Playbook · SEO
Refreshing pages that have slipped
A page that ranked two years ago is not owed its position. Competitors publish, the search changes, facts go out of date, and the page drifts from position four to position eleven without anyone noticing.
Recovering it is usually cheaper than writing something new: the page exists, it has links, and it has a history. This is how to find those pages and decide what each needs.
The steps
6 steps- 1Find the pages that slipped
- 2Work out why, page by page
- 3Fix what is actually wrong
- 4Keep the address
- 5Merge pages that compete with each other
- 6Record the change and check back
Use this when
- Organic traffic is flat or falling while you keep publishing.
- You have pages older than a year that nobody has touched.
- Search Console shows pages with rising impressions and falling clicks.
The steps
6 steps, in order
How to find the pages losing ground in Search Console and what to change on each.
- 1
Find the pages that slipped
In Search Console, compare the last three months with the same three months a year earlier, by page. Sort by clicks lost. Leave out pages whose traffic is seasonal.
- Clicks down, impressions steady: you are ranking lower or losing the click
- Clicks and impressions both down: demand fell, or you lost the ranking entirely
- Impressions up, clicks down: often an AI Overview or a new result-page feature
- 2
Work out why, page by page
Search the page's main term and read what now ranks above it. Usually one of four things has happened: the others are more current, they answer the question sooner, they cover something you left out, or the search now wants a different kind of page.
- 3
Fix what is actually wrong
Update facts, prices, screenshots and dates. Move the answer to the top. Add the section competitors have and you do not. Cut the parts that no longer earn their place.
If the search now wants a different kind of page, a list where you wrote a guide, rewrite it to match. Tinkering will not help.
- 4
Keep the address
Update the page where it is. The URL carries its history and its links. Change the address only if you must, and redirect the old one when you do.
- 5
Merge pages that compete with each other
If two of your pages target the same search, combine them into the stronger one and redirect the other. Two weak pages rarely outrank one good one.
- 6
Record the change and check back
Note the date and what you changed. Look at the page again after four to eight weeks. Without the note you will not know which changes worked.
What goes wrong
The mistakes to avoid
Changing the date and nothing else
A new date on an old page does not fool anyone for long. If nothing of substance changed, leave the date alone.
Refreshing everything
Most of the recoverable traffic sits in a small number of pages. Rank them by clicks lost and start at the top.
Rewriting a page that still ranks
A page holding position two is not broken. Update its facts and leave its structure.
How to tell it worked
Average position and clicks for the page's main searches, four to eight weeks after the update.
Clicks recovered across all refreshed pages, against the same period a year earlier.
Number of pages refreshed each month, so the work does not stop.
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