Websites tend to collect pages over time. Some pages continue to support users, search visibility, sales conversations, or internal needs. Others become outdated, overlap with newer content, describe old services, reference expired events, or stay live simply because no one has decided what to do with them.
That does not always mean old pages should be deleted. Some pages should stay exactly where they are. Some need to be updated. Some should be combined with related content. Some should be removed. Some need redirects. In some cases, allowing a page to return a 404 may be more appropriate than sending users to an unrelated page.
The decision should be based on what the page does, whether it is still accurate, whether users need it, whether it supports business goals, and what happens if the page is changed or removed.
This guide can help teams review existing website pages and decide whether to keep, update, combine, remove, or redirect them.
Why Old Website Pages Need Review
An old website page is not automatically a problem. A page can be several years old and still be accurate, useful, and valuable. The issue is not age by itself. The issue is whether the page still serves a clear purpose.
A page may need review when it:
- Describes an outdated service, product, offer, or process
- Includes old dates, expired events, or past promotions
- Mentions former team members, locations, partners, or programs
- Repeats information that now lives somewhere else
- Competes with a newer or stronger page
- Receives traffic but does not help users take a useful next step
- Has no clear audience, purpose, or owner
- Contains broken links, outdated files, or old screenshots
- No longer reflects the organization’s current priorities
- Was created for a campaign, announcement, or temporary need that has passed
Reviewing these pages helps prevent users from finding outdated information. It also helps keep the website easier to manage, easier to navigate, and easier to trust.
Start by Understanding the Page’s Purpose
Before deciding what to do with a page, first identify why the page exists.
A page may serve one or more purposes. It may explain a service, support sales conversations, answer common questions, rank in search, provide resources to existing clients, support a campaign, house required information, or give users a path to contact the organization.
Ask:
- Who is this page for?
- What question is it supposed to answer?
- What action should the user take after reading it?
- Is the information still accurate?
- Is the page still aligned with current services, offers, or priorities?
- Does another page already answer the same need better?
- Does the page receive meaningful traffic?
- Does the page support conversions, leads, sales, support, or internal workflows?
- Is anyone responsible for keeping this page current?
If the page’s purpose is still clear, the page may be worth keeping or updating. If the purpose is unclear, the page may need to be combined, removed, or redirected.
When to Keep a Website Page
Keep a page when it is accurate, useful, current, and still serving a clear purpose.
A page may be worth keeping if:
- The information is still accurate
- The page supports an active service, product, program, or audience
- Users still need the information
- The page receives relevant traffic
- The page supports leads, sales, support, recruitment, donations, registrations, or another important action
- The page answers a common question
- The page has useful backlinks or search visibility
- The page is required for legal, compliance, policy, or operational reasons
- The page fits the current website structure
- The page has a clear owner or maintenance plan
Keeping a page does not mean ignoring it. Even pages that remain live should be reviewed for accuracy, formatting, links, accessibility basics, SEO elements, and user paths.
A page should not be kept only because it has always been there. It should be kept because it still helps users or supports a real business need.
When to Update a Website Page
Update a page when the page is still useful, but the content is outdated, incomplete, unclear, or no longer fully aligned with the organization.
This is often the best option for pages that still have value but need cleanup.
A page may need to be updated if:
- The core topic is still relevant
- The page supports an active service or audience
- The information is mostly correct but needs revisions
- The page includes outdated dates, examples, screenshots, team details, or links
- The page receives traffic but has weak engagement or few next actions
- The page ranks for useful search queries but does not answer them clearly enough
- The page is too thin or vague
- The page does not reflect current messaging or positioning
- The CTA is unclear or outdated
- The page needs better internal links
- The page has accessibility, formatting, or readability issues
Updating may include revising copy, restructuring headings, replacing images, updating links, adding missing context, improving calls to action, refreshing metadata, or aligning the page with current services.
The goal is not to rewrite every older page. The goal is to improve pages that still have a reason to exist.
When to Combine Website Pages
Combine pages when multiple pages overlap, compete, or split related information in a way that makes the website harder to use.
This often happens when similar pages are created over time by different teams, for different campaigns, or in response to one-off requests. Each page may have made sense when it was created, but together they may now create confusion.
Pages may need to be combined if:
- Two or more pages answer the same question
- Several pages target the same audience or service
- Similar content is spread across multiple URLs
- Users need to visit more than one page to get a complete answer
- One stronger page could serve the purpose better
- Older pages compete with newer pages in search
- Internal links point users to different versions of similar information
- The website has multiple pages for outdated, renamed, or overlapping services
Combining pages can make content clearer and reduce maintenance. It can also help avoid sending users through several partial pages when one complete page would be more useful.
Before combining pages, review which page is strongest. Consider accuracy, traffic, backlinks, conversions, search visibility, internal links, and user value. In many cases, the stronger page should be kept and improved, while weaker overlapping pages are redirected to it.
