Glossary
What is content decay?
Content decay is the gradual decline in a page's search traffic and rankings over months, usually because the content went out of date, competitors published better pages, search intent shifted, or AI answers now cover the question. Refreshing decayed pages is often faster than writing new ones.
Common causes
| Cause | Sign |
|---|---|
| Outdated content | Old years, prices or screenshots |
| Better competitors | Rankings slide, impressions steady |
| Intent shift | Results now favour a different format |
| AI answers | Impressions steady, clicks falling |
| Cannibalisation | Your new page competing with the old |
| Lost links | Referring domains falling |
How to find it
In Search Console's Performance report, compare the last three months with the same period before. Sort pages by click loss. Check whether impressions fell (ranking problem) or only clicks (snippet or AI problem).
How to refresh
Update facts and dates, add new data and examples, cover questions now in People Also Ask, improve the title and intro, add internal links from newer pages, and remove what's no longer true. Change the URL only if you must, with a redirect.
Example
A "best directories" post loses half its clicks over a year. A third of the directories listed are dead. Rechecking every entry, adding traffic and link-type data and updating the year restores its ranking within two months.
FAQ
How often should I refresh content?
Pages with dates or prices: at least yearly. Evergreen pages: when data changes.
Does changing the date alone help?
No. Google looks for real updates.
Should I delete decayed content?
Only if it can't be made useful; otherwise update or merge it.