Keep, refresh, merge or retire: a content audit in four decisions
Most sites would rank better with fewer pages. Here is the decision table we use on every URL, and the order to act on it.
Key takeaways · Content · 8 min read
- Every URL gets exactly one of four decisions
- Merging overlapping posts is usually the highest-return move
- Redirects are part of the audit, not an afterthought
Why fewer pages often rank better
When several pages on one site answer the same question, search engines have to pick one, and they often pick none with confidence. Links and internal authority are split between them. Readers land on the weakest version.
An audit is the process of deciding, URL by URL, what each page is for. It is less glamorous than publishing something new and, in our experience, more reliable.
The four decisions
We export every indexable URL with twelve months of clicks, impressions, links and conversions, then assign one decision to each.
- Keep. The page ranks, converts or earns links. Leave it alone and note it as a model.
- Refresh. The topic is right but the page has decayed. Update facts, improve the answer, add what competitors now cover, republish.
- Merge. Two or more pages target the same intent. Combine the best material into one and redirect the others.
- Retire. No traffic, no links, no purpose. Remove it and redirect to the closest relevant page, or return a 410 if nothing fits.
Thresholds we start from
Rules of thumb keep the audit moving. A page with fewer than ten organic clicks in a year, no referring domains and no conversions is a candidate to retire. A page that lost more than 30% of its clicks year over year is a candidate to refresh. Two pages sharing more than half their ranking queries are candidates to merge.
These are starting points. A page with little search traffic may still matter to sales, support or legal, so every decision is reviewed by someone who knows the business.
The order to act
Sequence matters because each step changes the numbers for the next.
- Merge first, since it resolves the largest conflicts and concentrates links.
- Refresh second, starting with pages ranking in positions 5 to 15.
- Retire third, in batches, watching the index and logs between each.
- Only then plan new content, aimed at gaps the audit revealed.
What happens afterwards
In a sample audit of a 312-article site, the result was 24 guides, 190 redirects and 98 retirements. Traffic dipped slightly for three weeks, then passed its previous level in week seven and kept climbing.
Run the audit once a year. Between audits, a quarterly refresh list keeps decay from building up again.
An audit is the process of deciding, URL by URL, what each page is for.
Written by
Camila Reyes
Head of content strategy. Builds topic maps from sales calls and support tickets. Believes most content calendars are twice as long as they should be.
Illustrative photos. Figures and examples in this article are sample content.
