Ch. 19: Redirect old posts vs rewrite in place

Ch. 19: Redirect old posts vs rewrite in place

After a core update in 2024, my fitness-equipment site had 30 thin, decaying posts. Two camps online: 301 them into stronger pages, or rewrite each in place. I tested both on 15 posts each.

The rewrites — same URL, expanded to genuinely cover the topic — recovered to 80% of old traffic within 8 weeks and kept their existing backlinks and history. The redirected 15 consolidated authority but lost their individual long-tail rankings; the target pages couldn't rank for 'dumbbell rack 24 inch' the way the dedicated post had.

Redirects were right only where two posts truly overlapped. For a unique-but-weak post, rewriting in place preserved far more.

Lesson banked: redirect when two pages compete for the same intent. Rewrite in place when a page is just thin. Killing a unique URL throws away long-tail rankings you can't get back.