Content Decay Report
Content decay is what happens when a page that used to bring in search traffic starts getting less and less over time. It's one of the most common, and most fixable, problems in SEO.
The Content Decay report compares each page's clicks over the last 30 days against the previous 30-day period. Any page where clicks have dropped shows up here, sorted by the size of the loss.
How the report works
For each page on your site, the report calculates:
- Current clicks: Total clicks in the most recent 30-day window
- Previous clicks: Total clicks in the 30 days before that
- Click change: The difference between current and previous
Pages where the click change is negative (losing traffic) appear in the report. The biggest losses show up first, so you can prioritize the pages that need attention most.
Your blog post "/best-crm-software" had 450 clicks last month but only 280 clicks this month. That's a drop of 170 clicks, putting it near the top of your Content Decay report.
Why does content decay happen?
Content doesn't stay fresh forever. Here are the most common reasons pages lose traffic:
| Cause | What's happening | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Outdated content | Stats, screenshots, or recommendations are no longer current. Google favors fresher content | Update dates, refresh data points, replace outdated examples |
| New competitors | Someone published better content on the same topic and is now outranking you | Analyze the competing pages, add missing sections, improve depth and quality |
| Algorithm update | A Google update changed how your page is evaluated | Review Google's guidance for the update, check if quality or E-E-A-T improvements are needed |
| Seasonality | The topic has natural peaks and valleys throughout the year | Compare year-over-year, not just month-over-month. If it's seasonal, prepare content before the next peak |
| Lost internal links | A site redesign or content change removed internal links pointing to this page | Check your internal linking and restore connections from relevant pages |
| Technical issues | Page speed degraded, mobile experience broke, or crawl issues appeared | Check Core Web Vitals, test on mobile, verify the page is indexable |
How to fix decaying content
- Check freshness: Is the content still accurate? Update any outdated statistics, screenshots, prices, or recommendations
- Analyze the SERP: Search for the keywords this page targets. What are the top results doing differently? Are they more comprehensive, more recent, or better structured?
- Improve internal linking: Add links from other relevant pages on your site. Internal links pass authority and help Google understand the page's importance
- Expand thin sections: If competitors have added sections you're missing, fill those gaps. Don't just add words for the sake of it, but cover the topic more completely
- Check technical health: Run the page through PageSpeed Insights and check for mobile usability issues. A slow or broken page will lose rankings over time