Content Pruning: A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Your SEO

What Is Content Pruning?

Content pruning is nan process of removing underperforming aliases outdated contented from your website. So you tin amended your hunt motor optimization (SEO) results to get your champion contented successful beforehand of your target audience.

Content pruning doesn’t always lead to deleting content. Some of your low-traffic pages could person SEO, conversion, aliases engagement potential.

Which is why this process tin beryllium carried retired successful 3 ways:

• Refreshing: Improving nan quality, accuracy, and/or relevance of a portion of content
• Consolidating: Combining akin aliases copy contented into nan aforesaid page/resource
• Removing: Deleting contented that doesn’t suffice for repurposing aliases consolidation

By identifying and resolving your underperforming pages, you make room for your champion contented to flourish. And make your website a amended spot for visitors.

Why Is Content Pruning Helpful?

Content pruning tin amended your rankings (positions) successful hunt engines. By helping you place and update aliases region immoderate outdated aliases inaccurate accusation connected your site.

After all, Google wants to show nan astir helpful, relevant, and up-to-date accusation for users.

Some different contented pruning benefits include:

• Better personification experience: Providing users pinch nan astir up-to-date and applicable accusation ensures they person a affirmative acquisition connected your site. Which could promote them to return.
• More integrated traffic: Pruning contented tin forestall keyword cannibalization aliases duplicate content that whitethorn alteration your visibility. And that tin lead to much postulation from hunt engines.
• More businesslike usage of crawl budget: Google will only crawl a constricted number of pages from your website earlier moving on. Which intends you want to walk your crawl fund connected your highest-quality pages (this is astir important for websites pinch 10,000 pages aliases more).

Here’s a speedy contented pruning lawsuit study astir our ain blog showing nan benefits.

Over nan past fewer years, we’ve done immoderate pruning that includes a batch of contented refreshing. And we’ve seen a important summation successful integrated traffic, which you tin spot successful nan Domain Overview tool.

So, contented pruning should beryllium a regular portion of your website maintenance. No matter your website’s size.

For larger websites (or those that people contented regular aliases weekly), we urge identifying contented to prune successful batches each 1 to 3 months. Because it’s improbable you tin resoluteness each of your low-performing pages astatine once.

Smaller websites tin limit it to erstwhile aliases doubly per year. 

The 7-Step Content Pruning Process

Content pruning involves gathering and analyzing information from various platforms. So, see utilizing a spreadsheet to enactment organized and make it easier to analyse your pages passim nan process.

And travel these steps:

Step 1: Define nan Project Scope

Determine which types of pages you want to return a person look at. Because auditing your full tract tin beryllium a discarded of time—especially if astir of your contented is still caller aliases performing well.

To do this, fig retired what your extremity is.

If you want your conversion-focused contented to rank amended connected Google, past audit your merchandise pages.

But you first request to get a complete database of your pages. Which you tin do erstwhile you usage Site Audit.

Start by entering your domain sanction into nan tool. Then, click “Start Audit.”

Enter your domain sanction again and sanction your project. Then, click “Create project.”

Next, prime your audit settings. Including really galore pages to crawl. 

Let’s opportunity you cognize your website has 182 pages. You’ll past want to group nan limit to 200 to guarantee everything is captured. 

Make judge to click nan checkbox beside “Send an email each clip an audit is complete.” Then, click “Start Site Audit.”

The instrumentality will return a fewer minutes to look done your site. And show you an overview of your tract wellness and performance.

Click nan “Crawled Pages” tab to position a database of your pages.

Export this study into a CSV aliases XLSX file. And past transcript and paste each nan URLs into nan first file successful nan blank spreadsheet you’re moving from. 

Now, region each nan pages that you want to ignore. We’re going to attraction connected merchandise pages, truthful we’ll remove:

• Essential pages (e.g., homepage, interaction page, astir page, etc.)
• Blog posts
• Landing pages
• Newly published merchandise pages (they haven’t yet had clip to garner reliable capacity data)
• Knowledge guidelines pages
• Any different pages that aren’t relevant

Step 2: Identify Low-Performing Content

Next, place underperforming pages.

