When Should You Delete Old Blog Posts?

The words old, classic, and vintage all describe the same thing but have vastly different meanings. Old tires belong in the junkyard, but vintage wine and classic cars become more valuable over time. In the same way, it’s important to recognize when you should delete old blog posts and when to leave them. With a new coat of paint, some provide value for years.

Is It Okay To Delete Old Blog Posts?

Deleting old blog posts can be a good thing. It all comes down to the effect removing the content has on your SEO goals. If old articles are weighing down your site or hurting search rankings, it’s time to trim.

On the other hand, some high-quality older articles actively support your search rankings and attract new leads. Many top-ranking pages have been around for at least two or three years.

We like the way John Mueller from Google explained this topic: “I think if that’s something that you think is good content that you want to publish with your website, with your name, then I would keep it. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

When Should You Delete Old Blog Posts?

When deciding whether or not to prune old blogs, look for five characteristics of weak content.

1. Violates Google’s Updated Guidelines

Anything that negatively affects your site’s domain authority or quality reputation needs to go. Black-hat techniques like keyword stuffing are an obvious no, but Google has also included “gray” policies on their list of practices to avoid. Private link network schemes (i.e., “link farms”), duplicate content from templates, buying backlinks, and other attempts to “game the system” can backfire and hurt your entire site.

2. Low Quality or Thin Content

Did your team use ChatGPT at the beginning of the AI craze to crank out hundreds or thousands of articles? If you didn’t check them for quality, they’re probably not worth saving. When you have blogs with low-quality writing, lots of errors, or repetitive content, it’s usually better to start from scratch and do things the right way.   

3. No Longer Relevant

Sometimes, blogs just aren’t relevant for your company anymore. This can happen when articles:

• Were for a customer segment you don’t sell to anymore
• Revolved around products you no longer offer
• Focused on services that aren’t in demand
• Targeted keywords that don’t align with your current SEO strategy

During the pandemic, many businesses created blog articles about remote work, videoconferencing tools, telehealth, and HIPAA privacy rules. These topics may no longer be relevant as many businesses have shifted back to in-office work or no longer need extensive remote work solutions. If your customers no longer need or care about those topics, your old articles aren’t going to move the SEO needle anytime soon.

4. Extremely Dated

You wouldn’t use a medical encyclopedia from the 1980s to evaluate symptoms today. Similarly, information on finances, health, technology, and legal topics can become outdated quickly. The amount of effort required to bring them up to speed is better spent creating a current article. It shows that your business is an industry leader that visitors can trust.

5. Never Ranked

SEO takes time to work, but months, not years. If a blog has never ranked and barely had page visits, it’s OK to throw in the towel.

When Is It Better To Refresh Old Content?

Any good website maintenance program should include periodically refreshing older content.

1. Still Helpful

Old content is still valuable if your target audience finds it helpful. Many well-researched guides stand the test of time:

• Comparison guides for vehicle models
• How-to guides for home remodeling tasks
• Articles on general business management topics
• Topic explainers

These blogs only need a minor “polish” to turn heads again. You can probably update a few statistics and change a point or two.

2. Potentially Useful

Moms and dads know that leftovers are still good. Cold turkey makes great sandwiches the next day. Old content is similar. If you have three so-so blogs that deal with the same topic and rank a little, combine them into one outstanding guide and rank a lot.

3. Driving Traffic, Views, or Engagement

The first rule of SEO is, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ Don’t delete articles that are ranking — even if they’re not in the top 50 or top 10. Protect your traffic.

Keep in mind that it’s not just clicks that determine if a page is useful. Engagement and conversions matter, too. If you notice that visitors are spending a decent amount of time reading a blog, you should nurture it, not cut it.

4. Part of Your Backlink Profile

Before deleting old blogs, always check for inbound links first. It takes time to build a strong link profile, so you should treat high-quality backlinks with respect. Either update the piece or redirect the traffic to a newer article on the same topic.

5. Aligned With Your SEO Goals

Your SEO goals can change over time, too. Maybe you’re expanding your services or taking advantage of new opportunities. Perhaps industry trends are making some of your target keywords more valuable than ever. Before writing a new blog, see if you have existing content on the back burner that can fit your needs with minor tweaks.

What Are the Benefits of Deleting Old Blog Posts?

There are definitely times when you should delete old blogs. It makes room for fresh content, just like pruning a few branches can help trees grow more luxuriantly. Auditing your site’s content can have a major impact on understanding your search rankings, site reputation, and customer engagement. 

One brand performed a website deep clean that included eliminating old blogs, improving technical SEO, and refreshing content. The result? Traffic increased by as much as 150%.

Another site pruned more than 3,000 poorly performing pages (out of 20,000 total). By the end, traffic shot up by 50%.

Should You Delete Old Blog Posts or Refresh? The Bottom Line

You shouldn’t delete old posts just because. You may be looking at your site’s next Mona Lisa or ‘57 Chevy without realizing it. At BKA, we’re experts in classic content and state-of-the-art SEO. Maximize your return on investment with smart content refreshes and watch your traffic climb.