Direct answer
Refresh when the task, evidence or product materially changed; consolidate when pages compete for the same task; retire when a page no longer provides a responsible path forward.
Practical steps
- Compare current intent and usefulness.
- Review query/page and conversion evidence.
- Choose retain, improve, merge, redirect or retire.
- Record the material change and verify links.
Common mistakes
- Changing dates without substance.
- Merging unrelated pages for traffic.
- Deleting linked resources without a plan.
Limitations
- Historical traffic can hide current irrelevance.
- Some pages deserve preservation for legal or archival reasons.
Primary sources
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — Google Search Central; 2025-12-10; 2026-08-14.
- Spam policies for Google web search — Google Search Central; 2026-05-15; 2026-08-14.