• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

SEO Windy City

Huntley Digital Marketing Agency - SEO & PPC Company

  • Services
    • SEO
    • PPC
    • Web Design
  • Blog
  • About
  • Discovery Form
  • Contact Us

Filed Under: SEO • August 20, 2025 Leave a Comment

Can Deleting Pages Actually Help Your SEO?

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

If you’re like most small business owners, the thought of deleting pages from your website probably makes you nervous. After all, more pages should mean more opportunities to get found in Google, right?

Not always.

Sometimes, less really is more. In fact, cleaning up weak or outdated content can boost your site’s overall quality, make it easier for Google to focus on your best pages, and even improve rankings.

Let’s break down when deleting a page is the smart move—and when you should keep it.


Why Fewer Pages Can Mean Better SEO

Google doesn’t rank websites as a whole—it ranks individual pages. But the overall quality of your site does play a role. If you have hundreds of thin, outdated, or nearly duplicate pages, they can drag down the “signal” of your strongest content.

Here’s why trimming can help:

  • Quality signals matter – Google wants to serve the best results. A site full of fluff or weak pages may be seen as lower quality overall.

  • Crawl efficiency – Fewer low-value pages means Googlebot can spend more time on your high-value ones.

  • User experience – Visitors who land on old, irrelevant, or shallow content won’t stick around. Cleaning it up makes your site more trustworthy.

Think of it like spring cleaning: you’re not throwing away the good stuff—you’re getting rid of what no longer serves you.


Signs a Page Should Be Deleted (or Consolidated)

Not every page deserves to stay. Here are some red flags to watch for:

  1. Very low or no traffic – If a page hasn’t brought visitors in a year and isn’t strategically important, it might not be worth keeping.

  2. Thin content – Pages with only a few sentences and no real value.

  3. Duplicate or near-duplicate pages – Multiple pages targeting the same keywords or topics.

  4. Outdated information – Old promotions, expired events, or content that’s no longer accurate.

  5. Unaligned with business goals – Pages about services you no longer offer or markets you no longer serve.


How to Decide: Delete, Update, or Redirect?

Before you hit “delete,” here’s a simple framework to follow:

  • Update it if: The topic is still relevant but the content is outdated or too thin. Add depth, images, FAQs, or fresh data.

  • Consolidate it if: You have multiple weak pages covering the same idea. Merge them into one stronger, authoritative page.

  • Redirect it if: The page had some SEO value (backlinks, past traffic), but you’re removing it. Use a 301 redirect to point it to the most relevant live page.

  • Delete it if: The page has no value, no links, no traffic, and no business relevance.


Real-World Example

Imagine you run a home cleaning business. Years ago, you created separate blog posts like:

  • “Spring Cleaning Tips for 2018”

  • “Spring Cleaning Tips for 2019”

  • “Spring Cleaning Tips for 2020”

Each post is outdated, thin, and competing with each other. Instead of leaving all three up, you’d be better off merging them into one evergreen post:
“Spring Cleaning Tips That Work Every Year.”

That one strong, updated page has a much better chance of ranking than three weak ones.


The SEO Payoff

When small business owners do this cleanup, the results often look like this:

  • Higher rankings for the content you keep.

  • Improved organic traffic as Google recognizes your site is more authoritative.

  • Better leads and conversions because visitors land on pages that are actually helpful.

This is especially powerful for small businesses with limited marketing resources—you want Google to shine a spotlight on your best work, not waste time on old baggage.


Final Takeaway

Deleting pages can feel counterintuitive, but it’s often one of the smartest SEO moves a small business can make. The goal isn’t to have the most pages—it’s to have the most valuable pages.

So, instead of asking, “What else can I publish?”, start asking, “Which pages actually deserve to stay?”

That mindset shift could be the key to your next SEO breakthrough.

Filed Under: SEO

seo windy city

Return to blog

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

seo windy city

(312) 869-9736
hi@seowindycity.com

Certified Google Partner

Copyright © 2025 SEO Windy City LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy and Cookies Policy | Terms of Use | Legal Notices / Imprint