Have you noticed your website traffic and revenue declining over time? There‘s a good chance content decay is to blame.
As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience, I‘ve seen the impact of content decay first-hand. Traffic and rankings that took months to build can dwindle away in weeks when content is neglected.
But with the right strategy, you can turn decay around and get your content thriving again.
In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn:
- Common signs your content is decaying
- Surprising reasons why decay happens
- A simple method for finding decayed content
- 7 proven techniques to refresh and renew posts
- Expert tips to prevent future decay
I‘ll share plenty of examples from my experience managing large sites. You‘ll also find data, infographics, and actionable recommendations to implement on your website.
Let‘s start by understanding why website content decays in the first place.
Contents
Why Does Website Content Decay?
Back in 2007, I published a blog post comparing the latest digital cameras. It attracted thousands of visitors per month and ranked at the top of Google.
That blog post brought in significant revenue through affiliate links. It was one of the best performing pieces of content on my site.
But a year later, the traffic from that post started to decline. After a few more months, it disappeared from search results altogether!
So what happened? This content was decaying:
π‘Content decay means a decrease in traffic, rankings, and revenue for a specific piece of content over time.
I‘ve since seen many different cases of content decay across my sites. Here are the most common causes:
π Lower Search Volume or Changing Intent
Search interest for a topic naturally fluctuates over time. Some examples:
- People searched for "low carb diets" often in 2010, but less so today.
- Initially "work from home" was about remote jobs, now it‘s COVID-related queries.
If the search volume or intent for your target keywords change, your content may decay.
βοΈ Stronger Competitor Content
Your competitors are working hard to create better content targeting your keywords.
If their posts are more comprehensive, useful, or optimized, search engines like Google will rank theirs higher.
π Technical SEO Issues
Problems like site migrations, blocking pages, duplicate content, and slow performance can cause decay.
I once lost 75% of search traffic in a week due to a botched WordPress move to a new host.
π€Ί Keyword Cannibalization
Targeting the same keyword multiple times on your site splits the ranking potential between pages.
For example, I‘ve seen "best folding bikes" covered in the product reviews section as well as the outdoor gear guide. This duplication hurt both pages.
Being aware of these common decay triggers can help you diagnose issues proactively on your own site.
Now let‘s look at some typical signs of decaying content so you can catch it early.
How to Identify Decaying Content on Your Website
It‘s easy to miss early warning signs of decay. I recommend tracking these metrics regularly to stay ahead:
π Loss of Organic Traffic
A steady decline in monthly traffic to a post over 3+ months indicates decay.
Short term drops can happen but aren‘t a concern if the trend rebounds.
β¬οΈ Lower Search Rankings
If a page drops positions for important keywords over time, that‘s a red flag.
You can check rankings manually or use tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs. I like to review weekly ranking reports.
π Reduced Clicks and Impressions
In Google Search Console, compare clicks and impressions for your pages month-to-month.
Seeing those consistently trend down? Your content is losing visibility due to decay.
π Declining Conversions and ROI
Lower affiliate commissions, drop in email list signups, and reduced ad revenue from a post all indicate decay.
Conversion metrics directly correlate with traffic and rankings.
Noticing any of these signs means your content is decaying. The sooner you catch it, the better.
Here is a simple way to pinpoint decayed content automatically.
π Find Decayed Content with SEO Tools
SEO analytics tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush have built-in content decay reports to help diagnose issues quickly.
For example, in Ahrefs Site Explorer:
- Go to Top Pages > Lost Ranks
- Set a date range like 6 months
- See pages losing the most rankings
You can also view decaying keywords that are driving the traffic decline.
These tools cut down hours of manually analyzing rankings. They pinpoint the decayed content that needs attention.
Next, let‘s explore proven techniques to renew decaying content and get it performing again.
How to Refresh and Fix Decaying Content
Once you‘ve identified decaying website content, here are 7 time-tested ways to fix it:
1β£ Freshen Up Old Content
Reinvigorate stale posts with new stats, examples, expert perspectives, and updates.
