{"id":32159,"date":"2021-07-13T10:48:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T15:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?p=32159"},"modified":"2021-09-02T11:55:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T16:55:00","slug":"should-you-delete-content-or-just-stop-linking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-you-delete-content-or-just-stop-linking\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<article class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-beige has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-772205c6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained is-style-beige--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group c-breadcrumbs aligngrid has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-61973aa6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d68226ec wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\" style=\"margin-bottom:5px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mediavine-dev.d1.moderntribe.qa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chevron-left2.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-542\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9\/16;object-fit:contain;width:auto;height:20px\"\/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/\">Back to Blog<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/header>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity aligngrid\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"\/>\r\n<\/header>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-default has-neutral-20-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\"><div class=\"aligncenter aligncenter wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">SEO<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-title\">Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9b38c6d9 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-author-name\">Eric Hochberger<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u2022<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-date has-10-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2021-07-13T10:48:20-05:00\">July 13, 2021<\/time><\/div><\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p>If you&#8217;re a new blogger, bookmark this and come back in a few years. But if you&#8217;ve been blogging for awhile, you may have already asked yourself this SEO question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Should you delete content that&#8217;s old and\/or not doing a lot for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Looking for a quick answer? Sorry. We&#8217;re going to make you power through a 1,555-word novel because this isn&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/make-your-own-luck-with-google-podcast-transcript\/\">thin content<\/a> we\u2019ll be deleting anytime soon \u2014 you&#8217;ll get the cleverness of that joke in a second!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In truth, there are differing views on whether you should delete old content and why. But before we reach our verdict, there are some key concepts to understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO theorists who advocate for you to delete content lean heavily upon the following terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-thin-content\">Thin Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thin content is like a thin argument \u2014 a page that provides little unique value to the reader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Commonly, these are pages such as \u201challway\u201d or \u201cdoorway\u201d pages, existing primarily to provide links to pages with content, while the page itself doesn\u2019t have unique content. For example, remember when you were going to spend the entire summer creating delicious tomato recipes, so you created a tag and a category page for this content in advance? But then your tomato crop was hardly bumper and you ended up not writing a single post, so that tag and category page have no content?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We could write a whole blog post on this (it wouldn\u2019t be thin, either!) but in short, if a page doesn\u2019t provide direct SEO value to Google, why show it to Google? It\u2019s not going to rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But is there any <em>harm<\/em> in thin content?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Google indexes everything on a per-page basis (see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/pagerank-why-links-are-so-important\/\">PageRank post<\/a>), there\u2019s no overall harm to your site from having thin content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bigger concern is that it can actually impact the second concern:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-crawl-budget\">&#8220;Crawl Budget&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The internet is very large, and even Google has finite resources when crawling every site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This leads to the concept of <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2017\/01\/what-crawl-budget-means-for-googlebot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">crawl budget<\/a>, or how much time Googlebot will spend browsing each of the pages on your site per day, week or month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, Googlebot has limited time for you and everyone else. Exactly how limited? That will vary by site and based on additional factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Site Speed<\/strong>: The slower your site, the longer it takes to crawl. (Cough, you need to pass <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/core-web-vitals-google-page-experience\/\">Core Web Vitals<\/a>).<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/internal-links-pagerank-and-simple-seo-you-can-control\/\">PageRank<\/a><\/strong>: The more you have, the higher your authority and the more time Google can justify giving you resources compared to smaller sites. (The <em>New York Times<\/em> likely has a greater crawl budget than you do, regardless of how slow it may be.)<\/li><li><strong>Updating<\/strong>: A properly configured <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/site-structure\/\">sitemap<\/a> will tell Google how often your site is updated, but either way, Google will figure it out. If you only post once a month, and your older content is rarely updated, Google will crawl with less frequency. If you update regularly, Google will be there constantly.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts.png\" alt=\"What affects crawl budget graphic summarizing the list in the post\" class=\"wp-image-32258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts.png 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-320x213.png 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-375x250.png 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-555x370.png 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-344x229.png 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-281x187.png 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-335x223.png 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-347x231.png 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-520x346.png 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Should-you-delete-old-posts-640x426.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is where thin content comes in. If Google finds a lot of it, you have two potentially problematic scenarios on your hands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Squandering your limited crawl budget on thin pages when Google could be looking at more important ones, or worse;<\/li><li>Google lowering your crawl budget altogether if it encounters predominantly thin content.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-so-should-you-delete-content-or-what\">So Should You Delete Content, or What?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After reading all that, you&#8217;re probably thinking about all the thin content you need to delete. Which is why our answer to the above questions may surprise you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>No! Don&#8217;t do it!