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Free SEO Tool

Content Decay Detector

Answer 7 questions about a page on your site. I'll score its decay risk and tell you exactly what to do next to reclaim lost organic traffic.

Built by Graeme Whiles — Independent SEO & AEO Consultant

Last updated: · Built by Graeme Whiles, Independent SEO & AEO Consultant
1.18M organic visits for Originality.ai
+324% traffic growth for SaaS clients
57.5M impressions for 6sense

Content decay is the gradual decline in a page’s organic traffic and keyword rankings as it ages, search intent shifts, and competitors publish fresher, more comprehensive content. This free tool scores your page health across 7 key signals so you know exactly where to act.

Question 1 of 7
Your Progress
Content Decay Detector
Question 1 / 7

When was this page last published or significantly updated?

Select an answer to continue
Question 2 / 7

What has happened to organic traffic over the last 6 months? (Check Google Search Console)

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Question 3 / 7

How has your keyword ranking position changed for this page’s target keyword?

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Question 4 / 7

Does your content format still match what’s ranking on page one of Google for this keyword?

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Question 5 / 7

Does this page receive internal links from other pages on your site?

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Question 6 / 7

Are competitors now covering this topic more comprehensively than your page?

Select an answer to continue
Question 7 / 7

Does the page still match the current search intent for its target keyword?

Select an answer to see your results
Content Health Score
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Health Score

Recommended Actions

Ready to fix content decay properly? My Content Refresh Programme audits your decaying pages and delivers a prioritised action plan to recover lost organic traffic.

See the Service →

What Does Your Score Mean?

Healthy21–26 / 26Content is performing well. Organic traffic is stable, intent is matched, and the page is well-linked. Monitor quarterly and plan a light refresh within 6 months.
Needs Attention14–20 / 26Early decay signals are present. Traffic or rankings are slipping. A targeted content refresh should be prioritised now.
Declining7–13 / 26Significant decay detected. A full structural rewrite is needed to realign with current search intent and rebuild internal link equity.
Critical0–6 / 26The page has critically decayed. Consider a complete overhaul, consolidation with a stronger page, or a 301 redirect.

What Is Content Decay?

Content decay is the gradual — or sometimes sudden — decline in a page’s organic traffic and keyword rankings over time. It happens because search engine algorithms evolve, search intent shifts, and fresh competitor content overtakes you in the SERPs.

Most blog posts and landing pages start losing meaningful traffic within 12–18 months without intervention. In most cases, a targeted refresh of your existing content is enough to reclaim lost traffic.

Traffic Drop

A slow decline or sudden drop in organic traffic is the clearest signal of decay. Pull a 6-month Google Search Console comparison to spot it early.

Ranking Slip

Keyword rankings sliding from page 1 to page 2 or beyond are a direct indicator that search engines no longer consider your content the best match for user intent.

Intent Shift

Search intent evolves. A keyword that used to favour long-form guides may now reward listicles, tools, or AI-generated answers — making your existing format obsolete.

Weak Internal Links

Pages with few internal links struggle to compete. Decaying content is often isolated from your site’s topical authority cluster.

Stale Publish Date

Search engines and users factor freshness signals into trust. Old blog posts without a visible update date lose credibility against up-to-date competitor content.

Competitor Depth

If other articles now cover the same keyword more comprehensively — with better structure, more entities, and stronger E-E-A-T signals — your decayed content will lose ground.

About This Tool
Graeme Whiles — Independent SEO & AEO Consultant, GWContent

Graeme Whiles

Independent SEO & AEO Consultant — GWContent

I built this tool based on the same content decay framework I use with enterprise and SaaS clients. The 7 questions map directly to the signals I review in every Content Refresh Programme engagement. I’ve used this methodology to recover organic traffic for clients including Originality.ai, Connecteam, and Neo Financial. Learn more about my approach →

Results from content refresh work
+324.7%Organic traffic, Originality.ai
+62.6%Organic traffic, Connecteam
+219%Click growth, Neo Financial
+193%Click growth, Practice Better

Content Decay: Common Questions

Content decay is the process by which a page’s organic traffic and search engine rankings decline over time, even without any direct penalty from Google. It’s caused by search intent shifts, increased competition, loss of freshness signals, broken links, and reduced topical authority relative to newer content.
The most reliable method is Google Search Console. Pull a date range comparison for impressions, clicks, and average position over 6–12 months for your key pages. A consistent decline in all three metrics for a page’s target keyword is a strong indicator of decaying content.
The right fix depends on severity. For mild decay, refreshing statistics and fixing broken links is usually enough. For moderate decay, a full structural rewrite targeting current search intent is needed. For critical decay, consolidation or a redirect is often the better call. My Content Refresh Programme covers all three scenarios.
After a content refresh, it typically takes 4–12 weeks for Google to recrawl and re-rank the updated page. Pages with existing domain authority tend to recover faster. Genuinely stale content may take 3–6 months to fully recover.
No. Content decay is a gradual, organic decline — not a manual action or algorithmic penalty. It’s the natural result of content ageing in a competitive search environment. A core algorithm update can accelerate an existing decay pattern.
Only if the page has minimal traffic and covers the same keyword as a stronger page. Deleting without redirecting loses residual link equity. In most cases, consolidating multiple decayed pages into one comprehensive piece — with a 301 redirect from the weaker URLs — is the smarter play.
Adding images can help as part of a broader refresh, particularly if competitors use richer formats. However, images alone rarely reverse a decline driven by search intent shifts. Most effective combined with updated copy, improved structure, and stronger internal links.

This service is right for you if…

  • You have existing content that used to rank but has lost traffic
  • You want a prioritised list of pages to refresh, consolidate, or redirect
  • You’re a SaaS, B2B, or ecommerce brand investing in organic search
  • You need a clear strategy — not just a spreadsheet of recommendations

Don’t Let Good Content Keep Losing Ground

My Content Refresh Programme identifies every decaying page on your site and gives you a prioritised action plan to recover the organic traffic you’ve already earned.

See the Content Refresh Programme →