Aging content is not something that usually makes headlines or even crosses many website owner’s mind, but in certain circles (including healthcare) having old content can be kind of a big deal.
For example, here are three scenarios when you should ditch outdated content and bring in fresh, new content to your medical practice’s website.
1. Discontinued products/services
While this may be less common for a medical office, there are instances when a physician may have been performing a procedure or advertising a new medicine that they’re no longer going to provide. There’s no sense in leaving a blog post about these cancelled goods or services on your website if it’s not going to be offered in the office. Leaving up old content will only confuse potential patients.
2. New location
If your physical medical office has moved, then you’ll need to update your contact information to include your new address. Additionally, if you’ve sold part of your large practice to make a smaller one, you’ll need to remove this connection as well.
The same can be said if you decide to rebrand your medical practice.
3. Changes to medical findings or treatment plans
Medical treatment plans may evolve over time. Therefore, it’s important to keep your patients up-to-date. As new medical findings come to light, you should remove old data from your practice’s blog.
Not only will old information mislead patients into thinking data about an experimental treatment could prove curative when new finding could prove different, but it could also open up practices to litigation due to incorrect medical data.