Keep the useful path when pages change
What to do with old generator website pages
Decide which old generator pages to keep, update, merge or retire. Use a URL sheet before moving or deleting useful content.
Keep an old generator page if it still serves a real task. Update wrong facts. Merge true overlaps. Move a page only with a clear new home and a checked route from the old address.
Age alone is not a reason to delete a page. Read it, check its use and save the exact address before you decide.
On this page
Look at the page and its use
Read the page as it is now. Is the service still offered? Are the facts right? Can a buyer use the next step?
Ask your site owner for search and visit data where available. Note the period and missing data. No visits in a short window does not prove a page has no value.
Check for links to the page from menus, old posts and outside sites. Moving it may affect more than one path.
Give each page a clear decision
Choose based on its use, not its age alone. Keep a sound page if it already answers a distinct question.
- Update: the task is useful but facts are old.
- Merge: two pages serve the same task and one can hold the useful parts.
- Move: the content has a better permanent address.
- Retire: the page no longer has a valid job.
- Keep: no real problem has been found.
Map a move before it happens
For a page that moves for good, use a permanent server redirect if you can. Google recommends this route. Ask the site owner to set it up and test it.
Pick the closest useful destination. Do not send every old page to the homepage by default. Someone asking for service still needs service help.
Use the reader’s need to choose
These made-up cases show how the same age can lead to different choices. They are not a call to change your site without a review.
If you cannot find a useful replacement, do not pick one at random. Ask the site owner how to retire that exact page. Save the answer in the move map.
Verify the public result
After an approved change, open the old link and the new one. Check where each ends. Test the contact path too.
Keep the old copy and move map with the release note. Watch for broken links or a wrong destination. Update internal links so they point straight to the right page.
Sources and further reading
Sources checked .
