> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sageseo.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sageseo.ai/reference/content-audit-actions.md). # Content Audit · Actions ### 22222--- description: What the Content Audit's KEEP / REWRITE / TRASH recommendations mean, what each action button does to your site, and how to use them confidently. ## Content Audit · Actions Sage's Content Audit looks at every article on your site, scores it against your domain's niche, and recommends one of three actions — **KEEP**, **REWRITE**, or **TRASH**. The recommendation is the audit's opinion; the action is what you actually do about it. This page explains both. ### What gets audited Every published blog post on your site, against the niche statement you set on the audit page. The audit *skips* pages like Home, Contact Us, Terms & Conditions, Thank You, and sign-up flows — those aren't editorial content and shouldn't be graded as such. Each article is scored 0–100 on six dimensions: * **On-topic for your niche** — does it match what you publish about? * **Originality + depth** — does it add anything a reader couldn't get elsewhere? * **Structure** — does it read well, with no duplicate title/sections? * **Internal linking** — is it woven into the rest of your site? * **Freshness** — does it reference current practice, or does it feel like a 2020 snapshot? * **Indexability** — title, slug, featured image, clean URL? ### What each recommendation means | Pill | Score | Meaning | | ----------- | ----- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **KEEP** | 70+ | The article is doing real work for your niche. Let it run. | | **REWRITE** | 30–69 | The bones are there, but the article needs an update — usually freshness, depth, or better internal links. | | **TRASH** | < 30 | Off-topic, thin, broken, or otherwise not pulling its weight. The article is probably hurting your domain's signal to Google more than helping. | The cutoffs are strict on purpose. Sage's job is to give you a clear triage signal, not to soften the news. ### What each action button does Three actions show up next to each row, depending on the recommendation: #### KEEP rows No action button. The article is doing its job. The audit will not score it again — content audit is one-and-done per article. #### REWRITE rows: **✏️ Rewrite** Triggers Sage AI to regenerate the article from the audit's suggested brief. The new draft uses your domain niche statement and is staged as a draft — nothing republishes to WordPress until you confirm it. Use Rewrite when the article's topic is right but the execution is dated, thin, or off-message. Don't use it for articles that should never have existed in the first place — for those, use Trash. #### TRASH rows: **🗑️ Trash** Three things happen: 1. **In WordPress:** the post is moved to **Trash** (the WP admin's recycle bin). Reversible from WP admin for 30 days. 2. **For Google:** with the **Sage 410 Handler** plugin installed, the URL starts returning **410 Gone** instead of 404. This tells Google the page was intentionally and permanently removed, which speeds up de-indexing. 3. **In Sage:** the row is hidden from the active audit view and tagged as Trashed. You can find it later under the **Trashed** filter chip with a Restore button. Nothing is permanently deleted. All three steps are reversible — Restore puts the WP post back to publish, the URL responds 200 again, and the row returns to the audit. Use Trash for articles that don't fit your niche, won't fit it with any reasonable rewrite, or have legitimately stale content (e.g., reviews of products that don't exist anymore). #### Why 410 instead of 404? Both 404 and 410 tell Google the page is gone, but they say slightly different things: * **404 Not Found** = "The page isn't here." Google reads this as *might be missing temporarily, might be a mistake* — and keeps re-checking the URL for weeks before fully dropping it from the index. * **410 Gone** = "The page is intentionally and permanently removed." Google de-indexes 410s faster and stops wasting crawl budget on them. For a deliberate content audit where you're pruning thin or off-topic articles, 410 is the more accurate signal. Google's own John Mueller has confirmed multiple times that 410 is processed faster than 404, and 410 is the correct status for intentional removals. The default WordPress behavior is to serve 404 for trashed posts — which is the wrong signal for a deliberate trim. The **Sage 410 Handler** plugin sits in front of those 404s and converts them to 410 automatically. Install it once via WP admin (3-click setup); after that, every Trash you click in Sage gets the faster de-indexing path for free. > **Don't have the plugin installed yet?** Sage still trashes the article correctly in WordPress — Google just takes longer to drop it from search results (typically 2–4 weeks vs \~1 week with 410). Install when you have a minute; nothing breaks in the meantime. #### Trashed rows: **↶ Restore** Reverses the Trash action: 1. **In WordPress:** the post status flips back to **publish**. The public URL returns 200 again. 2. **In Sage:** the row reappears in the active audit view with its original recommendation. Restore works at any time, regardless of how long ago you trashed the article. The 30-day WP Trash window only matters if you trashed it from inside WordPress admin instead. ### When to Trash vs Rewrite A useful gut-check: | If the question is… | Trash | Rewrite | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ------------------------ | | Does this article belong on a site about my niche at all? | No | Yes | | Is the topic still relevant to my audience in 2025+? | No | Yes | | Could the existing structure be salvaged with a content refresh? | No | Yes | | Is the article actively pulling search traffic right now? | No | Maybe — Rewrite is safer | | Was this published by a previous strategy that's now abandoned? | Yes | No | When in doubt, Rewrite. It's the more conservative move and the article keeps its URL, backlinks, and any rankings it had. ### What the Trashed filter is for When you click the **Trashed** chip at the top of the audit, you see only articles you've previously trashed. Each row keeps its original score and reasons + adds a Restore button. Use this view when: * You want to double-check what you've removed from the site * You think an article was trashed by mistake and want to bring it back * You want to look at the audit's reasoning on the trashed articles to confirm your call ### How the audit fits the bigger picture The Content Audit is the first half of a two-step program: ``` audit every article on your site ─► trash the dead weight ─► rewrite what's salvageable ─► publish fresh content ▲ │ This is where Sage spends most of its time. ``` Audit + Trash is a one-time cleanup that lets the new content you publish breathe. If your domain is dragging 40 thin, off-topic articles, every new post Sage publishes has to fight that anchor for Google's attention. Removing them — even temporarily, since Trash is reversible — gives the strong content a chance. After the cleanup, the audit becomes maintenance: any article Sage generates is automatically scored once when it goes live. If it scores under 30, you'll see it surface for review.