Should You Archive Content That Isn’t Working or Relevant? A Guide for Bloggers

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When it comes to managing your blog, you may find yourself staring at content that isn’t performing as expected. Maybe it’s outdated, irrelevant, or simply a dud in terms of traffic and engagement. You might wonder: Is it okay to archive underperforming content for SEO purposes? 

The short answer is: yes, it’s not just okay—it’s often the smart thing to do.

In this post, we’ll dive into why archiving content can benefit your blog’s overall performance, how to do it without harming your SEO, and strategies for evaluating and learning from those content “flops.”

Why Archiving Content Can Benefit Your SEO

1. Improves Overall Content Quality

Search engines prioritize websites with high-quality, relevant content. If your blog contains outdated or irrelevant posts, it can dilute the quality of your site.

This may negatively impact your rankings because search engines might view your blog as less authoritative or trustworthy.

Archiving irrelevant content helps improve your site’s overall content-to-noise ratio. It signals to search engines that you’re actively curating a valuable experience for your visitors.

2. Reduces Crawl Waste

Search engines use bots to crawl your website, but their time and resources are finite. If your site has numerous pages with low-quality content, bots might waste their time crawling these irrelevant pages instead of focusing on your valuable content.

By archiving or removing underperforming content, you help search engines prioritize what matters.

3. Enhances User Experience

Imagine a visitor lands on an outdated or irrelevant blog post. Not only does it fail to meet their needs, but it also harms your credibility as a blogger.

Clean up your blog by archiving underwhelming content to keep your site polished, professional, and relevant.

4. Focuses Your Efforts

Keeping a blog filled with underperforming content can be a distraction.

By archiving what doesn’t work, you can channel your time and resources into optimizing high-performing posts and creating new, impactful content.

How to Archive Content Without Harming Your SEO

Archiving content isn’t just about hitting the delete button. If you don’t handle the process properly, you risk damaging your site’s SEO.

Here are some best practices for archiving content while maintaining (or even improving) your SEO.

1. Evaluate Content Performance

Before archiving, assess each piece of content to determine if it truly needs to go. Ask yourself:

• Is it relevant? If the content is outdated, can it be updated instead of archived?
• Does it drive traffic? Check your analytics to see if the post brings visitors, even if only sporadically.
• Does it have backlinks? Pages with strong backlinks are valuable for SEO. Instead of archiving, consider repurposing or improving these posts.

2. Use 301 Redirects

If you archive or remove a page, always set up a 301 redirect to a related or similar piece of content. This prevents visitors (and search engines) from encountering a “404 Not Found” error, which can hurt your SEO and user experience.

For example:

• If you’re archiving an outdated post about “2020 Instagram Trends,” redirect it to a more relevant page, like “2025 Social Media Strategies.”

3. Consolidate Content

Do you have multiple low-performing posts on similar topics? Combine them into one comprehensive, high-quality blog post. Consolidating content can improve SEO and user experience by offering a more in-depth resource.

For example:

• Merge three separate posts about email marketing tips into a single “Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing.”

4. Reassess Content for Repurposing

Not all low-performing content deserves to be archived. Some posts might simply need a fresh perspective. Can you repurpose it into a video, infographic, or social media series?

Repurposing can breathe new life into old ideas.

Learning from Your “Flops”

Every piece of content—successful or not—teaches you something. Here’s how to extract lessons from your low-performing posts before deciding what to do with them.

1. Why Did It Flop?

Ask yourself:

• Was the topic irrelevant? Trends evolve, and some content simply loses its appeal.
• Was it poorly optimized? Check for missing keywords, meta descriptions, or poor formatting.
• Did it lack promotion? Even great content needs visibility. Maybe you didn’t market it effectively.

2. Can It Be Fixed?

Some content can be salvaged with tweaks:

• Update outdated information: Add current stats, examples, or insights.
• Improve visuals: A new graphic or embedded video can boost engagement.
• Optimize for SEO: Add relevant keywords, improve headings, or rewrite the introduction.

3. What Worked?

Even in flops, there may be silver linings:

• Did it attract a specific type of reader? This insight could inform future content.
• Were there good ideas buried in poor execution? Pull out nuggets of value to refine or expand on.

Questions to Guide Your Audit

When evaluating your blog content, use these questions to guide your decisions:

1. Is this content aligned with my audience’s current needs?
2. Does it reflect my brand’s tone and goals?
3. Could it rank higher with improvements?
4. Is it driving any traffic or conversions?
5. Could it be combined with similar posts for a stronger piece?

Benefits of Archiving Content Strategically

1. Boosted SEO: Removing low-quality pages can improve your site’s authority in the eyes of search engines.
2. Enhanced Credibility: A streamlined blog with relevant content enhances your reputation with readers.
3. Optimized Efforts: Spend time where it counts—on high-quality, impactful content.
4. Better Analytics: Cleaner content makes it easier to track meaningful performance metrics.

Checklist: How to Audit and Archive Content

1. Review Analytics: Identify your top-performing and underperforming posts using tools like Google Analytics or Search Console.
2. Categorize Content: Sort into three buckets: Keep, Update, Archive.
3. Update High-Potential Posts: Revise, optimize, and re-promote content that could still work.
4. Redirect Archived Pages: Use 301 redirects to ensure visitors and search engines land on similar, relevant content.
5. Consolidate Similar Topics: Merge multiple low-performing posts into one strong piece.
6. Optimize Your Sitemap: Remove outdated pages and submit a fresh sitemap to search engines.

Keep Thing Relevant

Archiving content that isn’t working is more than just maintenance cleaning—it’s an essential part of maintaining a high-performing blog.

By strategically evaluating, updating, or removing content, you create a stronger foundation for growth and engagement.

Remember: your blog is a living entity. Regular maintenance, combined with strategic archiving, will help it thrive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

So don’t be afraid to clean house—your readers (and Google) will thank you.