Content pruning for SEO — prune first, then watch it bloom

‍🕑 7 min read

Right, let's take a leap. This time I am walking you through an SEO strategy that gives your online visibility a boost. A strategy that holds up over the years and is therefore truly evergreen.

Content pruning is an essential strategy for becoming easy to find and staying that way.

What is Content Pruning and why does it Matter?

Content pruning, or digitally pruning your website, is the process of systematically evaluating, cleaning up and optimising your existing content. The goal? An SEO structure that satisfies both Google and your visitors.‍

The unexpected Power of Less

Picture this: you have been producing content for years, full of passion and dedication. Yet only part of what has been written is relevant or performs as it should. This is where content pruning comes in. By strategically 'pruning' your content, you create room for growth and improvement.

"Sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward." - a wise search engine specialist (whom we just made up).

Google's Helpful Principles

One point that few people talk about yet is that the Google Helpful principles are becoming more and more important. Never before has so much content been published at the same time, largely because of AI. 
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So when it comes to Google, the first thing we notice is that less can be more. Pages with mediocre content affect your entire website. For example on a company blog or another media channel. And say you also have old events listed there that are no longer relevant. Pages like that hurt your performance and this affects your entire website.

The benefits of Content Pruning

• Improved user experience: By removing irrelevant or outdated content , you help visitors connect faster with the information they are looking for.
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• Higher rankings: Google values websites that are updated and maintained regularly.

• Better crawlability: With fewer but higher-quality pages, Google can index your site more efficiently.
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• Stronger authority: By focusing on your best content, you strengthen your position as an expert in your niche.

How do you start with Content Pruning?

Step 1: take stock of your content

Start with a thorough analysis of all your existing content. Use tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console or another tool such as Semrush to gain insight into the performance of each page.

Step 2: categorise your pages

Divide your content into the following categories:

• Top performers: These pages are doing brilliantly and need little attention.
  
• Diamonds in the rough: Content with potential that could use some polishing.
  
• Underperforming: Pages that add little to no value.
  
• Outdated or irrelevant: Content that is out of date or out of line with your current strategy.

Step 3: take action

Now the real work begins. You approach each category differently:

1. Top performers: Leave these alone, but keep an eye on them for any updates.
   
2. Diamonds in the rough: Optimise this content. Add relevant information, update outdated data and improve the SEO elements.
   
3. Underperforming: Decide whether this content can be merged with other pages or needs a thorough rewrite.
   
4. Outdated or irrelevant: Remove this content, but remember to redirect relevant pages (301 redirects) to keep the 'link juice'.

Practical example: 

Imagine you have a travel blog about Spain with 100 articles. After analysing your content with Google Analytics and Search Console, you categorise your articles as follows:

1. Top performers (20 articles):
   
   • "10 hidden gems in Paris"
   • "The ultimate road trip through Italy" Action: you leave these unchanged, but you do plan quarterly updates.

2. Diamonds in the rough (30 articles):
   
   • "Budget-friendly travel in Scandinavia" Action: you add recent price information, improve the SEO structure and add more practical tips.
     

3. Underperforming (35 articles):
   
   • "The best restaurants in Berlin"
   • "Top 5 museums in Amsterdam" Action: you combine these into one comprehensive article called "The ultimate culinary and cultural guide to Berlin and Amsterdam".
     

4. Outdated or irrelevant (15 articles):
   
   • "Summer festivals in Europe 2018" Action: You delete this article and set up a 301 redirect to a new article on "The best summer festivals in Europe [current year]".

‍With this approach, you improve the overall quality of your blog, focus on relevant content and potentially increase your rankings in Google.

The technical side of Content Pruning

Merging content

What is merging content? You do it by combining several pages into a single page that is often more comprehensive. Why would you want to do this?

Take our own pages on zoekmachinespecialist.com: we removed around 8% of all blog posts here in early 2024. That alone led to an increase in search traffic of around 13% within six months.

What can we learn from this? We often hear Google talk about high-quality content. Sometimes less is more.

Let's look at the best way to merge content. 

Tackling keyword cannibalisation

One of the biggest benefits of content pruning is eliminating keyword cannibalisation. This happens when several pages on your site compete for the same keywords.

Search engines then have to guess which pages to rank.

This has consequences. 

One of the sub-algorithms of Google is PageRank. Pages need PageRank to rank.

What then happens is that the pages seen as redundant will receive PageRank. That is because they receive internal links and also use up Crawl Budget (the number of pages that search engine robots crawl and index within a given timeframe).

This means the more important pages get less attention. 

How do you recognise keyword cannibalisation?

1. Use SEO tools to identify pages with overlapping keywords.
2. Analyse the search intent behind each keyword.
3. Determine which page performs best and is most relevant.

The solution

• Merge similar content into one comprehensive, authoritative page.
• Adjust internal links to point to the consolidated page.
• Implement 301 redirects for removed pages.
  

Step-by-step plan with an example:‍

‍Say you want to rank for the keyword “lose 10 kg” and you have two info pages for that keyword. As a business or search engine specialist, this overlap is what you want to look at. Wherever you see several URLs with the same keywords and the same intent.

Learning to recognise this overlap is the first step. 

Most premium SEO tools offer this functionality. We will use Semrush as an example.

Start by entering your website URL in Semrush. Then export your organic keywords to a spreadsheet.

In the keyword column (the left-hand column of your table), sort everything alphabetically. Now look at the column with ranked URLs, usually the fourth column.

Here you may see several URLs ranking for the same keyword, for example 'keyword A' with URL1 and URL2. This is a classic example of keyword cannibalisation.

The next step is important: analyse each of these pages carefully. Determine whether the search intent for both pages is identical.

If it is, you face an important decision. Do you want to merge these pages into one comprehensive, authoritative page? Or is it better to remove one of the pages and optimise the other?

This choice can have a significant impact on your SEO performance. By consolidating smartly, you strengthen your authority for specific keywords and prevent internal competition. 
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At the same time, be careful when removing content - any page may contain valuable backlinks or unique information.

A free way to spot cannibalisation

Here is a quick and free way. First, go to Google.

Then type this into the search bar: site:yourwebsite.com “keyword”.

This lets you check whether cannibalisation occurs, in other words, overlap. In this case, I type in site:zoekmachinespecialist.com “seo copywriting”.

You then see all the relevant pages. 

The next step is to check whether the search intent is the same for that keyword. Do you see overlap? Then those pages may well be candidates for merging. 

Make sure you have a good Internal Link Structure

After pruning your content, it is crucial to optimise your internal link structure. This helps both visitors and search engines navigate your site easily.

To measure is to know: the results of Content Pruning

After implementing your content pruning strategy, it is essential to monitor the results closely. Pay attention to the following metrics:

• Organic traffic
• Bounce rate
• Time on page per visitor
• Conversion rates
• Position for important keywords

Pro tip: Keep a log of all the changes you make. This makes it easier to identify cause and effect.

Questions about Content Pruning

How often should I do content pruning?

It is advisable to do a thorough content audit at least once a year. For larger websites or in fast-moving niches, a check-up every six months can already be valuable.

Can content pruning affect my rankings negatively?

When content pruning is done correctly, you will actually see a positive effect in the long term. Short-term fluctuations are possible. See this as a temporary dip on the way to lasting success.

How do I deal with seasonal content?

Instead of removing seasonal content, consider updating it and keeping it relevant. For example, add a section on "What to expect next season" to keep the page valuable all year round.