John Mueller from Google advises against deleting website content solely due to low traffic. According to Google’s algorithms, low page views do not equate to poor quality content. Therefore, web pages should not be removed just because of low page views.
This issue arose during a recent Google Webmaster Central hangout when someone asked:
“What is considered terrible content? Is it content that doesn’t get many visitors because it’s currently not being searched for? A page might contain crucial information but isn’t trendy at the moment. Should such content be removed?”
Mueller responded by emphasizing that page views should not be the sole metric for identifying low-quality content. While page views can aid in highlighting potentially low-quality content, they do not automatically signify a page’s lack of value. Google’s algorithms do not evaluate page views; instead, they assess the value a piece of content provides to potential searchers.
This is a concept that many SEO professionals are already aware of, but it deserves occasional reiteration.
Mueller elaborates: “I would not use a metric like page views as the sole indicator of low-quality content. As the expert on your website, you can distinguish between good and bad content. While page views can help in spotting low-quality content, it’s not correct to assume that everything with low page views is bad and should be removed. Our algorithms do not consider page views; they aim to understand the value of the content. Just because it’s seldom accessed doesn’t mean it’s a bad piece of content.”