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even Google itself, in the article linked to above, says publishers shouldn&#8217;t worry about this. As long as you&#8217;re indexing fresh content (e.g. if your latest post is indexed that same day, or that same week if you post infrequently), then you have no issues with crawlability and can likely move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, it\u2019s also important to note that old content isn\u2019t necessarily thin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you wrote a post a decade ago, before you knew about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/above-the-fold-seo\/\">SEO<\/a>, or before you wrote longer\/more relevant posts for whatever reason, the older stuff may be shorter, but it likely isn\u2019t <em>thin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please remember, thin content doesn&#8217;t refer to the page&#8217;s length but its value; thin content means that it offers nothing unique to the reader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about the summer of no tomatoes example from above, with the tag page you made for your new category which now houses a link to one whole post with no unique content ever created for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So should you delete that tag\/page? Well, 698 words later, allow me to introduce you to a strategy that I\u2019ve used on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/what-sites-does-mediavine-own-how-do-they-help-yours\/\">Mediavine&#8217;s own sites<\/a> with success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-don-t-delete-instead-just-don-t-link\">Don\u2019t Delete. Instead, Just Don&#8217;t Link.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, Google\u2019s crawler works like a spider, following the path of the web. It can only get from one page to the next via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/internal-links-pagerank-and-simple-seo-you-can-control\/\">internal links<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you simply stop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/seo-guide-linking\/\">linking to a page<\/a>, Google stops crawling and indexing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the old adage goes, if a tree falls in the woods and no one&#8217;s there to hear it, does it make a sound? If a webpage isn&#8217;t linked to and can&#8217;t be crawled, does it still exist? (<em>Yes, but also no.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going back to our example earlier, let&#8217;s say you have a bunch of tag pages that you never wrote unique content for. You could simply update your theme to stop linking to those tags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tag pages you do use? Switch them to a different taxonomy, such as categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If that doesn\u2019t work for your overall strategy, simply remove the offending\/thin tag from any posts and suddenly nothing will link to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-32203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1.png 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-320x213.png 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-375x250.png 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-555x370.png 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-344x229.png 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-281x187.png 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-335x223.png 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-347x231.png 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-520x346.png 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1-640x426.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-is-this-better-than-deleting\">Why is This Better Than Deleting?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally, because it\u2019s safer. Again, paraphrasing the old saying: If a webpage has no links to it, does it exist? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Google\u2019s eyes, no. Not linking to a post has the exact same effect as deleting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why is it better? Wouldn\u2019t deleting said pages \u201cspeed up\u201d your site by taking up fewer server resources? And just be faster than thinking all of this through?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as any modern database or hosting company is concerned, no. One page on a site will take up very little space with zero impact on your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/category\/pagespeed\/\">site speed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no risk involved in the act of not linking to a post or page. Removing links is safe. The dangers of deleting content, on the other hand, do exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What if you directly linked to that tag in another post, or unbeknownst to you, someone else on the internet linked to the tag page via a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/backlinks-inbound-links-seo\/\">backlink<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you delete a post without cleaning up the links back to it, you\u2019re potentially wasting PageRank by sending it into the Vast Black Hole of Deletion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s not a real term, although we should probably trademark it. You get the idea \u2014 sending PageRank into the void, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Worse yet, what if the page or post you&#8217;re about to delete actually brings in traffic you may not realize it gets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our celebrity gossip website, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Hollywood Gossip<\/a>, regularly sees traffic on posts from 5-10 years ago. A page can be stagnant for years, then all of a sudden take off once a Z-lister finds their way back into the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we deleted the content, we\u2019d lose that potential. Instead, we stopped linking to THG&#8217;s oldest content archives, keeping them alive while preserving our link equity and crawl budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google still knows the old stuff is there; THG&#8217;s got the traffic on reality television stars from 2011 to prove it. This way, you get the benefits of deletion without any loss of traffic and potential PageRank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-if-you-redirect-the-old-content\">What if You Redirect the Old Content?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;My SEO guy told me to redirect that deleted content to my homepage or some other content!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No offense to that SEO guy, but fire that SEO guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kidding.&nbsp;Mostly. Not really. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Redirecting does not fully transfer link equity, even in the best case scenario. Google&#8217;s own Matt Cutts has said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/redirects-links-pagerank-16419.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some PageRank will dissipate or be diluted<\/a> when doing this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But more importantly, link equity only transfers through a redirect in the case of a change in URL, or a canonicalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, let\u2019s say you changed your URL to remove the dates, and therefore, were simply telling Google that you moved a post from one URL to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or let\u2019s say you made your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/no-more-excuses-its-time-to-go-secure-with-ssl\/\">site https<\/a>, or secure, (please tell me you have, it&#8217;s 2021, people), and set up a redirect from the old http:\/\/ structure to the new https:\/\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In those scenarios, you are transferring most of the PageRank, having properly used the redirect to indicate to Google that you moved the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re deleting a post and then redirecting the content to anything but where you moved that post&#8217;s content, you\u2019re losing the PageRank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No 301 to the homepage, or even to a related post that isn\u2019t a true replacement, will pass on the PageRank. The robots are too smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Disclaimer: If you\u2019re replacing the content you deleted, then a redirect will work.