Review content by reader needs
For each important page, record the audience, question, current answer and intended next step. Note who maintains the offer and which details may quickly become outdated. Start with addresses important to the business rather than mechanically sorting articles by length.
Review customer questions and available search data. Low traffic alone does not explain the cause: a page may be new, unavailable for indexing, seasonal or intended for a small audience. Combine editorial decisions with technical assessment.
Choose one of three decisions
Expand a page when it addresses the right need but lacks conditions, an example or an important step. Merge materials when they help the same person make the same decision and have no distinct role. Create a new pagewhen a question requires a different scope and a separate explanation.
Merging also needs technical decisions: a destination address, a redirect where appropriate and updated links. Do not delete material just because it has few visits. Before removing an address, check its role for users and the links pointing to it.
Example: one service, three different needs
A company has articles titled “Website positioning”, “Website SEO” and “How to rank a website”, all repeating the same introduction. It could consider one introductory guide, a separate measurement article and an offer page explaining the collaboration scope. Each address then has a specific role. This is an example of content architecture, not a universal instruction to remove similar titles.
Add concise beginner answers to the guide. In the measurement article, show a note-taking process and data limitations. On the offer page, describe each party’s responsibilities. Link between them where the reader needs a next step.
Record the change and check the path to it
In an editorial note, record which gap was filled, when and on what basis. Test links from categories, guides and language versions. Google recommends crawlable links with descriptive text.
Set a review date and a comparable observation period. Look beyond visits to customer questions and whether the new answer helps a decision. Do not attribute every visibility change to the latest text edit.
FOR USE IN PRACTICE
Your checklist
- Assign a distinct reader need to each page.
- Plan addresses and redirects before merging.
- Record the change, sources and review date.
Sources and news
Documentation reviewed on September 21, 2026. The examples in the article are illustrative - they do not describe audit results or client implementation.
Educational material developed with the help of AI based on the indicated sources. It does not replace an individual assessment of the website by a specialist. Editorial rules.