A basic SEO tip.

[RichDevman]

Well it's 1 hour into the new year and I'm feeling cheeky so I thought I would share a tip.

It seems like every forum owner I've talked to about SEO has this thing about deleting old content. If nobody has even looked at it in a year or two and it doesn't rank at all get rid of it. It's only hurting you. Redirect it to something useful if you want but get rid of it.


You're wasting crawl budget on crap that nobody looks at.

 

[jeb35]

We used to do this in a forum I help admin. We would move all threads with no replies into a private section to where only staff can see them. The owner is pretty much nonexistent anymore. He won't login, he won't sell it(have asked many times)or anything.

 

[Suzanne O]

I used to delete stuff.
My members would complain.
I think i might go back to deleteing old threads.

 

[RichDevman]

It's pretty simple to check and see if the content has any recent views or traffic or ranking. If it has none of these things chances are people won't miss it.

 

[RichDevman]

What a cheeky way to kick off the new year! Thanks for the awesome SEO tip. Cleaning up old content sounds like a fantastic plan to make room for the shiny new stuff.

It's especially important on very large sites where crawl budget can be a factor.

 

[RichDevman]

Yeah, I wouldn't. Clicks do absolutely nothing. If you want to manipulate ctr that is not the way to do it.

 

[JeanLouis]

In my experience with my own small online retail business, I've found that updating and optimizing old content can sometimes be more beneficial than deleting it. It's about improving what's already there, especially if it's somewhat relevant but just outdated.

A tip I'd recommend is to focus on the quality and relevance of the content rather than just getting rid of it. For SEO, making old posts more current and engaging can actually bring in more traffic. I also leveraged forum links, where I actively participated in discussions related to my business niche. This not only provided valuable backlinks but also helped drive targeted traffic to my site.

By engaging in forums and updating content to keep it fresh and relevant, I improved my site’s visibility and search rankings. The use of forum links turned out to be a great strategy to connect with potential customers and enhance our SEO efforts.

 

[RichDevman]

Ofcourse updating crappy content is good but forums are usually full of gossip and off topic garbage.

Usually there's a large amount of content than can be pruned.

Inexperienced forum owners shouldn't buy links especially in mass. It's a good way to destroy what ranking they do have.

Backlinks are important but this thread isn't about that and I definitely wouldn't recommend that site that you posted. If you are getting links there you should stop.