Resurrect domain vs new domain

[abcdefg]

Hi,

I have one website that started a prolonged decline in G traffic over two years ago. I haven't worked on it for about a year and half, though I occasionally use it myself. Now G traffic is under 0.5% of the peak, according to G's console, and lower than Bing's.

My question is this:
If I want to work on this site and get some G traffic, is it better to use a new domain or just change the site?

Also, what if I use subdomains? (That is in case there is some kind of "dirty list" that is subdomain-specific.)

[aristotle]

Does the old site have any really good backlinks? If not, then I doubt that it would ever make a comeback after such a big drop, even if you did a lot of work on it.

[tangor]

I know this gets boring:

Content is King.

Over the decades I have resurrected a number of domains that fell into the backwaters simply because of neglect. These CAN BE RECOVERED if there are no problems other than lapsing into "silence". Nothing hinky, no bad links, just on the backside of the "flash in the pan" that got the site going in the first place.

Niche/Interest is the most important aspect. Content is what brings the user. REALLY good content is what keeps the user coming back. Repeat business is generally better than once-and-gone traffic.

UI, layout, colors, functionality... these are the eye-candy and useability of the site. Bring those up to the latest industry standards. Ensure that Accessibility is ingrained... we have an aging population that still uses the web but can't see or hear as well as previously. Avoid blinking lights and all dancing images--annoyances! Pop ups and interstitials are the bane of good presentation.

TIME. EFFORT, CONSTANT MONITORING. Changes made to the site must be logical AND COMPLETE steps. Consistency in presentation. Major Site Changes every six weeks, not changes in hours or minutes! Got to give the SEs time to a) see the change, b) evaluate the change, c) index and MOVE to serps change. Until the change actually appears in serps you won't know your success rate in reviving the domain.

One can even change the niche AT THE BEGINNING of resurrection to something more mainstream or of general interest, but once embarked on THAT the focus is to forget the past site and drill down to the strength of the new site! Last thing you want to do is confuse the SEs MORE THAN ONCE.

What all the above boils down to is: CONTENT. All the rest is what has to be done to deliver same---and that is hard work with no magic bullet in sight!