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Run this on each article pulled from the register during the maintenance cycle. It is deliberately shorter than the pre-publish checklist, because a review that takes as long as writing the article will not happen on schedule.

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Check what decayed

  • The “what will go out of date first” note from the original brief still holds, or has already happened.
  • Every statistic, price, spec, and screenshot is still accurate.
  • Product and feature names still match what we call them now.
  • Organic traffic and rankings for the article’s main queries have not slipped.
  • Running the article’s primary question as a prompt in the AI tools our customers use still returns us, not only a competitor.
  • Nobody has published a more current or more complete answer since the last review.
  • People are still asking this question, and asking it the same way.
  • Outbound links still work. Inbound links from the brief still exist.

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Decide

One of four, and record which: Leaving an article alone is a decision, not a skipped step. Record it so the next reviewer knows it was checked.

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If updating

  • The change is substantive: new data, a new section, a removed section, corrected facts, or a rewritten opening. Not a date bump.
  • New statistics carry their source and year.
  • Sources for existing statistics still say what the article claims they say.
  • The opening still answers the primary question directly.
  • Internal links added to articles published since the last review.
  • Any new section follows the same structure rules: answers its heading first, then expands.
  • Heading structure is still sound after the edits, with one H1 and no skipped levels.
  • Meta description still describes what the article now says.

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If consolidating or retiring

  • The strongest version is chosen as the survivor, and the rest merge into it.
  • Anything worth keeping from the retired articles has been moved across before removal.
  • A 301 redirect points each removed URL to the closest equivalent page, not the homepage.
  • Internal links pointing at the removed URLs are updated.
  • The register row is marked, not deleted.
A removed page with no redirect loses every inbound link and citation pointing at it, including the ones nobody knew about. Redirect first, remove second.

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Close it out

  • Last-updated date changed on the page, and it reflects a real change.
  • Last-updated date changed in the register.
  • Next review date set, per the cadence for the tier.
  • Status updated if it changed: live, consolidated, retired, or frozen.
  • One-line note in the register saying what changed, so the next review starts fast.
Last modified on August 6, 2026