Is your website’s reputation going down because of bad content?
It might be.
Could old or outdated content be causing this?
Possibly.
But bad content isn’t just about when it was published. It’s more complicated. Google said this after CNET deleted many old pages.
Fixing content in bulk for better search results doesn’t always work.
Old content on your site is fine if it’s good quality. Look at The New York Times for an example.
Let’s find out how to check if your content is good for search engines and how to decide if you should make it better or remove it.
What is good content?
Good content gives answers, solves problems, or helps people. Think about what Avinash Kaushik calls your main audience. Good content also:
- Has correct information
- Is easy to understand
- Teaches you something
- Is interesting
- Helps you
- Gives useful information
- Makes you feel good
- Is made well
- Is original
- Can be shared
- Is helpful
Not every piece of content has all of these things, but great content has many of them.
Google also tells us what good content is. It asks questions like:
- Does the content have new information or research?
- Does the content talk about the topic well?
- Does the content have interesting details?
- Does the content add something valuable to other sources?
- Does the title of the content explain what’s inside?
- Is the title too exaggerated?
- Is this a page you’d save or share?
- Would you find this in a book or magazine?
- Is the content better than other search results?
- Does the content have mistakes?
- Is the content well-made?
- Is the content made by many people?
- Do other sources recommend this content?
How to Measure Good Content
All these things about good content sound good, but how do you know if your content is good?
Here are five ways to check:
- Pageviews: Lots of people reading is good.
- Organic traffic: Real people visiting your site is better than just being ranked high.
- Links: Good websites linking to your content is better than many bad links.
- Conversions: Are people signing up or buying from you because of your content?
- Engagement: If people spend a lot of time on your page, it’s a good sign. Or if they scroll down a lot.
Look at what matters for you.
Where to Start: Look at Your Content
What content do you have? Make a list.
This will help you see if your content needs changes or should be deleted.
Make a chart with this information for help. Here’s what you can put (you might want to add more):
- Title: Is it right? Could it be better? Is it clear?
- URL: Is it good for search engines? Does it need changes?
- Author: Did an expert write it? Can you update it?
- Publication date: Important for content that can be updated (not news).
- Pageviews (before and recent): Look for bad content or old content with no visitors.
- Word count: Short content might be bad.
- Links: Did other websites link to this? How many links on your site go to this?
- Trust Flow and Citation Flow: These Majestic metrics show link quality. Higher is better.
Remember, word count is not always important for search engines. It’s about quality. Check for problems in your content.
Now, you need to decide what to do with each piece of content. This is hard and needs people who know about the topic and SEO.
Think about these things:
- Good for SEO: Content that helps you rank.
- Neutral for SEO: Content that doesn’t help or hurt.
- Bad for SEO: Old, thin, and not helpful content.
Content to Keep
Before we talk about fixing or deleting content, there’s special content that’s good as it is.
Some content doesn’t need changes now because:
- It’s really helpful, correct, and updated.
- Lots of people visit it.
- Other websites link to it.
- It shows up high on search results.
- It helps you get sales.
For now, don’t change this content.
Content to Improve
Lately, Google says don’t delete content, make it better. Google’s Gary Illyes says, “Make thin content better.” Google’s John Mueller also says improving is good.
To improve content, you need to do more than change a few things and the date.
You have to check everything and compare it to better content. Look at:
- What your audience wants.
- What you want people to do after reading.
- If it’s clear.
- If it has good facts.
- If it’s deep enough.
- If it’s readable.
- If it looks good.
- If it has links.
- If it’s missing things.
- If it has pictures, videos, or audio.
- If it’s easy to understand.
- If it has a good structure.
- If the title is good.
- If it’s helpful.
- If it has value.
Update
Updating needs less time. Change about 20-25% of the content.
Update if:
- Fewer people read it.
- Fewer people link to it.
- People don’t spend much time on it.
- It’s high on search results and can get higher.
- It’s not helping you make sales.
Rewrite
Rewriting needs more time. You might need to change everything.
Rewrite if:
- Almost no one reads it.
- People don’t link to it.
- People don’t like it.
- It’s not in the top 10 on search results.
- It’s not on search results anymore.
- It doesn’t help you make sales.
Sometimes, you have good topics but bad content. In that case:
- Start over.
- Update with new and correct facts.
- Make it better than others.
- Change the URL and keep links with a 301 redirect.
This helps keep the link value.
Combine and Redirect
Combine content if:
- You have many articles about one thing.
- Some pages don’t have visitors or links.
- One page doesn’t rank well or it’s the wrong page.
- Two pages talk about the same thing on search results.
- Combining can make a strong page. Google likes this.
Here’s how:
- Make one great page.
- Start over and use old facts.
- Make it better than other pages.
- Change the URL and keep links with a 301 redirect.
- Delete Bad Content
Bad content is bad for users and SEO.
Google said this after its Panda update. Removing bad pages helps good pages rank better.
Is the content not helpful? Is it old and not needed? Is it not getting visitors? Is it not high on search results? Delete it.
How to Delete Content
If you can’t update the content, decide if you want to delete it – remove it from search engines or your site.
Block it: Keep it on your site but not in search results with a noindex tag.
Delete it: Remove it from your site