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What to do you do with dead content, i.e. in-site url pages that are no longer relevant or important to your site, but have been indexed by google?
In this scenario, you ALSO have fresh content that you are trying to get indexed on an ongoing basis.
Possible answers?
1] 404 the dead content? Take out the trash and keep your fingers crossed that your new stuff gets hit by googlebot?
2] "Hey! Be greatful that you have **anything at all in google** !" i.e., keep them online and modify the content with a link to back to the site entrance or a general content area?
3] Keep them there and modify the content with a link to back to the site entrance or a general content area ** BUT ** eventually 404 them when you reach an out of control proportion of Links with Dead Content to Healthy Links?
Thanks!
What to do you do with dead content, i.e. in-site url pages that are no longer relevant or important to your site, but have been indexed by google?
Google users don't care what's relevant to your site, they care about what's relevant to them. If their traffic is in anyway beneficial to your goals, leave the content up. Even it the traffic isn't beneficial to you, leave it up if you can afford to. At worst, if you consider the content so out-of-date that it's misleading, re-label it as "out of date". Sometimes out-of-date information is useful, too.
2] "Hey! Be greatful that you have **anything at all in google** !" i.e., keep them online and modify the content with a link to back to the site entrance or a general content area?
This is the best option of the three, but to tell the truth, good content should have had links to related content (and the home page) to begin with. Always create paths between related content. Hypertext is supposed to let users (not just authors) choose their paths through information; Good websites use good navigation to give the readers alternate paths.
