ROT

Let me say upfront that I have absolutely no problem with long tails. When I was a girl, I had a pet poodle and despite all the pet owner peer pressure to have her tail bobbed, we didn’t do it. I had a poodle with a long tail. So, I’m all about the long tail. Except when it comes to most Web sites. Most Web sites need their long tails cut off.

If your site is more than a few years old, odds are you've got some ROT (Redundant, Outdated or Trivial) content lurking. I understand how it happens. I'm even guilty of it myself. You publish something out to the Web and simply move on to the next task on your list. We all mean to go back someday to update or remove that content, but somehow it's never top of mind. That is, until suddenly the ROT causes a problem. Maybe you notice some feedback about poor usability or search results.