Trying to figure out what Google wants you to put on your site can be a nightmare. Yet, it remains a prime concern because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up determining whether or not your site will get a high enough ranking. Many website owners assume that having old or outdated content on their site will make their ranking lower than might have been the case otherwise. However, Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, claims that this isn’t true.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Google does not want website owners to remove their old content. According to the search engine giant, this content can actually be fairly useful. After all, not everything that users will be searching for through Google will have to do with recent news and events. Sometimes they would need information that may seem outdated but is actually surprisingly helpful to whatever it is that they are trying to accomplish.
Of course, there may be situations where deleting old content would boost your rankings. For example, if the page has a broken link or it doesn’t contain information that is all that relevant anymore, that page would obviously not get all that high of a ranking. Deleting it might help Google to crawl your site a bit more easily, thereby making it so that the more informative pages will rise to the very top.
Deleting old pages and content should be seen as a part of regular maintenance. If that content is outdated, it can be removed for the purposes of streamlining your site. Google has simply clarified that it is by no means a requirement, and should only be done if deletion seems warranted based on the search engine’s current push to include as much high quality content as possible. If there’s anything that can bring your SERP ranking down, it is fluff content that tries to game the system. Genuinely useful content will always help you to rise up in the rankings for all search engines.
Read next: Generative AI is Still Creating Fake News According to This Study
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Google does not want website owners to remove their old content. According to the search engine giant, this content can actually be fairly useful. After all, not everything that users will be searching for through Google will have to do with recent news and events. Sometimes they would need information that may seem outdated but is actually surprisingly helpful to whatever it is that they are trying to accomplish.
Similarly, keep in mind that just because something doesn't get a lot of views (eg, old news, obscure information) doesn't mean it's not helpful for those who do view it. Focus on the unique value, not on the age, view-count, etc.
— John Mueller (official) · #MaybeABot (@JohnMu) August 9, 2023
Of course, there may be situations where deleting old content would boost your rankings. For example, if the page has a broken link or it doesn’t contain information that is all that relevant anymore, that page would obviously not get all that high of a ranking. Deleting it might help Google to crawl your site a bit more easily, thereby making it so that the more informative pages will rise to the very top.
The page itself isn’t likely to rank well. Removing it might mean if you have a massive site that we’re better able to crawl other content on the site. But it doesn’t mean we go “oh, now the whole site is so much better” because of what happens with an individual page.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) August 9, 2023
Deleting old pages and content should be seen as a part of regular maintenance. If that content is outdated, it can be removed for the purposes of streamlining your site. Google has simply clarified that it is by no means a requirement, and should only be done if deletion seems warranted based on the search engine’s current push to include as much high quality content as possible. If there’s anything that can bring your SERP ranking down, it is fluff content that tries to game the system. Genuinely useful content will always help you to rise up in the rankings for all search engines.
Read next: Generative AI is Still Creating Fake News According to This Study
