution.
Streamlined content management: The implementation of internal audit processes facilitates the identification and treatment of outdated or problematic pages.
By proactively addressing content decay, you can keep your website a valuable resource, improve SEO, and maintain an organized content library.
Listen to the full Google Podcast episode below:
Featured Image: Stokkete/Shutterstock
