Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • SEO Q&A
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • Case Studies
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      What is your Brand Authority?
      Moz

      What is your Brand Authority?

      Check yours now
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • SEO Q&A

        Insights & discussions from an SEO community of 500,000+.

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • Case Studies

        Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. Research & Trends
    3. White Hat / Black Hat SEO
    4. Best practices for retiring 100s of blog posts?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Best practices for retiring 100s of blog posts?

    White Hat / Black Hat SEO
    redirects blog post backlinks blog post 404s
    5
    5
    1503
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • David_Fisher
      David_Fisher Subscriber last edited by

      Hi. I wanted to get best practices for retiring an enterprise blog with hundreds of old posts with subject matter that won't be repurposed. What would be the best course of action to retire and maintain the value of any SEO authority from those old blog pages?

      Is it enough to move those old posts into an archive subdirectory and Google would deprioritize those posts over time?

      Or would a mass redirect of old blog posts to the new blog's home page be allowed (even though the old blog post content isn't being specifically replaced)? Or would Google basically say that if there aren't 1:1 replacement URLs, that would be seen as soft-404s and treated like a 404?

      Tom.Capper Kateparish 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Premierhome12
        Premierhome12 last edited by

        Retiring a large number of blog posts can be a significant task, and it's important to handle it thoughtfully to maintain the integrity of your website and its content. Here are some best practices for retiring hundreds of blog posts:

        1. Assessment and Planning:

        • Evaluate each blog post individually to determine its relevance, traffic, and importance.
          2. Communication:**
        • Inform your audience about the changes in advance. Create a blog post or announcement explaining the decision to retire certain content.
          3.Maintain SEO:
        • Update your sitemap to reflect the changes.
          4.Content Audit:
          Use the retirement as an opportunity to conduct a broader content audit. Assess the overall quality and relevance of your remaining content.
          5. Learn from Analytics:
        • Analyze website analytics to understand the impact of retiring specific posts on traffic and user engagement.
        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • rejuve
          rejuve last edited by

          Best Practices for Retiring Hundreds of Blogs

          Are you contemplating retiring hundreds of old blog posts? It's a significant decision, but fear not! Here are the best practices for a smooth transition.

          Content Audit: Analyze traffic, engagement, and relevance to identify which posts to retire. Preserve high-performing and evergreen content for repurposing.

          301 Redirects: Redirect retired blog URLs to related or updated content using 301 redirects. This preserves SEO value and prevents broken links.

          Inform Your Audience: Notify your readers in advance about the changes. Explain why certain posts are being retired and assure them of fresh, valuable content to come.

          Archiving: Consider archiving the retired posts on your website for reference purposes. This maintains historical context and might still attract occasional visits.

          Promotion of New Content: Emphasize your latest and most relevant content. Utilize newsletters, social media, and email campaigns to highlight new posts and offerings.

          Monitor Analytics: Keep a close eye on post-retirement metrics to gauge the impact on traffic and user behavior. Adjust your strategy as needed.

          Remember, retiring old blogs opens up opportunities for fresh, engaging content that resonates with your audience. Embrace the change and watch your website flourish!

          P.S. Explore Hamzastore.pk for unique and trendy 3D wall clocks Add a touch of style to your space with our premium collection.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Tom.Capper
            Tom.Capper Subject Expert @David_Fisher last edited by

            @David_Fisher

            Redirecting them in bulk might cause some loss of equity yes - are any of them particularly noteworthy or well linked to? Perhaps just those ones could be left up.

            That said, if you have the option to leave these posts live on an archived subdirectory, why is it that you want to take them down at all? Usually the answer would be because they are duplicate or thin content, but clearly that is not the case.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Kateparish
              Kateparish @David_Fisher last edited by

              @David_Fisher When retiring an old enterprise blog with many outdated posts, simply archiving them in a subdirectory may not be enough to prevent Google from indexing them. Redirecting all the old posts to the new blog's homepage without any relevant content could be seen as a soft-404 by Google.

              The best approach would be to repurpose or update any relevant posts for the new blog and redirect only those specific posts. For the rest, create a custom 404 page that provides links to the new blog's homepage and other relevant content. This approach ensures a positive user experience and maintains SEO authority.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • 1 / 1
              • First post
                Last post

              Got a burning SEO question?

              Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


              Start my free trial


              Browse Questions

              Explore more categories

              • Moz Tools

                Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

              • SEO Tactics

                Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

              • Community

                Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

              • Digital Marketing

                Chat about tactics outside of SEO

              • Research & Trends

                Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

              • Support

                Connect on product support and feature requests.

              • See all categories

              Related Questions

              • LeoTrees

                Premium domain name redirects

                seo tactics question redirects

                Hi, I run a tree surgery business - woodfeldertreecare.co.uk We're based in Manchester, UK. A few days ago I was called by Premium Domain Names who convinced me that buying treesurgeonsmanchester.com and treesurgerymanchester.com and redirecting them to our main site would be amazing for organic traffic. My designer and an SEO friend both reckon this was a waste of money and reckon I've been scammed. Any thoughts? Please help.

