Are old offers still live on your website? A content tidy-up

A summer offer can stay on a website long after the last booking has been taken. So can an event banner, an old price list or a service you no longer provide. A page does not have to be broken to give a customer the wrong information.

Use this practical review to find dated content, decide what should happen to it and give someone responsibility for the next check. Start with pages that could affect a customer’s decision to contact, visit or buy from you.

1. Look beyond the homepage

Open your website as a visitor, without signing in. Check the homepage, service pages, offers, news, booking links and downloadable brochures. Look for dates, prices, deadlines and words such as “new”, “this summer”, “coming soon” and “limited time”.

Then review the page list in your website editor. A page can remain available through an old email or saved link even when you have removed it from the menu. If your site has a search box, search for past campaigns and services as well.

Write down each page address, the wording that needs attention and the person who can confirm the current information. Do not guess a replacement price or booking deadline.

2. Choose an action for each page

Age alone is not a reason to delete a page. An older guide may still be useful, while yesterday’s offer may already have ended. Choose the action that fits what a visitor needs now:

• Update it: the service or offer still exists, but the details have changed. Confirm those details, then revise the page and any linked downloads.
• Keep it as a clear archive: a past event or project is still useful as a record. Put the date and its past status near the top. Remove invitations to book something that has finished.
• Move visitors to a relevant replacement: there is a new page that fulfils the same purpose. Ask whoever maintains the website to arrange an appropriate redirect.
• Remove it: the content has no continuing purpose and there is no suitable replacement. Ask your website maintainer to check how the removed address responds.

For example, a fictional florist’s spring workshop page might remain as a dated record with photographs, while its “Book now” button is replaced by a link to current workshops. That is a different decision from removing an abandoned test page.

3. Handle old addresses deliberately

Redirects send visitors from one address to another. Google’s guidance on redirects distinguishes permanent moves from temporary ones. A permanent redirect is appropriate when a page has moved for good. Choose a destination that answers the visitor’s original need; do not send every retired offer to an unrelated homepage.

If a page is genuinely gone without a replacement, your maintainer can check for a proper 404 (not found) or 410 (gone) response. Google’s HTTP status documentation explains that these responses lead to removal from its search index over time. Simply showing “this page has gone” while returning a successful response is not the same technical signal.

You do not need to change server settings yourself. Give your maintainer a list of old addresses and the intended outcome for each one. Keep a copy of content you may need before making changes.

4. Check the places that repeat the message

An updated offer page is only part of the job if the old promise is still in a homepage banner. Check buttons, navigation, announcement bars, image text and downloadable files. Review any active adverts or scheduled social posts you control that still point to the offer.

Use a fresh browser window to open both the old address and the current page. Follow the main button. If you changed a download, open the file itself and check its date and details. Our broken-link check can help with the link-testing part of this review.

5. Give future content a review date

For each new campaign, record its owner, start date, end date and what should happen when it ends. “Remove the banner and mark the event as finished” is more useful than “check website”. Add a reminder before the deadline and another to confirm the change is visible.

For ongoing service pages, choose a review interval that fits how often the information changes. A simple shared list is enough: page address, owner, last checked, next check and action needed.

Start today with one expired offer and one important service page. Confirm the information, make the agreed changes and test the result as a customer would. If you would like to discuss outdated pages on your own site, contact Hobbit Web Design with the page addresses and what has changed.