Every site accumulates sediment: outdated posts, retired services, event pages for events long past. Leaving them misleads; deleting them carelessly bleeds. The decision tree is short:
The three-way call
Refresh when the page still gets traffic and the topic still matters — update facts, prices and year references; a refreshed page keeps its accumulated ranking power (this beats writing new). Redirect (301) when the page is obsolete but has links or traffic — send it to the closest living relative: the retired service to its successor, the old post to the newer treatment. Delete outright only when nothing links there, nothing visits, and no successor exists — and even then, the 404 should be your styled page, not a dead end.
The mistake that bleeds quietly
Deleting a page that ranked, without a redirect, throws away years of accumulated authority — Google’s trust in that URL dies with it, and visitors from old links hit a wall wearing your logo.
A content inventory — what exists, what performs, what embarrasses — is part of every audit we run. Ask for yours; most sites are surprised by what they still publish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only traffic-less, link-less orphans — otherwise refresh what still matters or redirect to a successor.
A permanent forward that passes a page's accumulated authority to its successor URL.
An aged URL carries ranking trust — updating it keeps the compound interest new pages start without.
Its authority dies, and visitors from old links hit a 404 wearing your logo — always redirect first.
Your styling, a search box and paths onward — a dead end is the only wrong answer.
Yearly — what exists, what performs, what misleads; most owners are surprised by what they still publish.
Czech 
English