The original article warned against turning one comment from Google into a blanket content rule. That is still the point. Keeping everything is not a strategy, and deleting everything old is not one either.
Start with the page’s job
Read the whole page. Is it useful to a current customer? Does it contain evidence or a lesson worth preserving? Is it an obsolete promotion, an unsupported prediction or an instruction for a tool that no longer exists? Age alone does not answer those questions.
Check evidence from more than one source
Review analytics and search data with their real periods and limitations. Check internal and external links, current navigation, conversions where available, and whether another page already answers the same need. No traffic row should be treated as a proven zero when the evidence does not cover it.
Choose the honest outcome
Keep and revise a useful page at its established URL. Consolidate it only when a relevant destination genuinely carries the lesson. Add the missing material first if necessary. If the page is obsolete and has no replacement, return a clear 404 or 410 rather than redirecting it to the homepage.
Verify the implementation
Test the original URL, destination, canonical, internal links and sitemap. Keep editorial decisions separate from active routing. A recommendation file is not proof that a redirect or retirement exists.
See when to use a 301 redirect and our SEO services.