Update a page when it has impressions and few clicks, or when what it says has gone stale. Merge two pages when they answer the same question. Delete a page when it has no traffic, no links and nothing on it only you could have written. That is the whole decision, and once a quarter is enough to make it for every page on the site.
The quarterly prune
I call it 'the quarterly prune', because that is what it is. A site that only ever adds pages decays from the back: old prices, old advice, three pages from the keyword-first years all answering the same question and splitting the signal. Cutting and merging is not tidying. Merging two pages that compete is often the fastest ranking gain a site can get, because Google finally has one page to rank instead of two to choose between.
The rule: one calendar slot a month for maintenance, one afternoon a quarter for the prune, and the map decides which pages get it. The consequence is that maintenance stops being guilt and becomes a routine, and the routine runs on Search Console numbers rather than on how you feel about an old page.
| What Search Console shows | Verdict | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions high, clicks low, position between 5 and 15 | Update | New title, new first two sentences, the lift-out pass. Nothing else |
| Two of your pages appearing for the same query, both middling | Merge | Keep the page with the links, fold the other's best parts into it, redirect the old URL |
| Clicks sliding for three months while sibling pages hold | Update | Read the top three for its question again. Add what they have that you do not |
| No impressions, no links, and the deletion test fails | Delete | Redirect to the closest sibling, or return a 410 |
| Old facts, old prices, old screenshots | Update | Fix the facts. Do not touch the date unless the content actually changed |
| Ranking, converting, current | Leave it alone | The most underrated verdict on the list |
Merging the espresso cluster. A shop from the keyword-first years has three pages: "Best espresso machine", "Best home espresso machine" and "Top rated espresso machines". Search Console shows all three appearing for the same queries, each somewhere on page two. Google is choosing between them every time, and picking a different one each week. The prune keeps the page with the most links, folds the two useful paragraphs from the others into it, and redirects the two old URLs. One page now carries the whole cluster, 4,400 plus 2,900 plus 590 searches a month behind one URL instead of three thin ones.
Worked example: three competing pages become one
The quarterly routine
- Export the Pages report from Search Console for the last three months. Impressions, clicks, average position, per page. This is the whole input.
- Find the pages that share queries. The Queries report, filtered per query, shows when two of your URLs appear for the same one. Those pairs get merged.
- Merge towards the page with the links. Fold in the best parts of the other, redirect its URL, and fix the internal links that pointed at it. Internal linking has the routine.
- Update the high-impression, low-click pages. Title, first two sentences, the lift-out pass. Leave the body alone unless the facts are wrong.
- Delete what fails the deletion test and has no links. Redirect to the nearest sibling. A thin page is not neutral. It dilutes the topic around it.
- Fix stale facts on the pages that rank. Prices, model names, screenshots. Change the date only when the content changed. Google says freshness for its own sake does nothing.
- Write the verdicts on the map. Merged, updated, deleted, left alone. Next quarter starts from there.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need the prune once a quarter from the day the site has more than about twenty pages, and once, urgently, if you inherit a blog from the keyword-first years. The first prune on an old site is usually the best ranking work you will do that year.
You don't need it for a new site with a dozen pages. Build the topic first. There is nothing to prune until the pages have been through the twelve months.
Next
- Next page: Technical SEO in an afternoon. The pass-or-fail checks, once a quarter, in the same afternoon.
- SitePerfector marks on the map which pages to create, which to improve and in what order: Content strategy.