Should You Ever Delete Old Blog Posts?

There was a theory in SEO for years that deleting “bad” content could be good for your site’s overall SEO. This is mostly based on myth, and we’re going to take a look at whether you should ever delete old posts for any reason.

Quick takeaway: I’ve deleted content several times, and it never helped with SEO and may have hurt. It’s not an SEO tactic I’d recommend. But there can be other reasons to delete older posts.

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The Case for Keeping Old Blog Posts

At first glance, it may seem like deleting old blog posts is a smart move. After all, you want your website to look fresh and relevant, right? And who wants to clutter up their site with outdated information?

However, the reality is that your older blog content often holds significant value that you don’t want to simply discard. Here are a few key reasons why you should think twice before hitting that delete button:

1. Established Search Rankings

One of the biggest benefits of keeping your old blog posts is the search engine optimization (SEO) value they’ve already accumulated. The more content you have on your site, the more pages Google and other search engines have to crawl, index, and potentially rank highly in their results.

Even if a post is a few years old, it may still be bringing in valuable organic traffic if it’s ranking well for relevant keywords. Deleting that post means losing all of that hard-earned SEO equity, which can be extremely difficult to rebuild from scratch.

2. Topical Authority and Expertise

Maintaining a robust blog archive also helps to position your brand as an authority in your industry. The more content you have covering a wide range of relevant topics, the more it signals to search engines and potential customers that you’re a knowledgeable, trustworthy source.

This topical authority is critical for improving your overall search visibility and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. Removing old posts can undermine that authority and make it harder for you to rank for important keywords.

3. Ongoing Value for Readers

Even if an individual blog post isn’t bringing in a ton of new traffic, it may still be providing ongoing value to your existing audience. Loyal readers may refer back to your archives for informative content, troubleshooting tips, or historical context.

Deleting posts could frustrate these readers and make your site less useful. Additionally, old content that may not be driving new traffic could still be contributing to your overall engagement metrics, which search engines also use to evaluate site quality.

4. Link Equity and Backlinks

When other websites link back to your content, that “link equity” helps to boost your site’s authority and rankings. Even if an old post isn’t directly driving a lot of traffic, those backlinks can still be providing valuable SEO benefits.

Removing the post means losing that hard-earned link equity, which can be extremely difficult to rebuild. It’s generally better to keep that content live and continue to leverage the backlinks you’ve accumulated over time.

When It Makes Sense to Delete Old Blog Posts

While there are certainly strong arguments for keeping your old blog content, there are also some valid reasons why you may want to consider selectively deleting certain posts. Here are a few scenarios where removing content could be the right call:

1. Outdated or Inaccurate Information

If a blog post contains information that is demonstrably out-of-date or factually incorrect, it may be worth removing it. Outdated content can actually hurt your credibility and confuse or mislead readers, which is the opposite of what you want.

It’s always better to update the post instead. But if the information is too old or cannot be easily refreshed, it may be better to remove it entirely.

2. Irrelevant Content

Over time, your content strategy and target audience may evolve. Posts that made sense years ago may no longer be relevant or aligned with your current business goals and customer needs.

Doing this absolutely may hurt your site with Google, but it can be worth the risk if the posts would confuse readers about the point of your site.

3. Duplicate or Redundant Content

If you have multiple blog posts covering very similar topics or rehashing the same information, it may make sense to consolidate that content. Keeping duplicate or overly redundant posts live can confuse search engines and dilute your overall SEO.

In these cases, you may want to remove the less valuable post and redirect that URL to the stronger, more comprehensive piece of content.

4. Legal or Compliance Concerns

There may also be instances where you need to remove blog posts for legal or compliance reasons. For example, if a post contains sensitive personal information, copyrighted material, or outdated policies that could expose you to liability.

In these scenarios, it’s generally advisable to err on the side of caution and remove the problematic content, even if it means sacrificing some SEO value.

Tips for Maintaining Your Blog Archives

If you’ve decided that keeping most of your old blog posts is the right move for your website, here are some tips for properly managing and optimizing that content:

1. Audit and Refresh Older Posts

Regularly review your blog archives and identify posts that could use some refreshing. This may involve:

• Updating any outdated facts, statistics, or other information
• Revising the content to be more current and relevant
• Adding new sections or internal links to improve the post’s value
• Optimizing the post’s SEO, including the title, meta description, and keyword targeting

By keeping your older content fresh and useful, you can continue to drive traffic and maintain its SEO value.

2. Consolidate and Redirect Redundant Posts

As mentioned earlier, if you have multiple blog posts covering very similar topics, it may make sense to combine that content into a single, more comprehensive piece. This not only improves the user experience, but also helps to streamline your site’s architecture and SEO.

When consolidating posts, be sure to properly redirect the old URLs to the new, canonical version. This ensures you don’t lose any of that hard-earned link equity and search visibility.

3. Prune Low-Quality or Irrelevant Content

While you’ll want to keep the majority of your blog archive intact, it’s still a good idea to periodically review and remove any content that is truly low-quality, outdated, or no longer aligned with your business goals.

When deleting posts, make sure to also remove any internal links pointing to that content and consider setting up 301 redirects to send users and search engines to more relevant pages on your site.

4. Leverage Internal Linking

One of the best ways to maximize the value of your blog archives is to build a robust internal linking structure. By strategically linking between related posts, you can:

• Help users navigate your site and discover more of your content
• Pass “link juice” between pages to boost their individual SEO
• Improve your site’s overall architecture and crawlability for search engines

This internal linking can be especially powerful for driving traffic to your older, archived content that may not be ranking as highly on its own.

5. Monitor Performance and Adjust Accordingly

Finally, it’s important to continuously monitor the performance of your blog content – both new and old. Use tools like Google Analytics to track metrics like pageviews, bounce rate, time on page, and conversions.

This data can help you identify which posts are still driving value and which ones may be candidates for refreshing or removing. Don’t be afraid to experiment and make changes as needed to optimize your blog archives for maximum impact.