What do you think about deleting old blog posts?
Last Update: July 02, 2018

Hey guys,

Some months ago I made an expensive mistake, since I've wasted some time and I haven't achieved some goals because of it.

But making mistakes is part of the process and it means that at least I have tried something. It can be frustrating at times but I need to accept it and learn from it.

Wondering what mistake I made? I wrote about topics that are not relevant anymore. Some of these topics brought traffic to my site for some weeks but people are not searching for them anymore, which means that my site has lost traffic.

That's why I'm wondering if I should delete the posts about these topics. If people are not looking for them anymore, why keep them? They are "wasted posts".

What about you? Have you ever deleted old blog posts? How has this affected your website?

I would appreciate your opinions on this topic.

Thank you =)

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markos84uk Premium
Don't delete old posts. If the date is not important or relative to your post, then remove the date, or update the page.

Then send an email out to subscribers who subscribed AFTER the original dated post, to let them know of this content. They may have seen it, but either way you're giving it a chance again.

Never delete content, it's like removing stock from a shop that has potential to make money. The bigger your site, and the more relevant words, the better.

(Unless we're in the same niche, then you can delete it and give it to me! Ha! I'm kidding of course)

Best wishes

Mark
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JeannineC Premium
They aren't old posts. Google has indexed them, so just let them sit there - they aren't hurting anything.

I have a friend who is a lawyer who wrote a just-for-fun post about Air Force One on her site. It gets more traffic than anything else. You never know when those will become popular again. Just leave them.
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frmcf Premium
Hi Miren, I feel that you should not delete those older post just yet. There usually is something in them that applies to the present with just a little rewriting. I just recently had such a situation and rewrote parts of the post. Guess what happened? I received a comment along with a request for more information. This may also work for you. You may want to give it a try. :-) Frank
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MKearns Premium
See how you can repurpose them as a first step Miren!
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BradB18 Premium
I think it best to keep them. I deleted one post some time ago and wish I hadn't.
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VitaliyG Premium
No such thing as wasted posts in this case, keep them. The popularity of products and topics runs out eventually 9 out of 10 times. Erasing them will actually inhibit your site's authority. You should aim to keep adding and adding, not erasing.
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enstinemuki Premium
I wrote a post back in 2014. That was to help users solve a particular problem them. I was getting over 1k readers from search engines on that post. At one point, everything sent down below zero. It appeared the system that caused the bug was upgraded by manufacturer so that like almost got the issue resolved once and for all.

I didn't delete the post at all

About 2 weeks ago, the same problem resurfaced, this time on a different technology. Again, there was a huge spike in traffic. Over 1.3k daily readers from search engine.

I got lots of list signups. The traffic lasted for about 4 days. Now below 100 daily readers from search engine.

So you should really be careful when thinking to delete old post
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Rich908 Premium
I never delete my old blogs .. I update mine
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Freefly Premium
I am just revamping my 13 year old site and coming across some very old and outdated posts and articles. I either:

1. If it is no longer relevant at all, delete the page and 301 redirect the url to another more relevant page (or the homepage). I also remove it from Google via webmaster tools.

2. If it still has historical or archival interest, I will add a note at the top of the page dating the article whilst explaining why it is still there.

3. If there is a newer version of a product or if the page can be updated to make it more relevant, I will do just that (and maybe add an "updated: 2018" note).

If a page has a lot of "link juice" or people linking back to it, you don't want to lose that : )
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Freefly Premium
P.s. When writing articles, think about the long term and try to make them "evergreen" where possible. When I write some tips and tutorials, I don't mention specific products by model, version or release number but just the make etc.

Maybe ask yourself "how long will this stay relevant and how easy would it be to update in the future"?

There are plug-ins that have a "self destruct" feature where the post will delete itself at a set point in time. Great for posts that only have a short shelf life such as affiliate offers etc.
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smokeywins Premium
If the topic at hand is relevant to your niche, I would re-work the posts. Maybe search and see if there are new keywords that are related to your existing content. I personally would only delete if the content is completely off topic from your focus, ie site about health and your posts is about jewelry.
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Lestrow Premium
I've no experience or knowledge about such things but I would imagine that if they attract just the slightest traffic, why get rid of them. They may become popular again and unless you've no room for new ones, leave them alone. As a reminder if nothing else.
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Miren Premium
@Lestrow
They are posts about websites that no longer exist, that's why they are not getting any traffic.
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JerryMcCoy Premium
Instead of deleting them why don't you rework them. That way you still have your keywords and you have more experience to show them a different way and possibly gain more audience. It also helps you to become a stronger authority in your niche.
Jerry
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Miren Premium
@JerryMcCoy
The keywords from those posts are no longer relevant, that's why they are not getting any traffic.
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