Removing Large Number of Pages, 404s?

[animalstyle]

Not sure how this one plays out - looking for some guidance from the wizards here:

My authority project has:
~100 pieces of written content, about 70,000 words.
~1600 individual location database entries.
~400 supporting category/listing pages for the database.

I want to trim the database way, way back. Down to less than 200 individual location pages and about 100 supporting category or listing pages.

Some of the location pages, I'd be able to 301 back to a category page because there would be information about those entries on that page. Others it wouldn't really make sense, because the category page wouldn't have anything about locations displaying.

The locations I am thinking about removing sometimes rank, but don't have anything in the way of links to them. They are thin as far as content goes as well.

For the locations I remove, would you all suggest:
- 301ing the 1200+ to the closest category landing page?
- Just abandoning those pages and throwing 404 errors.
- Throwing a 410 code (never used this code before, but I understand it means 'content removed' and gets deindexed faster/the bots don't come back after they see the code)

 

[Calamari]

If those pages have links I'd 301 them to the most relevant page. If not I'd just 404 or 410 and call it a day. I don't know if 404 or 410 is better, although 410 is more appropriate in this case. Spending more than a few seconds deciding which to use is just splitting hairs anyway.

 

[NickEubanks]

I would gauge what you kill off by looking at the past 90 days of data and paying attention to 1) the number of visits from organic to those pages, and then 2) organic impressions in G over the same time period. I would delete the pages outright and not worry about redirecting any of them *unless* they have links from unique domains that do not link elsewhere on the site. Then I would re-gen your sitemap, submit, and fetch and render from the main hubs that no longer have the links downstream to those pages.

 

[animalstyle]

Thank you both. Solid advice and I'm going to make some moves this afternoon.

 

[Joe]

What is the benefit of removing pages?

 

[CCarter]

What is the benefit of removing pages?

To better organizing your website, and focus in on things that make more impact to your bottom line. Keeping around dead content or dead pages doesn't help any website. It's like pruning a tree. Look at analytics - redirect what you can, rewrite or update what you can, and delete what's un-necessary.