Google: Removing Content Doesn't Make The Other Content Rank Higher
Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that removing content doesn't make the rest of your content rank higher. He said on X, "keep in mind that removing content doesn't make the rest rank higher."
Google's very own helpful content update documentation does specifically say, "removing unhelpful content could help the rankings of your other content." So this may contradict, a bit, what John is saying.
Here is that tweet:
Hi @JohnMu -- We plan on pruning some of our content. Is it okay to noindex those pages even though other pages of the site link out to the URLs (both in MC contextually + related items)?
— Vlad Rappoport (@vladrpt) September 22, 2023
Remember when CNET removed a bunch of content from its site to help improve rankings in Google Search? Google's John Mueller said then that those pruning plans were "reasonable" but added it probably won't have an SEO impact. Which is partially why Google said don't delete older helpful content. Instead self assess your content to decide what is helpful and not helpful before removing such content.
Note: I am posting stories today, Sunday, because tomorrow is Yom Kippur and I am not posting anything on Yom Kippur.
Update: More context:
The purpose of the question was whether it would cause issues if the noindex’ed pages have internal links pointing to them throughout the site (mixed signals for the bots). John later clarified that it’s not a problem :)
— Vlad Rappoport (@vladrpt) September 24, 2023
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