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By and large, just remove links to any thin content you believe to be a problem. Don&#8217;t delete it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-it-ever-safe-to-delete-content\">Is it Ever Safe to Delete Content?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course. If you know there are no links to a post, internally and externally, and it hasn\u2019t ranked on anything in over a year, and thus won&#8217;t cause a loss of links or traffic, you can axe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But again, what&#8217;s the point? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unless you have the tools and knowledge to understand when it\u2019s safe to delete, it\u2019s generally just better to nix the links to thin content and call it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, in the unlikely event that Kim Kardashian&#8217;s lawyer wants some salacious rumor taken down, you should probably go ahead and delete that, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bottom line, you&#8217;re better off spending the resource of your limited time creating fresh content about Kim&#8217;s latest arm candy rather than worrying about deleting old posts about former flames. <\/p>\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-09aec4f2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--3\">About the author<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);\" class=\"wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=192&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/author\/eric\/\" target=\"_self\">Eric Hochberger<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__bio\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-7c04bf6b wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--4\">Share this page<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing has-normal-icon-size has-icon-color is-style-logos-only is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-outermost-social-sharing-is-layout-9d3a6402 wp-block-social-sharing-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\"><li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-linkedin has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a 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class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on WhatsApp\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/article>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid  is-animated-on-scroll-25 tribe-animation-type-fade-in tribe-animation-direction-bottom is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);--tribe-animation-speed:0.6s;--tribe-animation-offset:50px;--tribe-animation-delay:0s;--tribe-animation-easing:var(--easing--ease-out-sine)\">\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-small is-style-small--5\" id=\"h-related-posts\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">Related Posts<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"b-related-posts b-related-posts--layout-grid  wp-block-tribe-related-posts\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article 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https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-vertical-video-graphics-04-680x383.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-vertical-video-graphics-04-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-vertical-video-graphics-04.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">Mediavine<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">Monetize the Vertical Video Content You Already Have<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata-readtime\">4 minutes<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">The Mediavine Team<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Feb 16, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog 4 min read \u2022 \u2022 From Social to Site: Mediavine&#8217;s Vertical Video Ads Are Live Publisher-produced video content is where the market is moving, and with this release, the videos you\u2019ve produced for social media can have additional value on your website.&nbsp;&nbsp; While others are still testing the waters, Mediavine already supports&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/monetize-the-vertical-video-content-you-already-have\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about Monetize the Vertical Video Content You Already Have\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div 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Team<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Feb 6, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog 4 min read \u2022 \u2022 Search is changing. Traffic is less predictable. Advertisers are getting more selective. Platforms are pulling value inward. None of this is new. What\u2019s new is the speed at which it\u2019s happening. The publishers who win next are not chasing loopholes or waiting for the next algorithm update&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/how-publishers-win-in-the-next-era-of-the-internet\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about How Publishers Win in the Next Era of the Internet\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"Photograph of Mediavine&#039;s Amanda Martin and Butler\/Till&#039;s Scott Ensign on stage at MVCon 2025\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-680x383.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mediavine-blog-mvcon-what-advertisers-want-graphics-08.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">Mediavine<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">How to Create Content Advertisers Will Pay More For<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata-readtime\">6 minutes<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">The Mediavine Team<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Feb 6, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog 4 min read \u2022 \u2022 If your goal is higher CPMs, steadier demand, and stronger long-term revenue, here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth: Advertisers are not paying more for more content; they\u2019re paying more for better environments, better audiences, and better experiences. That shift is already happening. Quietly. Algorithmically. And at scale. At MVCon,&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/how-to-create-content-advertisers-will-pay-more-for\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Create Content Advertisers Will Pay More For\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back to Blog \u2022 If you&#8217;re a new blogger, bookmark this and come back in a few years. But if you&#8217;ve been blogging for awhile, you may have already asked yourself this SEO question: Should you delete content that&#8217;s old and\/or not doing a lot for you? Looking for a quick answer? Sorry. We&#8217;re going&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,17,93],"tags":[],"audience_post":[],"class_list":["post-32159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mediavine","category-seo","category-seo-like-a-ceo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma - Mediavine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you&#039;ve been blogging for a while, you may have asked yourself this SEO question: Should you delete content that&#039;s not doing a lot for you?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-you-delete-content-or-just-stop-linking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? 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