Why Check Old Links for Content?
After running a small or medium-sized enterprise website for several years, you often accumulate many old pages and links. When redesigning, updating content, or upgrading technology, you need to decide which old links still hold value and which can be removed. Deleting all old links outright may cause loss of traffic and authority, wasting previously built content assets. Therefore, when reviewing old links, it's essential to assess whether the information behind each link still has value.
What Content Is Worth Keeping?
1. High-Traffic, High-Ranking Pages
Use analytics tools (e.g., Baidu Analytics, Google Analytics) to check old links for traffic, time on page, and bounce rate. Pages that continue to attract organic traffic indicate ongoing user demand. These should be retained and optimized rather than deleted. Common examples include product pages, FAQ pages, and popular articles.
2. Core Service and Product Information
Old websites often contain content about core business operations, such as service processes, product specifications, and case studies. Even if the design looks outdated, the information itself is usually still accurate. When reviewing these links, it's best to keep the content and only update the format and visual presentation. Rewriting from scratch could lose existing keyword coverage and user trust.
3. Brand Story and Company Introduction
Many older websites have company profiles, development histories, and team introductions that are part of the brand's accumulated equity. These pages often have stable links and may be referenced or bookmarked externally. As long as the information is not significantly wrong, you can keep them and add updates rather than completely rewriting.
4. User-Generated Content (e.g., Reviews, Q&A)
If your old site has customer reviews, forum posts, comments, or other user-generated content, these are valuable social proof. When checking old links, consider migrating active or high-quality UGC to the new site, or at least keep the link pointing to it, so users can still find historical records.
What Content Should Be Discarded?
- Outdated news or event pages: Finished events, old promotions, and expired announcements usually have no long-term value. Delete them or set up 301 redirects to relevant sections.
- Duplicate or similar pages: Multiple links pointing to the same content (e.g., product pages with different URLs). Keep one authoritative version and redirect the rest with 301.
- Low-quality or spammy content: Auto-generated tag pages, empty pages, or pages with no substantive content. Delete them directly.
- Sensitive or non-compliant content: Information related to outdated policies, false claims, or discontinued products must be removed.
Action Steps
We recommend SMEs follow these steps to handle old links:
- Export all URLs from your site (using a crawler tool or CMS export).
- Sort by traffic, number of backlinks, and last update date.
- Evaluate each link: Keep/Modify/Delete. For keep links, reuse them directly on the new site; for modify links, update content before keeping; for delete links, use 301 redirects to the most relevant page.
- Review periodically to avoid broken links.
Remember, checking old links is not a one-time task but part of ongoing website optimization. Properly retaining valuable content helps the redesigned site gain search engine recognition faster and retain existing users more easily.
If you have questions about specific operations, consider consulting a professional website development service provider, who can offer detailed plans based on your site's actual situation.
