Site updates & maintenance for UK schools
Keeping School Website Content Fresh: Review Cycles, ROT Audits & SEO Wins
Published by SEO for Schools • Author: Paul Delaney
Parents, carers and staff visit your site to complete tasks quickly—check term dates, report an absence, read safeguarding guidance, apply for admissions. Content that is out of date, duplicated or hidden in PDFs damages trust and wastes time. This guide shows school editors and MAT leaders how to set up light-touch content reviews, prioritise what to refresh, and measure the uplift in search and user satisfaction. You don’t need to be an SEO specialist to use it.
In short
- Run a simple ROT audit (redundant, outdated, trivial) each term to tidy and consolidate pages.
- Keep evergreen hubs (Admissions, Term Dates, Absence, Safeguarding) up to date; move “news” into posts that link back to the hub.
- Use Search Console to find content that gets impressions but low clicks; refresh the title, intro and task links.
- Prefer HTML to PDFs for essential information (accessibility & findability) and keep dateModified accurate.
What to do now
- Create a content register for critical pages with owner and review date.
- Refresh or consolidate anything that is outdated, duplicated or unused in the last school year.
- Update titles and H1s to reflect the current academic year and task; log the change and check CTR in 4–8 weeks.
Why “freshness” matters for schools
- Accuracy & duty of care: Content about safeguarding, attendance and admissions must be current and clear.
- Search intent: Up-to-date pages with task-first titles and intros earn more clicks. Google encourages helpful, reliable, people-first content.
- Efficiency: Removing duplicates reduces editor workload and avoids parents finding conflicting information.
References: Google — Create helpful, reliable content • Google — SEO Starter Guide • GOV. UK — Content design.
What to refresh first (by impact)
| Page type | Why it matters | Refresh checklist |
|---|---|---|
| Term Dates | Peak seasonal demand; high parent intent | Year range current; INSET days listed; PDF removed/updated; title & H1 aligned |
| Absence | Safeguarding & attendance outcomes | “Report a pupil absence” is prominent; phone/email/process current; plain English |
| Admissions | Conversion to enquiries/applications | Deadlines & criteria current; sixth form requirements; open events link; year tokens |
| Safeguarding | Statutory information | DSL contacts; policy versions; reporting routes; last review date |
| Contact | High CTR influence via GBP | Phone/email; office hours; map; accessibility info; correct landing page from GBP |
ROT audits: remove, update, consolidate
ROT = Redundant (no longer needed), Outdated (needs an update), Trivial (low value). Run this quick audit each term:
- Export URLs from your CMS or sitemap; add last updated date and owner.
- Mark each as Keep / Update / Merge / Remove.
- Act in this order: safety-critical (Safeguarding/Absence) → high-demand (Term Dates/Admissions) → navigation hubs → low-traffic tails.
If two pages answer the same question, keep the strongest and 301-redirect the weaker one to it.
Evergreen hubs vs news posts
Parents search for tasks (“term dates 2025/26”). Keep a single evergreen hub for each task and link news/events into it.
Evergreen hub (keep updated)
- Admissions: How to apply for [YEAR]
- Term Dates [YEAR/YEAR+1] & INSET Days
- Report a pupil absence
News/events (specific)
- Open Evening — 12 Oct 2025
- Admissions Q&A recording — Nov 2025
News posts should link back to the hub, and the hub should link to current news where useful.
Dates, versioning & academic year roll-over
- Tokens: Use
[YEAR/YEAR+1]in titles/H1s so the academic year can roll over everywhere in July/August. - Review dates: Show a clear last reviewed date on policies and guidance pages (transparent for parents).
- Schema: Keep
dateModifiedaccurate in your structured data to reflect substantive updates.
References: Google — Keep content fresh • GOV. UK — Dates.
PDFs vs HTML (accessibility & SEO)
PDFs are hard to read on mobile, inaccessible for many users and often out of date. Prefer HTML for information that parents need on the go (term dates, uniform, absence). Keep statutory policy PDFs where required, but also provide an HTML summary.
Reference: GOV. UK — Avoid PDFs.
Use Search Console to find refresh opportunities
- Open Search Console → Performance. Filter to pages in a content area (e.g., Admissions).
- Sort by impressions then scan for low CTR. These are prime candidates for title/H1/intro refreshes.
- Check the Queries tab: make sure your title and first paragraph use the words parents use (plain English).
- Compare periods (Sept vs Sept) after updates to confirm uplift.
Reference: Google Search Console — Performance report.
Unpublishing, redirects & retiring content
- Merge duplicates and 301-redirect the older URL to the stronger evergreen page.
- Retire temporary items (e.g., old event pages) with a 301 to the relevant hub (News or Admissions).
- Avoid 404s for pages that have external links or traffic; provide a sensible destination.
Reference: Google — Site moves & redirects.
Governance across a MAT
| Area | Policy | Owner | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content register | Critical pages (Admissions, Term Dates, Absence, Safeguarding, Contact) tracked with owner and review date | School web lead | Updated termly |
| Academic roll-over | Titles/H1s and content tokens for year range updated in July/August | School + central SEO | Annual |
| ROT audit | Remove/merge duplicates; redirect retired URLs | School web lead | Termly |
| Search Console | CTR checks for critical templates; log changes and outcomes | Central SEO | Monthly |
| PDF policy | Prefer HTML summaries; ensure PDFs are accessible and current | Comms/Compliance | Per policy update |
Print-screen checklists & registers
ROT Audit (15 mins)
Screenshot or print this card- Export URLs for a section (e.g., /admissions/).
- Tag each: Keep / Update / Merge / Remove.
- Front-load fixes: safety-critical → high-demand → navigation hubs.
- Merge duplicates; set 301s; update internal links.
- Log the change: URL, action, owner, date.
Content Register (copy/paste)
Screenshot or print this card| Page | URL | Owner | Last reviewed | Next review | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admissions hub | …/admissions/ | — | — | — | Keep / Update |
| Term dates | …/term-dates/ | — | — | — | Roll-over |
| Absence | …/absence/ | — | — | — | Update |
Refresh Checklist (page level)
Screenshot or print this card- Title/H1 updated for current year; task-first; brand last.
- Intro answers the main task in plain English.
- Internal links to hub pages and related tasks.
- Outdated screenshots/files removed; PDFs replaced with HTML where possible.
- Schema updated;
dateModifiedaccurate.
Key terms
- ROT audit
- Quick scan to find Redundant, Outdated and Trivial content to remove or refresh.
- Evergreen hub
- A page that stays relevant and is updated over time (e.g., Term Dates, Admissions).
- CTR
- Click-through rate—the proportion of impressions that become clicks.
- dateModified
- A structured-data field indicating when the page last had a substantive update.
FAQs
Does updating a page make it rank higher automatically?
No. Updates help when they improve usefulness, accuracy and task completion. Google recommends creating helpful, reliable content—not superficial changes.
Should we republish the same news to “make it fresh”?
No. Keep one authoritative hub for tasks. News posts can recap events but should link to the hub rather than duplicate guidance.
What if two schools in our MAT have similar content?
That’s normal for policies and statutory pages. Provide a trust hub where appropriate, and keep school-specific details (contacts, dates) on each site. Avoid copy-pasting unique claims across schools.
Is it OK to leave PDFs for everything?
Prefer HTML for information parents need on mobile. Keep required policy PDFs, but add an HTML summary and ensure they’re accessible and current.
Need practical SEO support?
Speak With Paul Delaney
Paul Delaney helps schools turn complex SEO into simple, effective actions. As a guest writer for SEO for Schools, Paul shares step-by-step playbooks and evidence-based guidance that busy teams can apply immediately. With three decades’ experience working with UK and international institutions, he understands the challenges school teams face and is well positioned to offer support and guidance.
For our readers, Paul offers free 30-minute sessions for institutions exploring how to raise visibility, strengthen brand trust and streamline admissions. Sessions are practical, jargon-free and free from sales pressure. You can contact him using the buttons below—please mention SEOforSchools.co.uk.
