Should You Delete Old Blog Posts? |

Ryan Biddulph January 20, 2022 blogging tips 🕑 7 minutes read

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Should you delete old blog posts?

Deciding whether or not to delete old blog posts makes even seasoned bloggers hesitate.

Should you keep everything as it is on your blog? Will deleting old posts torpedo your blog traffic?

Putting in hard work to publish helpful content makes any blogger think twice about trashing old blog content.

Scanning the URL slug for this post reveals the original content I published in 2014. I explained how deleting 3400 blog posts, a blog and brand formed the basis of Blogging From Paradise. Trashing 3000 plus posts was the best blogging decision for me because doing so led to me create this blog.

However, I agonized over making this choice because releasing over 6 year’s worth of blogging work scared me. I faced similar fears a few times over my blogging career. BFP posts needed some culling at times but letting go felt hard.

I want to share my experience to give you confidence in choosing whether or not to keep or trash old blog posts. The ego tries to terrify you with the fear of loss versus opening your eyes to what sweet success you can and will gain by improving the overall quality of your blog.

Frame your blog as a full body of work. Never think in terms of one blog post to the next blog post to gauge your blog. Consider the:

quality
helpfulness
depth
optimization
thoroughness
detailed nature

of every single blog post on your blog to consider the collective nature of your blogging campaign.

Seeing your blog as a full body of work can help you delete any old blog post that does not meet your quality and/or relevance parameters.

Before deciding whether or not you should delete old blog posts consider these pros and cons.

Pros

Prune Your Blogging Tree to Build Credibility

I deleted over 1000 blog posts in early 2023 because:

no one read most of the posts
most of the posts were thin in terms of a 600-700 word count
none of the posts ranked on page 1 of Google
100’s of the posts were link-only posts pointing to videos I published to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Perhaps I have built solid credibility through my in-depth blog posts but I still have not reached the next-level credibility of the top bloggers in the world solely because many posts I recently deleted were good but not great. Pros like Neil Patel, Brian Dean and Adam Connell publish great content every time out. None of these pros ever publishes good, average or mediocre content.

My 600 word posts seemed helpful but none of these posts did anything to build an eye-popping, high-level blog and brand. Trashing these posts pruned my blogging tree to largely leave a collection of 1000-3000 word in-depth, detailed blog posts.

Delete old blog posts if the posts do not bolster your:

credibility
brand awareness

Let go what does not genuinely build your blogging business with detailed content. Prune your blogging tree to develop even stronger credibility in your blogging niche.

Feel Good about Your Content

I felt really good about my blog after deleting those 1000 posts in early 2023. Trashing thin content influenced me to feel better about my blog, brand and business.

Deleting thin content also gave me greater confidence in knowing that my current stable of posts will rank more quickly as Google weighs the full body of blogging work.

Good things happen when you feel really good about your blog. Trash old posts which cause you to cringe a little bit when coming across these less than quality offerings.

Release bad-feeling posts not up to your current quality standards. Feel better about the quality of all posts published to your blog. See where these good-feeling vibes take you.

Delete Topical Content to Be Relevant to Google and Readers

I trashed a few old blog posts celebrating upcoming trips – at those times – because said posts no longer seem relevant for you or Google.

completed those trips
published posts about those trips

Perhaps digging in to the travel time capsule seems neat but I intend to be fully relevant for each piece of content I publish on Blogging From Paradise.

Delete any post not evergreen in nature to send a clear signal to Google and readers: all content on your blog is relevant, timely and useful today. Google loves evergreen content. People love knowing that content is up-to-date.

Let go outdated posts. Be relevant to increase your blogging success.

Exercise Quality Control

One of my Twitter followers recently remarked how I had not proof read a guest post on my blog. On clicking through I realized how the guest post seemed littered with grammatical errors. I immediately deleted the post and forgave my blogging self for initially overlooking it.

I had been mindless enough at that point to publish content without proof-reading the work. I chalked it up to being in a different frame of mind during this stretch but knew that I had to trash this post and other guest posts not up to my current writing standards.

Delete low quality posts dripping with grammatical errors and typos to attract a high quality readership. Allow your blogging success to expand based on the high quality of every blog post and guest post appearing on your blog.

Maintain Brand Consistency

I deleted almost all guest posts on Blogging From Paradise during the “1000 post purge” because most posts offered solid value but did not remain consistent with my blogging brand story.

I write how I write. A few guest posts seemed similar to my writing style but most did not match the Blogging From Paradise experience. At the end of the day, bloggers need to delete what does not fit their brand message and overall blogging experience.

Let go what you published when you lacked brand clarity. Keep what remains aligned with your blogging brand.

Cons

Dead Links

I created many dead links anytime I culled a hefty volume of old posts.