                SEO Tactics | | LeoTrees
                0
              • campionn

                Improving SEO for an e-commerce page with 1 product page

                keywords blog post e-commerce

                I'm trying to improve the SEO for an e-commerce store that I'm working for that sells custom car air fresheners where you select the shape of the item and then upload the photo. The site has been around for almost 10 years so has authority in the field and ranks number one for custom car air fresheners and other related high-traffic keywords. However, there is no blog, no social media and has 8 total pages: landing page, FAQ, contact, guidelines, shape/product (page that starts the ordering process with little text), scents, terms, and samples.
                I'm struggling with how we rank higher for specific keywords that we are not number 1 with ok traffic (such as dog air freshener, custom air freshener for car with picture, custom photo car air freshener) and not affect the current keywords that we are ranking number one for. In addition, how do we rank higher for other keywords, if we don't have that many pages like a blog to create content? I was thinking of creating a blog to target more keywords, but I don't think there is enough relevant content to make. And I feel Google would find a blog about "top gifts for dad" or "top gifts for the holidays" not relevant. I was also thinking of adding more text to the shapes/product page which could be tailored towards a keyword. Maybe I could create another product page that goes into more detail about the air freshener with images, descriptions, and other use cases. On MOZ, the Domain Authority is 18 (really low), so I am thinking about working on getting backlinks from relevant sources with authority to improve our SEO. Or do we not mess with the text on the website since it works and not worry about the other keywords and focus on technical SEO items and backlinks to help with SEO? TLDR: How do you improve SEO for new keywords for an e-commerce business that doesn't have a lot of pages for content without affecting its number 1 ranking on other keywords?

                Keyword Research | | campionn
                0
              • SEOfreshman

                Should I keep my existing site or start new?

                redirects urlredirect optimization site structure business

                I have a website with less than 3K visits a year. Only customers with an Account with me who have login credentials can see my product pricing and make a purchase onsite; therefore, indexing/page ranking is not a concern for me. My agency suggests that my product catalog be corrected to a parent/child relationship. Currently, each product variation has its own SKU and PDP. As a result, product findability: Site Search, Categorization, and Facets are a mess. Is there any way I can keep my current URL (branding purposes)? I thought we could delete all pages (PLPs & PDPs) and create all new and enforce 301 redirects. Thoughts?

                Community | | SEOfreshman
                1
              • JimJ

                What is the best strategy to SEO Discontinued Products on Ecommerce Sites?

                RebelsMarket.com is a marketplace for alternative fashion. We have hundreds of sellers who have listed thousands of products. Over 90% of the items do not generate any sales;  and about 40% of the products have been on the website for over 3+ years. We want to cleanup the catalog and remove all the old listings  that older than 2years that do not generate any sales.  What is the best practice for removing thousands of listings  an Ecommerce site? do we 404 these products and show similar items? Your help and thoughts is much appreciated.

                White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | JimJ
                3
              • IsaCleanse

                Best URL structure for SEO for Malaysian/Singapore site on .com.au domain

                Hi there I know ideally i need a .my or .sg domain, however i dont have time to do this in the interim so what would be the best way to host Malaysian content on a www.domainname.com.au website? www.domainname.com.au/en-MY
                www.domainname.com.au/MY
                domainname.com.au/malaysia
                malaysia.domainname.com.au
                my.domainname.com.au Im assuming this cant make the .com.au site look spammy but thought I'd ask just to be safe? Thanks in advance! 🙂

                White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | IsaCleanse
                0
              • smallpotatoes

                Does posting on Craigslist damage our SEO or reuptation?

                We have a website that's a single person barbershop. She has been promoting on Craigslist, and that is outranking the website in the SERPs. However, the craigslist results showing up are actually expired and don't link to anything. They just seem to be cached by Craigslist. My question is, is Craigslist considered to generally not be a good avenue for directing inbound links for services on your site? Or is it a good strategy to use Craigslist to build link traffic for service businesses? I get mixed responses when I search for this. Thanks eYtdHtg.png

                White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | smallpotatoes
                0
              • SDSLaw

                Merging four sites into one... Best way to combine content?

                First of all, thank you in advance for taking the time to look at this. The law firm I work for once took a "more is better" approach and had multiple websites, with keyword rich domains. We are a family law firm, but we have a specific site for "Arizona Child Custody" as one example. We have four sites. All four of our sites rank well, although I don't know why. Only one site is in my control, the other three are managed by FindLaw. I have no idea why the FindLaw sites do well, other than being in the FindLaw directory. They have terrible spammy page titles, and using Copyscape, I realize that most of the content that FindLaw provides for it's attorneys are "spun articles." So I have a major task and I don't know how to begin. First of all, since all four sites rank well for all of the desired phrases-- will combining all of that power into one site rocket us to stardom? The sites all rank very well now, even though they are all technically terrible. Literally. I would hope that if I redirect the child custody site (as one example) to the child custody overview page on the final merged site, we would still maintain our current SERP for "arizona child custody lawyer." I have strongly encouraged my boss to merge our sites for many reasons. One of those being that it's playing havoc with our local places. On the other hand, if I take down the child custody site, redirect it, and we lose that ranking, I might be out of a job. Finally, that brings me down to my last question. As I mentioned, the child custody site is "done" very poorly. Should I actually keep the spun content and redirect each and every page to a duplicate on our "final" domain, or should I redirect each page to a better article? This is the part that I fear the most. I am considering subdomains. Like, redirecting the child custody site to childcustody.ourdomain.com-- I know, for a fact, that will work flawlessly. I've done that many times for other clients that have multiple domains. However, we have seven areas of practice and we don't have 7 nice sites. So child custody would be the only legal practice area that has it's own subdomain. Also, I wouldn't really be doing anything then, would I? We all know 301 redirects work. What I want is to harness all of this individual power to one mega-site. Between the four sites, I have 800 pages of content. I need to formulate a plan of action now, and then begin acting on it. I don't want to make the decision alone. Anybody care to chime in? Thank you in advance for your help. I really appreciate the time it took you to read this.

                White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | SDSLaw
                0
              • Trigun

                How to transfer posts from a specific category into a subdomain

                Hi Guys, Is there a way in Wordpress to transfer or redirect a category and all posts under it into a sub-domain? Thanks in advance..

                White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Trigun
                0

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy

              Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.