This document provides tips for increasing website traffic by deleting outdated content. It recommends performing a content audit to categorize posts as keep, improve, consolidate, or remove. Posts marked for removal should be redirected instead of deleted if they are indexed to avoid search engine penalties. Old posts can be improved by adding images, headings, internal links, and optimizing for social sharing and SEO. Tools like Yoast SEO and Social Warefare can help with optimization.

1. How to
Increase Your Traffic
by Deleting Your
Content
with Todd Tresidder
WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM

2. Perform a content
audit on your site
WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
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3. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Create a spreadsheet with every
post on your blog. Include the
following:
Name of post
URL of that post
Category

4. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
EVERYTHING on your blog has to
be in alignment with your brand.
Figure out your brand

5. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Analyse Relevant Statistics
Social media shares
Traffic and popularity
Links back to your posts

6. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Place each post in one of four categories
KEEP: These are high-quality posts that are in
complete alignment with your brand.
IMPROVE: These are potentially high-quality posts
that match your brand
CONSOLIDATE: Series of posts that can be combined
to make one killer post.
REMOVE: These are posts that are out of date,
irrelevant, or simply low quality.

7. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Do a 301 Redirect for Indexed Posts
Never simply remove a post that is indexed in
Google or is linked to from another post or site.
Why?
If you do, your visitors will reach a 404 error page.
Google penalizes sites for having too many 404
errors.
404 PAGE = POOR USER EXPERIENCE
301 REDIRECT tells Google (and any other site that links to your
content) that the content has been moved and the traffic is
passed on to the new location. There is no penalty for that.
404
ERROR
PAGE

8. How to Improve Old Posts
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9. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Visual posts get shared more on
social media.
Images enhance the user
experience significantly
Add relevant images with
proper tagging for SEO
Clean out all old images
Swap old images with newer and
optimized images.

10. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Headings make the content easier
to consume
Add headings throughout your
posts
Update your internal links
Make sure to link to relevant and
newer posts on your blog
Clean up your internal linking

11. WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Yoast SEO plugin
Social Warefare plugin
Have proper social media
conventions
Tools available:

12. More about Increasing Your Traffic by Deleting Your Content with Todd Tresidder at WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM