# Refresh a decaying article

> Use when an old post is losing rankings or traffic and you need a specific update plan rather than a rewrite.

## Fill in before running

- `{{ARTICLE_TEXT}}`
- `{{PUBLISH_DATE}}`
- `{{LAST_UPDATED}}`
- `{{PERFORMANCE_DATA}}`
- `{{KNOWN_CHANGES}}`
- `{{QUERY_LIST}}`

## Prompt

```
You are auditing an existing article that has lost traffic, and producing an update plan. Do not rewrite the whole thing.

Article: {{ARTICLE_TEXT}}
Published: {{PUBLISH_DATE}}. Last updated: {{LAST_UPDATED}}
Traffic and ranking change: {{PERFORMANCE_DATA}}
What has changed in this topic since publication, as far as I know: {{KNOWN_CHANGES}}
Queries it currently ranks for: {{QUERY_LIST}}

Output:
1. Decay diagnosis table: Possible cause (stale facts, intent shift, thin section, lost coverage of a query, dated examples, competitor depth) | Evidence in the article or data | Confidence (high/medium/low).
2. Section-by-section verdict table: Section | Keep as is | Update | Rewrite | Cut | What specifically to do.
3. New sections needed, each with the query or reader need that justifies it.
4. Facts and figures that must be re-checked before republishing, quoted from the article with their apparent age.
5. What to leave alone, and why touching it would risk the rankings it still has.

Rules:
- Do not recommend rewriting sections that are still accurate and still ranking.
- Do not supply replacement statistics from memory. Mark them as to be sourced.
- Rank the section verdicts so the highest-impact change is first.
```

## Getting a better result

- Feed it the query list from Search Console; intent shift shows up there before it shows up in traffic.
- Section 5 is the important one - most refreshes lose rankings by rewriting what worked.
- Re-run after the update with the new text to check nothing was dropped.

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From the QuQi prompt library - https://www.quqi.io/prompts/refresh-decaying-article