Hosted by John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman, the chat looked at how and why content decay occurs, and whether it’s something more SEOs should be taking seriously.
Mr Mueller's take on the issue underlined just how open to interpretation the whole thing is:
“Content decay is something where, when you look at reference material, it’s kind of by definition old. People wrote about it because they’d studied it for a really long time. So it’s an old thing. But that doesn’t mean it’s no longer true or no longer useful.”
He also made it clear that it wasn’t something he was totally familiar with himself:
“When I looked at it, it sounded like this was a known term, and I felt inadequate when I realized I had no idea what it actually meant, and I had to interpret what it probably means from the name.”
His sentiments were echoed by Sassman, who likewise gave the impression it wasn’t a concept she’d come across:
“It sounded a little bit negative. Like something’s probably wrong with the content. Probably it’s rotting or something has happened to it over time.”
But what was interesting was how during the discussion that followed – centred mainly on how to handle the issue – the pair made it clear that content decay in its own right isn't necessarily negative.
Avoiding Confusion and Misinformation
For example, you’d expect that blog posts talking about upcoming events that have long since come and gone would qualify as content decay. The content no longer serves a practical purpose and is therefore devoid of value.
However according to Sassman, this kind of content should be retained and does indeed still hold value for its historical accuracy. If someone was looking for information about such a past event, the post would be a practical source.
Digging deeper, Mr Mueller said that what matters most is ensuring you don’t confuse or mislead people. If a piece of content is subsequently deemed to be inaccurate based on future findings or developments, it becomes necessary to ensure this is highlighted.
Though contrary to popular belief, this doesn't necessarily mean erasing it, or even repurposing it. It could simply mean adding an explanation to inform the reader of the inaccuracies and irrelevancies, clearly showing the date the content was originally published, or redirecting users to more current and accurate information.
Only when outdated information could be considered potentially harmful does Google recommend removing it entirely. Otherwise, a nuanced approach to dealing with content decay can help you maintain trust and integrity, improve the user experience, and even make a positive contribution to your wider SEO efforts.
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