'Delete irrelevant content for a better website'

17/11/2008

Professionals responsible for web design and search marketing should delete irrelevant content from websites, it has been suggested.

According to Gerry McGovern, the more a site is simplified, the more chance a customer has of "succeeding on your website".

He noted that many firms believe that all content should be left up in case people need it, even if it is out of date and potentially misleading.

Mr McGovern said that it is not beneficial to a firm's search engine optimisation strategies to have links to pages, which contain wrong or pointless information.

He equated this to taking a potential customer to a car salesroom and showing them a vehicle that will not start or is covered in scratches.

While revamping the web design may be a "fun" activity, unless the "rot of out of date, badly organised content" is removed, it is ultimately a pointless endeavour, he argued.

Google recently advised firms to concentrate on high-quality content, rather than producing large quantities of material for their websites.