Content Decay Detector
Spot pages losing traffic before they drop off the SERP.
Time-series CSV
Header: url,clicks_jan,clicks_feb,... with at least 4 periods.
Start here · What is content decay in this tool?
Content decay means meaningful traffic (usually clicks or sessions) drops across several periods while competitors or intent may not have changed.
Paste CSV with a url column and at least four numeric columns such as clicks_jan,clicks_feb,.... Any header matching digits, clicks, or sessions becomes the time series.
Each row compares totals in the recent half of periods versus the earlier half. Below −15% labels decay; above +15% labels growing; the middle band is stable. Sparklines visualize the series so you can sanity-check spikes.
When to use this tool
- Editorial backlog triage
Sort decaying URLs first so refresh budget hits pages losing measurable demand.
- Post-update monitoring
After a site redesign, compare the same monthly export to see which templates slipped.
- Cannibal follow-up
Pair with pruning and consolidation work—decay often shows which sibling URL lost share.
- Stakeholder reporting
Use the percent badge and sparkline in screenshots for concise leadership updates.
Examples
Walk through these with the form above — they are practice scenarios, not live data.
Stable seasonal lift
Try this
One row climbs gently each month but stays inside the ±15% band between halves.
What to look for
Counts as stable even if the sparkline slopes up—half-over-half math drives the badge.
Sharp cliff
Try this
Recent half sums far below the first half on the same URL row.
What to look for
Appears under Decaying with a large negative percent—prioritize content and SERP checks.
Short tutorial
Follow in order the first time you use the tool; later you can skip to the step you need.
- Step 1 — Export consistent metrics
Use the same property, device split, and date grain each month so columns are comparable.
- Step 2 — Build the CSV
First column header
url. Follow with one column per period (clicks or sessions). - Step 3 — Paste and scan summary tiles
Decaying, stable, and growing counts show portfolio health at a glance.
- Step 4 — Read row cards
Check the numeric trail and sparkline before blaming content—tracking or filters can distort one month.
- Step 5 — Send to briefs and pruning
Use GSC to content brief for rewrites and content pruning analyzer when consolidation fits.
More detail
New here? Skim Start here first, then run one Examples scenario in the form above.
Content Decay Detector does one job: spot pages losing traffic before they drop off the SERP. It lives under Content & Writing on SEOToolkits, where the beginner idea is simple: Content SEO is the practice of making a page useful, clear, and complete enough to satisfy a searcher.
FAQ
- Why not use simple year-over-year?
- Half-over-half reacts faster when you only have six to eight months of data; you can still export longer ranges as more columns.
- Can I use impressions instead of clicks?
- Yes if the header resembles
sessionsor numeric month labels—anything that parses as the numeric series works. - What does the linear slope do?
- It is computed internally for trend context, but the decay/stable/growing badge is driven by the half-over-half percent change.
- Fewer than four periods?
- The parser still runs, but conclusions are weak—prefer at least four months or weeks.
Related tools
Same workflow cluster on SEOToolkits — open another module without leaving context.
Content Pruning Analyzer
Identify low-value pages for removal, redirect, or rewrite.
Content Freshness Scorer
Score how up-to-date your articles are against query intent.
GSC → Content Brief
Turn underperforming GSC queries into ready-to-write briefs.
Search Console Analyzer
Slice GSC performance data with custom segments and pivots.