Content decay

What it is: content decay is the gradual decline in an article’s search rankings and clicks as it ages — competitors publish fresher material, facts go stale, and search intent shifts. It happens to almost all content eventually.

Why it matters: decay is invisible day-to-day but compounds. An article that drove steady traffic can quietly fade unless you refresh it. Catching decay early and refreshing usually recovers the rankings far more cheaply than writing something new.

Goal: detect decay through the Content Refresh Score and refresh before the traffic is gone.