When to Remove a Website Page
Remove a page when it is obsolete, inaccurate, no longer useful, and does not have a meaningful reason to stay live.
This decision should be made carefully. Removing pages without review can create broken links, lost user paths, search issues, or confusion for users who still need the information.
A page may be a candidate for removal if:
- The information is no longer accurate
- The service, product, event, program, or offer no longer exists
- The page was created for a temporary campaign that has ended
- The page has no meaningful traffic, engagement, links, or business purpose
- The page duplicates stronger content elsewhere
- The page creates confusion because it no longer reflects current offerings
- The page contains outdated files, old forms, expired deadlines, or irrelevant information
- There is no clear owner or reason to maintain it
- Updating the page would not create meaningful value
Removing a page should not be treated as simply deleting it from the CMS. The team should also check internal links, navigation, XML sitemaps, search visibility, backlinks, redirects, and any campaign or email links that may still point to the page.
When to Redirect a Removed Page
Redirect a removed page when there is a relevant replacement page that gives users a useful next destination.
A redirect is helpful when the old page has been moved, renamed, consolidated, or replaced by a page that covers the same or closely related topic.
Redirect a page when:
- The page has a clear replacement
- The content has moved to a new URL
- The page was combined with another page
- The service or topic still exists under a different name
- The old URL receives traffic
- The old URL has backlinks
- Internal links, campaign links, or bookmarks may still point to the old URL
- Sending users to the new page would be helpful and accurate
A redirect should lead users to the most relevant active page. Redirecting users to the homepage or an unrelated page may be confusing if it does not help them find what they were looking for.
Before adding redirects, check whether internal links can also be updated. Redirects are useful, but internal links should usually point directly to the final destination when possible.
When a 404 Page May Be Acceptable
A 404 is not always wrong. Sometimes a page is gone, there is no relevant replacement, and redirecting users somewhere unrelated would be misleading.
A 404 may be acceptable when:
- The page no longer exists
- There is no useful replacement page
- The content was temporary and is no longer relevant
- The old topic should not continue to appear active
- Redirecting to another page would confuse users
- The page has little or no meaningful traffic
- The page does not have important backlinks or active campaign links
The 404 page itself should still be useful. It should help users continue to the homepage, search the site, browse key sections, or contact the organization if needed.
The goal is not to avoid every 404 at all costs. The goal is to avoid preventable 404s that interrupt important user paths or send users to missing pages when a relevant replacement exists.
What to Check Before Making the Decision
Before keeping, updating, combining, removing, or redirecting a page, review the page from several angles.
Check:
- Page purpose
- Content accuracy
- Business relevance
- User need
- Traffic
- Search visibility
- Conversions or key actions
- Internal links
- Backlinks, if available
- Navigation placement
- Related pages
- Duplicate or overlapping content
- Forms, downloads, or embedded tools
- Compliance or approval needs
- Ownership and maintenance responsibility
The decision should not be based on one signal alone. A page with low traffic may still be important if it supports a key sales conversation or required information. A page with traffic may still need removal or consolidation if it sends users to outdated information.
Page Review Decision Guide
Use this as a practical decision guide during a content review:
| Decision | Use this option when |
| Keep | The page is accurate, useful, current, and still serves a clear purpose. |
| Update | The page is still valuable, but the content, structure, links, examples, or CTAs need improvement. |
| Combine | The page overlaps with another page and would be stronger as part of a more complete resource. |
| Remove | The page is obsolete, inaccurate, no longer useful, and does not have a meaningful reason to stay live. |
| Redirect | The page is being removed and there is a relevant replacement page. |
| Allow 404 | The page is gone, there is no relevant replacement, and redirecting users elsewhere would be misleading. |
What to Document After Reviewing a Page
Page review decisions should be documented, especially during a redesign, content cleanup, SEO review, or large maintenance project.
Record:
- The page URL
- The decision made
- The reason for the decision
- Whether the page was kept, updated, combined, removed, redirected, or left as a 404
- Any replacement URL
- Any redirects needed
- Related internal links that need updates
- Whether metadata, headings, files, or forms were updated
- Who approved the decision
- Who owns future updates
- Any follow-up work needed
Documentation helps prevent the same page questions from coming up again later. It also helps with troubleshooting if traffic, conversions, search visibility, or user paths change after the update.
Final Takeaway
Not every old website page should be deleted, and not every old page needs a full rewrite.
The right decision depends on whether the page is accurate, useful, current, and serving a clear purpose. Some pages should stay live. Some should be improved. Some should be combined with stronger related content. Some should be removed. Some should redirect to a relevant replacement. Others can return a 404 if there is no useful next destination.
A page review process helps teams make those decisions intentionally instead of letting outdated content sit untouched or removing pages without understanding the impact.