Readers clicking through to a dead link can lessen your blogging credibility in their eyes.

Dead links may also be an inconvenience for fellow bloggers on whose blog you guest posted. However, any seasoned veteran knows that this is part of the blogging business. 1000’s of guest posts I published on various blogs disappeared overnight the moment blogs changed ownership. Professional bloggers know that dead links, guest posts disappearing as blogs change hands and similar events are all part of the pro blogging game.

Be prepared to clean up all of the links on your blog pointing to your deleted posts. Fixing these links can consume a significant chunk of your attention and energy if you delete a high volume of blog posts.

Possible Google Penalty

Some bloggers claim that Google heavily penalizes your blog based on deleting a decent chunk of old posts while other bloggers offer more cryptic explanations regarding Google and deleted old blog posts.

At the end of the day, Google algorithms may penalize websites if users click through to a link that does not deliver an accurate solution to the user intent. My handful of posts ranking on Google prior to my mass post purge ranked fine after the dastardly deletion.

Trashing Helpful Content That Just Needs an Update

Old posts sometimes just need a simple update to help readers.

Trashing a helpful post only requiring some fine-tuning tosses away hard work, aged domain links and an opportunity to leverage by using what you have.

I felt the urge to raze everything during Blogging From Paradise purges. Catching myself by keeping and updating posts with some bones prevented me from deleting helpful content that required updating.

Be careful during your post purges. Keep what seems to be salvageable and update it. Leverage effectively.

Don’t trash hour’s worth of blogging work when you can be leveraging it to thrive.

How Often Should You Update Old Posts?

Updating old content drives a steady flow of Blogging From Paradise traffic from page 1 of Google.

How often should you update old posts?

At a minimum, update old posts once annually.

I update posts every 3-6 months to maintain relevance.

I share my thoughts on updating old blog posts via a YouTube Short here.

The Verdict

Should you delete old blog posts?

Weigh the pros and cons based on your specific situation.

Assess your full body of work. I had already published 50-100 in-depth, detailed blog posts building a granite-like foundation for a thriving blogging campaign. But then I watered down this seemingly fabulous foundation with 1000 plus thin posts perhaps good but certainly not great. Why would I make readers sift through thin, mediocre content to access my highly-detailed, rich content?

Deleting these old posts was a smart decision for me because the downside of dead links pales in comparison to building rock solid credibility with a collection of highly-detailed, in-depth, 1,200 to 3,000 word blog posts.

Do what makes sense for you. If you blogged with great clarity for a while maybe you only need to delete 5-10 blog posts. However, if you have only published high-quality, relevant content you do not need to delete any old blog posts.

Beware of Making This Mistake

Be far more afraid of holding back your long term success than fearing a high volume of dead links.

Beware of making the common but damaging blogging mistake of being afraid to lose:

low quality links
low quality content
irrelevant content

to the tune of struggling for months or years with your blogging campaign. Bloggers fear deleting the very low quality content forming all of their blogging struggles.

Do not fear letting go what needs to go in order for you to succeed.

Blogging Resources

Do you need help with your blog?

Check out my blogging resources:

