Before I launched my agency, I worked for several others and noticed a troubling trend.
Many focused solely on creating new on-site content for their clients, often neglecting older posts and pages. This was especially common with blogs at a time when the trend was to prioritize quantity over quality.
The situation always reminded me of the “pump-and-dump” strategies in the stock market – short-term mindsets that result sometimes in wins and sometimes in massive losses.
I knew this approach was flawed and ended in what I call “content decay.” When I launched my agency in 2017, I focused on refreshing older content as much as creating new content.
The results immediately impressed – and continued to impress.
For example, earlier this year, one of our commercial pest control clients had an underperforming blog post that was created by a previous agency. The content was decent but lacked many on-page SEO elements, especially header tags and internal links (two were actually dead!).
We updated internal links and all other on-page SEO elements and rewrote around 30% of the content. That single blog post jumped to the top position for target keywords in the target location within six weeks.
After amplifying it on social media, which naturally attracted other shares, quality links, and a Google Business Profile, we were able to attribute nearly $100,000 in new revenue to that one piece of content.
This experience convinced me that content decay is a serious problem for many businesses and needs to be addressed ASAP. This issue also inspired me to restructure our service offerings, making content refresh a core service for our clients.
What Is Content Decay?
Content decay happens when a webpage experiences a gradual decline in traffic over time. This can be due to several factors.
Search engine algorithms are constantly updating, and what worked a year ago may not work today.
New competitors are constantly popping up, creating newer content that may be more aligned with current audience preferences. Additionally, your content may simply become stale.
This problem has worsened with the rise of AI-generated content. Many brands use AI to churn out as much content as possible without a content strategy to keep it fresh and relevant.
With the right content decay strategies, you can combat content decay and ensure your content remains relevant long after you hit “publish.”
Recognizing The Signs Of Content Decay
First, you need to be able to identify content decay before you can fix it.
Pay attention to your engagement metrics and watch for these signs of decaying content:
Decrease in organic traffic to that page/post.
Lower overall search engine rankings.
Outdated information.
High bounce rate.
Low average time on page.
Fewer social shares.
Negative user feedback.
Content Decay Strategies That Will Revitalize Your Content
So how do you combat content decay and improve user experience?
Here are a few content decay strategies to revitalize your content and keep it performing well.
Conduct Regular Content Audits
Periodic content audits help you identify underperforming pages or those needing an update.
Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ahrefs track page performance and pinpoint content that would benefit from refreshing.
This will improve your content marketing strategy and boost your online presence. When conducting a content audit, I recommend focusing on key metrics like:
Organic traffic.
Bounce rate.
Conversion rate.
Time on page.
Update And Refresh Your Existing Content
Remember, you don’t just have to create new content. Sometimes, refreshing older content is a better use of your time and resources. And when combined with new content on a consistent basis, you’ve maximized your potential results.
If you have content that is performing well but could use some tuning, simply update it slightly and republish it with a new date. Content updating doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
Focus on making a few key changes that will make a big difference.