Almost all website owners want to improve their SEO, so they start removing old or underperforming content, a process known as content pruning, but in doing so, they often delete valuable pages that still bring traffic, backlinks, or useful information to their audience.

This mistake can quietly lower search rankings, reduce organic traffic, and weaken the overall user experience because good content supports your SEO and keeps your visitors engaged.

At Digital Hitmen, a trusted Perth digital marketing agency, we help businesses prune with a plan, ensuring they only remove what’s necessary while protecting the content that still adds value, answers questions, or drives results.

In this article, you’ll learn the biggest mistakes people make during content pruning, why those mistakes happen, and how to confidently spot and save the content that’s still working for your business.

Top 7 Mistakes People Make When Pruning Content

Pruning content can help your website grow, but only if done with care, data, and a clear strategy.

Here are the most common mistakes people make while pruning and why they happen, even with good intentions.

1. Deleting Pages Based Only on Low Traffic

One of the biggest mistakes people make is removing content simply because it gets very few visits, assuming low traffic equals low value.

For example, a blog post that only gets 20 visitors per month might seem useless at first glance, but that same post might be targeting a niche keyword, earning strong backlinks, or supporting another high-performing page.

This happens because many website owners focus only on basic analytics like traffic volume and ignore deeper metrics like engagement, link strength, or conversion support. But SEO is about more than just traffic; it’s also about relevance, value, and authority.

2. Confusing Outdated Design or Layout with Poor Content

Another mistake is deleting content just because it looks old or unpolished, such as an article with outdated formatting or an older landing page with poor visuals. While the layout may seem out of place on a modern site, the information itself might still be valuable and accurate.

This happens when people confuse appearance with usefulness, forgetting that good content can often be refreshed with new formatting, updated headers, and better visuals without being removed completely.

3. Ignoring Backlinks and Internal Links

Some pages may not get much traffic, but they hold valuable backlinks from reputable sites or pass internal link juice that supports your SEO. When you remove a page with strong external links or useful internal connections, you risk breaking your site’s authority and structure.

This mistake happens because many people don’t check link profiles before pruning or simply don’t understand how link equity works. Tools like Ahrefs or Google Search Console can help uncover these important signals that shouldn’t be ignored.

4. Not Performing a Full Content Audit

Many business owners start pruning without conducting a proper content audit, including metrics like traffic, backlinks, content age, keyword performance, user behavior, and internal links. Instead, they rely on gut feelings, old lists, or guesswork to decide what to remove.

This happens because audits take time, and people often feel rushed or unsure of where to start. But skipping the audit means pruning based on limited data, which increases the risk of removing content that’s still valuable or can be improved.

5. Deleting Content That Serves Different Audiences

Sometimes, businesses create multiple pieces of content around the same topic but for different readers, for example, one blog post for beginners, another for professionals, and a third for industry buyers. When pruning, they might delete one or more of these articles, thinking they’re repetitive, without realizing that each one meets a unique need or search intent.

This mistake happens when people look only at topics or keywords and forget to look at who the content is for. Understanding the audience is just as important as understanding the content.

6. Removing Content Instead of Updating or Merging

Instead of updating outdated information or merging two similar posts into a stronger, more helpful one, many website owners delete content too quickly. For instance, an old guide about Facebook ads might still rank for keywords but have outdated screenshots or stats—it can be updated rather than thrown away.

This happens because updating or merging content takes more time and planning than deleting, and many businesses lack the resources or patience to handle that work properly.

7. Cutting Too Much Content at Once

Some people get carried away and delete large chunks of content quickly, without monitoring performance or impact. They believe this will instantly boost SEO, but it often leads to ranking drops, broken links, and lost traffic.

This happens because they want fast results and believe more pruning means better outcomes, but without a strategy and time to assess results, mass deletion can do more harm than good. A phased approach with regular checks is safer and smarter.

SEO

Each of these mistakes is avoidable with the right tools, guidance, and a thoughtful process, which we’ll explore next as we show you how to identify the content that’s truly worth keeping.

How to Identify Content You Should Keep

Before you remove any page from your website, remember this important rule: not all low-performing content deserves to be deleted. Some pieces may not bring in lots of traffic or conversions, but they serve a hidden purpose, support other pages, or hold long-term SEO value. Knowing what to keep and why is key to smart content pruning.

Here are important signals to check before deleting a page:

Traffic Trends

Don’t judge a page by total visits alone. Look at traffic trends over time. If a page gets steady or rising visits, even in small numbers, it may attract a niche audience that finds it helpful. This kind of content builds authority and keeps returning users.

Backlinks

Pages with backlinks from other websites pass link authority (link equity) to your domain. Removing them without checking can hurt your SEO. Use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or Semrush to see if a page has valuable backlinks before you delete it.

Internal Links

Sometimes, a page doesn’t rank well on its own but supports other pages through internal links. For example, it may explain a related concept or drive users to a high-converting page. Cutting this content can confuse search engines or users and break your internal structure.

Content Relevance and Quality

Ask yourself: Does this content still match your business goals or answer a real customer question? Even if the design feels outdated, the content may still be relevant. Instead of removing it, update it with current facts or better formatting.

User Engagement

Review key metrics like time on page, bounce rate, and social shares. A page with few visits but high engagement might be highly effective for those who find it. This signals real value.

Before deciding to delete content, consider these alternatives:

  • Update the outdated information.
  • Merge it with similar content to create a stronger page.
  • Make it non-indexable if it’s useful for users but not for SEO.

Clean Up Your Content Without Losing Value

Pruning your website content can boost SEO and user experience, but it can remove valuable pages that support rankings, traffic, and conversions if done carelessly. Instead of rushing the process, take a slow and thoughtful approach by performing a full content audit and using reliable data.

As a leading digital marketing agency based in Perth, Digital Hitmen helps businesses prune content safely using proven SEO strategies, smart tools, and a focus on real results. To avoid deleting the wrong pages and grow online confidently, visit https://www.digitalhitmen.com.au/blog/content-pruning-guide/ to learn more about content pruning and how to do it right.