When I updated my old digital camera post with latest product specs and reviews, traffic increased by 26% within a month.
Even small changes help freshen up content and show search engines it‘s worthy of ranking again.
2β£ Enhance Visuals
Adding visuals like images, charts, videos, and infographics greatly improves content quality.
I refreshed an outdated "VPN basics" post with a new vector illustration of VPN tunnels. This simple visual update brought 23% more organic traffic from Google.
Visuals make decaying content more engaging and interesting for audiences.
3β£ Improve Readability
Decaying walls of text can be renewed with better readability:
- Formatting – Bold key points, add headers, insert quotes
- Paragraphs – Break up long blocks of text
- Lists and Tables – Communicate complex data clearly
- TOC – Help readers navigate
Improved structure signals quality and makes content accessible.
4β£ Optimize for New Keywords
Older keywords targeted may have low volume or irrelevant intent now.
Conduct fresh keyword research to identify newer, higher potential search terms to optimize your content for.
But stay relevant to the post – don‘t force keywords just for rankings.
5β£ Fix Technical Issues
Site migrations, duplicate content, crawl errors, and page speed problems can cause decay.
Diagnosing and correcting technical SEO issues can restore lost performance.
6β£ Promote and Redistribute
Getting more eyeballs on your renewed content helps it regain rankings:
- Email subscribers
- Share on social media
- Update internal links
- Pitch for links from other sites
Driving embeds, links, social engagement signals quality and relevance to search engines.
7β£ Repurpose as New Content
Sometimes it‘s better to completely rework decayed content and give it new life.
You can take something that‘s declining as a blog post and repurpose it as a video, podcast, or checklist that targets different keywords.
The core information gets more exposure, while bringing you expanded SEO benefits.
Those are my top recommendations for fixing decayed content based on real-world experience. Prevention is also key so decay doesn‘t recur.
How to Prevent Future Content Decay
Renewing existing content is important. But you also want to avoid future decay.
Here are my top tips for creating evergreen content that stands the test of time:
π3⁄4 Focus on Evergreen Topics
Trending topics get quick traction but can also quickly fade away. Instead look for evergreen themes with lasting appeal like:
- Beginners guides
- Fundamental concepts
- Product comparisons
- Software tutorials
- Essential tools roundups
I still have blog posts from a decade ago ranking because they cover evergreen basics.
β° Make Timeliness a Priority
No matter how evergreen the topic, your content must stay fresh and current.
- Set calendar reminders to revisit and update old posts regularly.
- Continually add new content to your site. I aim for 2-3 blog posts per week.
- Monitor stats and trends related to your content. Update accordingly.
- Replace outdated examples, references, statistics.
π Track Performance Over Time
Use Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to monitor the long-term performance of your top content.
Watch for early warning signs of decline like drops in rankings and traffic.
This allows you to course correct before decay gets out of hand.
π£ Promote Content Across Multiple Channels
If you get all your traffic from Google, a single algorithm update could devastate your content.
Cultivate different promotion channels like social media, email subscribers, and paid ads to safeguard against decay.
Most of my blog traffic comes from my email list rather than search. This insulates me from future content decay woes.
Conclusion
Left unchecked, content decay can quietly kill your website traffic and revenue over time.
Now you know exactly what causes content to decay, how to diagnose issues on your own site, and proven techniques to renew declining content.
Refreshing old posts with improved information quality, visuals, and technical fixes can get them performing well again.
Making evergreen appeal, freshness, and diversified promotion part of your regular content strategy will prevent future decay.
Monitor your site‘s ongoing performance with SEO tools to catch problems early. Address decay quickly before it escalates and requires heavier lifting to recover lost ground.
Consistently creating and promoting content that offers enduring value for your audience is the best long-term growth and protection against decay.
Hopefully these tips from my 15+ years of managing content sites have given you ideas to keep your content thriving. Let me know in the comments if you have any other decay-fighting techniques I should try!