Let’s opportunity you want to get astatine slightest 1,000 monthly integrated visits (visits coming from hunt engines) to each of your merchandise pages. Meaning your underperforming pages are those that get less than 1,000 sessions per month.

To find this information, log successful to Google Analytics and prime nan tract you’re evaluating.

Go to “Reports,” prime “Acquisition,” and click “Traffic acquisition.” And group nan day scope to nan past afloat month. 

Now, select for nan first page connected your database by adding a “Page way and surface class” select and pasting successful nan URL slug.

Scroll down to nan array to find nan number of integrated sessions.

Add a file for integrated sessions to your spreadsheet and log this worth for nan first page. And repetition this process for each page successful your list. 

You’ll quickly beryllium capable to spot underperforming pages by spotting those pinch little than 1,000 sessions. 

The circumstantial metric/metrics you usage to place low-performing contented will dangle connected your marketing goals. And tin include:

• Keyword rankings
• Number and value of backlinks
• Conversion rate
• Engagement rate

Step 3: Identify nan Issues Affecting Your Pages

Doing a method audit for your underperforming pages will show you whether location are immoderate method errors causing nan issue. And if not, you cognize you’ll request to excavation a spot deeper.

In your spreadsheet, create a file to database immoderate issues connected your pages. Then, spell backmost to your “Crawled Pages” study successful Site Audit.

Locate each of your underperforming pages successful nan table. And click connected nan page URL to reappraisal immoderate identified issues.

Like this: 

If location are method issues, bespeak that successful nan statement that corresponds to nan underperforming page successful your spreadsheet.

What if you person underperforming pages without immoderate method issues?

Review those pages’ content. And see your audience’s search intent (the logic down nan query) and really your contented compares to your competitors.

Then, inquire nan pursuing questions astir your content:

• Does it meet nan user’s hunt intent?
• Does it see nan astir meticulous and up-to-date information?
• Does it supply a broad overview of nan topic?
• Does it publication for illustration it was created pinch humans successful mind?
• Does it supply important worth successful comparison to nan top-ranking content?
• Does it usage due pronunciation and grammar?
• Is it unsocial from different contented connected my website?

If you reply “no” to immoderate of those questions, bespeak that arsenic nan rumor adjacent to nan due underperforming page successful your spreadsheet.

Step 4: Review Your Backlink Data

Backlinks thief your contented rank better. Because Google sees backlinks arsenic a ballot of assurance from different websites.

In different words, if charismatic websites spot your contented capable to nexus to it, past Google besides sees it arsenic reputable. Which is why you’ll want to cognize whether your underperforming pages person immoderate backlinks earlier pruning them.

First, adhd a “Backlinks” file to your spreadsheet. And find retired really galore backlinks each of your pages has.

To do that, usage Backlink Analytics.

Enter your domain sanction into nan matter box. Then, click “Analyze.”

The instrumentality will show you an overview of your backlink profile. Including accusation for illustration really galore websites nexus to your pages (i.e., referring domains), really galore backlinks you have, and your Authority Score (a metric retired of 100 indicating your site’s wide quality). 

Next, spell to nan “Indexed Pages” tab to spot a database of your pages. And really galore backlinks each page has.

Now, look done nan indexed pages for nan pages connected your search sheet. And capable retired nan “Backlinks” file pinch really galore backlinks each page has.

If location are underperforming pages connected your database that person a ample number of backlinks, don’t prune them. Because pruning a page pinch tons of backlinks tin negatively effect your website’s wide SEO performance.

Also, return statement of pages pinch less backlinks. Because you whitethorn want to build links to those pages if you determine to support them.

Step 5: Label Your Content

Now that you’ve gathered data, you request to shape your content. We propose utilizing labels that will show you why nan contented is underperforming.

Add different file to your spreadsheet branded “Problem.” 