Sarupa Shah says:
July 29, 2014 at 6:34 am
BIG congratulations Ryan – when I started my current blog – I did the same thing although no where near as many posts as you – it took a while as it was a letting go and feeling quite vulnerable as it was like saying my past was no longer necessary and in some way of course it isn’t…and now even today I may not be throwing away blog posts metaphorically – I am decluttering business notes, workshops I have delivered and written., books that I meant to complete writing – and starting a fresh without the energy of the pat weighing me down or trapping me in some weird energy. 🙂
Ryan Biddulph says:
July 29, 2014 at 6:46 am
Sarupa, thanks so much. That weird energy you speak of, oh, I know it well 😉 Simply letting go what’s outgrown to make room for new and exciting is enough for me to let go, but sometimes those little limiting beliefs creep back in my mind. Then it’s face, embrace and release. Thanks again for commenting and reading Sarupa 🙂
Kelli says:
July 29, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Hey Ryan
I remember that day you broached the subject of giving up that blog, and it seemed so shocking. But the clarity and energy you had led me to believe you were doing the right thing. Being clear and feeling good are so important for getting the results we want. But, the idea of giving up a PR 3 DA 47 blog with thousands of posts is not something most people would be able to do so easily, no matter how much emotional discord they felt from continuing with a pursuit they just didn’t feel good about any longer.
While this post is chock full of amazing advice, the most profound is releasing precedes acquiring. We must make room for the good by letting go of what is weighing us down. This takes a degree of faith that can be hard to muster on a consistent basis, but I have seen enough in my own life that has helped me strengthen mine more and more each day. Amazing stuff as always.
Ryan Biddulph says:
July 29, 2014 at 3:41 pm
KC, you have seen it in your own life, and me, mine, so it does get a bit easier to release over time. Yep, it’s still highly uncomfortable to let go at times but we can release in minutes or hours, instead of holding on for days, months, or forever. Thanks much as always.
Ryan Biddulph says:
July 30, 2017 at 10:00 am
MD glad you enjoyed it. It was a fun lesson for me in terms of letting go. Agonizing lesson too LOL.
Philip Verghese Ariel says:
January 20, 2022 at 11:11 pm
Hey Ryan,
What an amazing and surprising share!
Deleting such a lot of content???
Instead why can’t you update it with the latest information and new links images videos etc…
After reading this i thought that it is a new content, but later while checking the comments i found it, it’s an updated one with a lots changes.
Will done my friend, i too have a lots of low quality ones in my blog pvariel for com i must follow your step in this regard, of time permits please do have a look and expecting your valuable suggestions.
Best wishes and Season’s Greetings
~ Phil from Philipscom Associates
Hyderabad, India.
Lisa Sicard says:
January 21, 2022 at 4:33 am
Hi Ryan, I’m glad to see you update this old post 🙂 I prefer to update than delete but if it’s a really bad old post I do delete it. It does feel refreshing to let good of old crappy blog posts. I love looking at my posts via the “related posts” on the bottom of mine.
I will often find some old ones there and update them or if impossible to update, delete them. Updating them has made a big difference for my SEO efforts 🙂
I didn’t have thousands like you, but I do have over 500 and at one point a few years ago deleted over 100 posts.
It’s like cleaning a closet, updating your wardrobe, and give away what you don’t wear 🙂
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 21, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Updating does wonders for SEO Lisa. Aged domains tend to rank easily if you beef up posts the right way. Google loves the URL and its seasoned nature; then you add many helpful details to rank on page 1.
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 21, 2022 at 1:04 pm
I am updating some posts Philip but based on the average human lifespan, I cannot add 500-1000 words or more to 1,000 blog posts. I would run out of time. Deleting the posts to trash thin content is doing wonders for me, for my blog and for you, too.
Nikola Roza says:
January 25, 2022 at 12:14 pm
Smart move Ryan, you have nothing to worry about. Those thin articles, especially those where it’s just links or videos probably attracted Google Panda penalty on your domain.
As Google crawls and reindexes your site, you should expect quite a sizeable jump in traffic. As for the lost links, you don’t have to worry about the lost PageRank for at least 6-9 months, thanks to something called link echo. Basically, Google will still count those links in your favor, even when they see the posts are gone.
Finally, I know you said in one of your posts you don’t like receiving SEO advice if you haven’t asked for it, but since that post is now probably deleted, my advice to you is to from now on publish 100% keyword focused content.
I think that earlier 90%+ of your content was opinionated content which can’t rank as it doesn’t target anything.
Ryan Biddulph says:
January 25, 2022 at 4:00 pm
Thanks so much for weighing in Nikola as an SEO pro. Much appreciated.
Lily Ugbaja says:
February 2, 2022 at 3:02 am
Love this Ryan! Excited to hear how this new direction goes.
Ryan Biddulph says:
February 2, 2022 at 10:00 am
Lily great to see you 🙂
Marie Leslie says:
February 4, 2022 at 10:38 am
Thanks for such a timely post, Ryan. I am just getting ready to do this on my own website. Time for a huge overhaul, as I reevaluate my blogging direction.
Good to know I am on the right track.
Ryan Biddulph says:
February 4, 2022 at 2:09 pm
Awesome Marie 🙂
Elijah Shoesmith says:
February 14, 2022 at 1:23 pm
Glad I came across this in Quora when Lisa S. shared it! Even though my new(er) business website has a low volume of blogs (30), it’s good information to keep in the back of my mind. Also appreciate the insight about broken links, as it’s still a technical aspect I’m learning!
Ryan Biddulph says:
February 14, 2022 at 4:46 pm
Thanks for stopping by Elijah 🙂 I just saw your comment after I logged in to fix another dead link here LOL…unending process!
Ryan Biddulph says:
February 21, 2022 at 5:50 pm
The more I look back at this post – after updating some years after – I realize the importance of letting go the old blog, all those posts and the general dead weight I needed to shed. My writing changed dramatically. Frankly, I wrote horribly back them. I would have felt terrible re-directing those 3600 low quality posts to a higher quality site in Blogging From Paradise. Readers would experience a sort of disconnect that jars them, creating confusion and an overall bad look for my blog and brand. Thank goodness I learned this lesson back in 2014. 8 years later I still feel grateful to have realized that letting go is what allows you to grow.

Should You Delete Old Blog Posts?