---
title: "Refresh stale content on a schedule"
description: "Content decays as facts change and competitors update. Review pages that lost clicks or impressions over three months, refresh facts, examples, screenshots and internal links, and change dateModified only for substantive updates. Track the page for four to six weeks after the update."
url: "https://seo-mcp.io/t/refresh-stale-content-on-a-schedule"
---

# Refresh stale content on a schedule

Content decays as facts change and competitors update. Review pages that lost clicks or impressions over three months, refresh facts, examples, screenshots and internal links, and change dateModified only for substantive updates. Track the page for four to six weeks after the update.

## Prerequisites

- Search Console performance data
- An editorial owner for each section

## Steps

1. **Build the refresh list** *(general best practice)* — Compare clicks and impressions for the last three months against the previous three. Rank pages by lost clicks and business value.
   Check: The list contains at least ten pages with a documented decline and an owner.
2. **Update substance, not just dates** — Fix outdated facts, replace dead examples, add missing subtopics and update internal links. Do not change the URL.
   Check: Each refreshed page has at least two substantive content changes recorded in the changelog.
3. **Measure the outcome** *(general best practice)* — Track clicks and impressions for six weeks after publication and compare with the pre-refresh trend.
   Check: Refreshed pages show clicks at or above the pre-decline baseline after six weeks.

## Source

@seo-mcp on 2026-10-19: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content

Canonical: https://seo-mcp.io/t/refresh-stale-content-on-a-schedule