Content Pruning For SEO: What Is It, Why It’s Important, And How To Do It

One of the reasons why you would hire an SEO expert in Virginia is to prune your content. Some people may ask why since the content is good when it comes to online marketing. However, like gardening, sometimes you have to take off the dead branches of a tree so that it will survive. This is the idea behind content pruning. To find out more, here’s a short primer on it.

What Is Content Pruning?

The idea behind content pruning is simple. SEO experts scour your website and identify content that will not be of any help or interest to your audience. You don’t even have to delete the content though, all you need to do is prevent search engines from accessing it.

Revamping sites is not a new idea but content pruning actually came into its own when the Panda algorithm for Google was implemented. This is mainly because there was now a very solid reason why you should get rid of that old content.

What Is It Important?

There are several reasons why content pruning is becoming a good idea. First of all, thanks to the Panda algorithm, websites can be dragged down by low-value content. Content pruning helps you find content that is not doing anything for your except pull you down. Additionally, more content means more data for Google to crawl through – which can affect your ranking.

Another reason for content pruning is for your visitors. If your visitors always come back to the same old content, how do you think they will respond? They will end up giving up on parts of your website. Content pruning allows you to get rid of old content and introduce new ones. This encourages regular visitors to come back to see what has been changed.

Next, you may want to get rid of old SEO pages. SEO is a lot effective when it is fresh and current. However, old SEO can drag down your current efforts. You want search engines to only see your newest content and not your other efforts.

Finally, duplicate content is bad for a website under the current search engine rules. You will want to erase repeat content and similar stuff on your website. You will want to replace them with fresh content that will draw in more traffic.

How Can You Do It?

Content pruning is actually done in two parts. The first part of the pruning starts with identifying what exactly you have to get rid of. This is usually done by checking pages using several core metrics. This includes how much traffic is passing through them, the links attached to them, and even the date when they were published. Rating content like this should help identify some of the worst offenders on your website.

The second part is the actual pruning. You don’t actually have to get rid of it – all you need to do is to replace it. Upgrade it with better content or combine it with other content to get a fresh new take on things. The approach depends on how useful the content is.

Overall, content pruning should be a regular event for most websites so that they be fresh and new to visitors, both old and new.

If you’re looking for an SEO expert in Virginia that you can rely on, contact Tessa today. We offer a complete range of services to help you hit your goals.

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