Content decay and how not to let your work rot

What is content decay

Content decay refers to the situation where content experiences a gradual decline in traffic, conversions, visibility, and engagement rates, resulting in, for instance, fewer clicks. It doesn’t drop suddenly and is usually caused by factors such as outdated content, increased competition, or evolving user behavior. Importantly, content decay can occur even in factually correct and still up-to-date articles, websites, and other sources. The underlying cause might be, for example, a combination of changing algorithms and the appearance of new content. What’s vital is to differentiate content decay from:

• tracking errors, such as analytics glitches, indicating a drop in traffic that isn’t real. It’s best to check twice, or even thrice, or compare user behavior on similar pages;
• seasonality-based fluctuations, which occur naturally due to certain celebrations, holidays, events, or cycles. For instance, traffic to holiday-themed content, such as recipes for Christmas dishes or ideas for Halloween decorations, tends to spike in the weeks leading up to the celebrations and then drop afterward. We encourage you to read more about this topic in our article about seasonal tendencies;
• technical problems like slow page speed, broken links, or poor mobile performance. If you suspect such issues, you can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify them. This particular tool is free of charge and provides valuable metrics, including Core Web Vitals, as well as detailed explanations of the issues.

Detecting content decay before it hurts your traffic

The most effective way to detect content decay is with the aid of SEO and analytics tools. You can opt for solutions like Ahrefs or Semrush, which track organic traffic, backlinks, and help you identify pages that are slipping in search results. In order to catch early signs of decay and act before traffic suffers, we also recommend using Google Search Console or Google Analytics. However, it’s also wise to simply review your content. For instance, blog posts with a year in the title, such as “Best destinations in Europe for summer 2018” will almost certainly need refreshing. You can also analyze your competitors’ content to spot gaps or opportunities, or look for cases of keyword cannibalization – a situation where different pages on your site try to rank for overlapping or very similar keywords. It can contribute to content decay.

Content pruning SEO

After you detect content that needs your attention, it’s time for the next step. That step should be content pruning, a way of keeping your website well-maintained. It’s a solid SEO tactic, since search engines value fresh, accurate, and up-to-date content. Here’s how you can approach it:

1. After you detect content that’s not doing well, some publishers like to gather all the data in one place, using, for instance, a Google spreadsheet. Think bigger and add information, such as page views, but also consider additional metrics beyond standard analytics, like the number of external or/and internal links. In case there are none, you’ve just stumbled upon an orphaned page, meaning a page that isn’t linked to from anywhere else on your site, making it difficult for both users and search engines to be discovered;

2. At this stage, there are three main ways to approach content pruning:

• Content improvement – there are many ways to do it: you can add more value, elongate text, or modify it. Try to think outside the box, for example, you can even add a video or new pictures. After all the changes are introduced, remember to refresh the date, so users will know straight away that your page is up-to-date. This process not only improves User Experience but also signals to Google that your page is still relevant. Besides, it’s often easier and faster to update an existing article than to create a brand-new one, and the results can be just as effective. You can also opt for content recycling, meaning creating new content based on the old one,
• Content removal – although it seems harsh, sometimes it’s the best option. It’s especially true for duplicate or overlapping content, texts that don’t match the site’s niche, and content that’s hard to refresh, like “Best apps for 2015”. Interestingly, it’s proven that sometimes (like in the cases mentioned above) removing your content can increase traffic,
• Content consolidation is another approach to handling content pruning. It’s useful when more than one page is dedicated to a topic that is more or less or exactly the same. In such circumstances, it’s best to keep the URL that brings the most clicks;
• Lastly, check if your efforts have been rewarded, but also don’t forget to inspect your website’s analytics on a regular basis. Additionally, whenever possible, try to prioritize evergreen content (which is basically timeless), as it continues to deliver value over time. An example of this might be an article titled “A beginner’s guide to gothic architecture” or “Top 10 films of James Dean you must watch”.

From decay to display

Publishing your content is just like sending a message in a bottle; it might float for a while, but without some care, it can sink without a trace. On our blog, you can further discover how to keep your articles afloat and keep on thriving in the SEO ocean! After you’ve secured steady traffic, the only thing left to do is to monetize your efforts, and that’s where optAd360 comes in – we will help your content work for you every single day. Just get familiar with our requirements and complete the registration form!