# Recover content Human Guide

## What This Is For
Diagnose and reverse traffic loss on existing pages using the decay triage framework: refresh, consolidate, redirect, or retire. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for content production: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Recover content agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for recover content.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Recover content guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Which pages are losing traffic?** Specific URLs or a general "the whole blog is declining."
- **How much traffic was lost?** Percentage drop or absolute numbers.
- **Over what timeframe?** Gradual decline over months vs sudden drop.
- **Any recent changes?** Site redesign, CMS migration, content edits, algorithm update timing.
- Clicks declining month-over-month for 3+ months
- Position slipping from page 1 to page 2+
- Impressions stable but CTR dropping (competitors have better titles/snippets)
- Impressions declining (Google no longer considers the page relevant)
- **Yes** → proceed to Decision 2
- **No** (product discontinued, event passed, technology obsolete) → **Retire**. 301 redirect to the closest relevant page or parent category.
- **Yes** → **Consolidate**. Merge the best content from both pages into one. 301 redirect the weaker page.
- **No** → proceed to Decision 3

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Identifying Decay, Composite Decay Score, Alert Priority Matrix, The Decay Triage Framework, Decision 1: Is the topic still relevant?, Decision 2: Is there another page on the site targeting the same topic?, Decision 3: Has the search intent shifted?, Decision 4: Is the content simply outdated?, Refresh Playbooks by Content Type.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Recover content human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the calm-north/seojuice-skills skill entry for `recover-content`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Recover Content

Diagnose and reverse traffic loss on existing pages using the decay triage
framework: refresh, consolidate, redirect, or retire.

## Before You Start

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. **Which pages are losing traffic?** Specific URLs or a general "the whole blog is declining."
2. **How much traffic was lost?** Percentage drop or absolute numbers.
3. **Over what timeframe?** Gradual decline over months vs sudden drop.
4. **Any recent changes?** Site redesign, CMS migration, content edits, algorithm update timing.

If the user doesn't know which pages are declining, suggest checking Google Search
Console → Performance → Pages, sorted by click change over the last 6 months.

## Identifying Decay

Content decay happens when a page gradually loses search traffic over time.
Common signals:

- Clicks declining month-over-month for 3+ months
- Position slipping from page 1 to page 2+
- Impressions stable but CTR dropping (competitors have better titles/snippets)
- Impressions declining (Google no longer considers the page relevant)

### Composite Decay Score

Score each page across 5 weighted signals to prioritize action:

| Signal | Weight | How to Score (0-100) |
|--------|--------|---------------------|
| Traffic decline | 30% | 0 = no decline, 50 = 20-40% drop, 100 = >60% drop |
| Position drops | 25% | 0 = stable, 50 = lost 3-5 positions, 100 = dropped off page 1 |
| CTR decline | 15% | 0 = stable, 50 = 20% decline, 100 = >40% decline |
| Content freshness | 15% | 0 = updated this quarter, 50 = 6-12 months stale, 100 = >2 years stale |
| Competitive displacement | 15% | 0 = no new competitors, 50 = new entrants on page 1, 100 = displaced from top 3 |

```
Composite Decay Score = (Traffic x 0.30) + (Position x 0.25) + (CTR x 0.15)
                      + (Freshness x 0.15) + (Displacement x 0.15)
```

| Score | Stage | Response |
|-------|-------|----------|
| 0-20 | Healthy | Continue monitoring |
| 21-40 | Early decay | Add to refresh queue (next month) |
| 41-60 | Active decay | Schedule refresh this week |
| 61-80 | Significant decay | Immediate refresh or rewrite decision |
| 81-100 | Terminal decay | Rewrite, redirect, or retire |

### Alert Priority Matrix

When multiple signals fire together, escalate:

| Signal Combination | Priority | Response Time |
|-------------------|----------|---------------|
| Traffic decline + Position drop | P1 Critical | Refresh within 48 hours |
| Traffic decline + CTR decline | P1 Critical | Rewrite title/meta immediately |
| Position drop + Competitor displacement | P2 High | Refresh within 1 week |
| CTR decline only | P3 Medium | Rewrite title and meta this week |
| Freshness indicators only | P3 Medium | Schedule refresh within 2 weeks |

## The Decay Triage Framework

For each decaying page, apply this decision tree:

### Decision 1: Is the topic still relevant?

- **Yes** → proceed to Decision 2
- **No** (product discontinued, event passed, technology obsolete) → **Retire**. 301 redirect to the closest relevant page or parent category.

### Decision 2: Is there another page on the site targeting the same topic?

- **Yes** → **Consolidate**. Merge the best content from both pages into one. 301 redirect the weaker page.
- **No** → proceed to Decision 3

### Decision 3: Has the search intent shifted?