Google is telling people not to delete old stuff from their websites just because it’s old. But they say that if you’re careful, removing some things can help with how your site shows up in Google searches.
A website called CNET got in trouble for deleting a lot of their pages to try and trick Google into ranking them higher. But actually, getting rid of old stuff is a common way to make a website better for Google searches.
CNET got rid of a bunch of articles recently, and they picked which ones to get rid of based on things like how many people looked at the pages, how many other websites linked to them, and how long it had been since they were last updated.
CNET thought that by getting rid of old stuff, Google would think their site was new and important. But that’s not how it works. Google wants websites to have useful content for people, not just stuff to show up in search results.
CNET had a reason for getting rid of their stuff. They said it’s because they get most of their visitors from Google searches, and having too much old stuff can hurt their website’s ranking.
But actually, Google doesn’t punish websites for having old content. And one of Google’s experts said that deleting old stuff just because it’s old doesn’t really help. Even old content can still be helpful.
Some people thought that deleting old content was a good idea because Google used to suggest it. But Google has changed its mind, and they now say that improving content is better than deleting it.
So, the bottom line is that deleting old stuff from a website isn’t always the best choice. It’s more important to have good and useful content that people want to see.