And usage a logical explanation that summarizes nan problem for each underperforming URL (you tin time off it blank for pages that are performing well). Here are immoderate examples: 

• Technical issue: Pages pinch method issues flagged successful your tract audit
• Outdated: Pages pinch inaccurate aliases outdated information
• Thin content: Low-quality pages that don’t research a taxable comprehensively
• Intent mismatch: Pages that don’t reside what searchers are looking for
• Duplicate content: Pages that are precisely nan aforesaid aliases akin to different page (you’ll find copy contented erstwhile looking for method issues, but it’s worthy singling retired successful nan spreadsheet)
• Needs backlinks: Pages pinch nary backlinks aliases debased nexus power

Some pages mightiness request aggregate tags. Depending connected what issues you discover. 

Clearly labeling your pages will thief you find nan adjacent steps for each page. So you tin make strategical decisions astir whether to prune them.

Step 6: Determine Next Steps

Content pruning tin beryllium performed byrefreshing, consolidating, aliases removing content. And you should delegate 1 of these pruning actions to each underperforming page. 

Create 1 past file successful your spreadsheet to statement nan adjacent step.

Now, let’s spell complete what each 1 entails:

Refreshing 

Refreshing contented involves updating your contented to amended its quality, accuracy, and/or relevance.

Any pages branded arsenic “Intent mismatch,” “Outdated,” “Thin content,” aliases “Technical issue,” whitethorn beryllium bully candidates for refreshing.

To refresh these pages, do immoderate of nan following:

• Expand connected thin content to make a page much adjuvant and comprehensive
• Replace outdated accusation pinch nan astir up-to-date information
• Rewrite contented to thief it reside hunt intent
• Link retired to caller research, lawsuit studies, aliases statistics
• Resolve immoderate on-page aliases method issues identified successful Site Audit
• Target a much applicable aliases little competitory keyword 

Refreshing allows you to get much retired of contented that you’ve already created. And tin revitalize contented capacity successful integrated search. 

And if your outdated contented has backlinks, refreshing lets you support each that hard-earned link power.

Consolidating 

Consolidating contented involves utilizing 301 redirects to harvester akin contented connected your site. So you tin nonstop users (and hunt motor bots) to nan highest-quality type of a page.

For example, nan website beneath has 2 akin pages. One is performing well. The different isn’t.

To consolidate, adhd a 301 redirect from nan 2nd page to nan first page. Then, refresh nan first page (if needed) to see immoderate cardinal accusation from nan 2nd page.

Pages branded “Duplicate content” are nan champion candidates for consolidation. So, place nan champion type of nan page and redirect nan lower-quality versions of nan page(s) to it.

Consolidating pages is awesome for erstwhile you want to region contented but you don’t want to suffer nan content’s nexus power. Because 301 redirects mostly transportation link equity to nan target page.

Removing

Removing contented is nan past action for contented pruning. It prevents your assemblage from seeing outdated accusation and makes room for caller pages successful your crawl budget.

Pages successful your spreadsheet that are branded arsenic “Outdated” whitethorn beryllium bully candidates for removal if they can’t beryllium refreshed for accuracy aliases are nary longer applicable to your audience.

But removing pages tin besides person antagonistic effects. So, return statement of nan pursuing earlier proceeding:

• Deleted pages lead to 404 correction pages. If you person different assets related to nan page you want to get free of, see utilizing a 301 redirect alternatively of deleting nan page.
• If you person soul links to nan deleted page, you will person surgery links connected your website. Make judge to repair them.
• Google removes 404 pages from its index. If those pages were getting integrated traffic, you’ll suffer it.

Step 7: Release Changes successful Stages

Content pruning should beryllium performed incrementally and successful stages. To debar getting overwhelmed and truthful you tin way advancement arsenic you go.

You mightiness want to repurpose a fewer underperforming pages and past measurement nan effect successful a fewer months. 

If you spot affirmative results successful your capacity metrics, move guardant pinch different pages and deploy akin improvements.

Improve Your SEO Performance pinch Content Pruning

The much contented connected your website, nan much important contented pruning is to its health.

And if you person a squad of marketers, developers, and contented writers making changes to your website content, establishing a contented pruning process is worthy nan effort. 

It tin thief you debar overlooking contented that isn’t up to your standards.

Get started pinch Site Audit to make a database of pages and cheque for method and on-page SEO issues.

This station was updated successful 2024. Excerpts from nan original article by Kevin Indig whitethorn remain.