QA finding
An older version of a document is still live next to the new one
QA Warning Severity: Medium
Part of the audit Several versions of the same document are live. Finding id: qa.documentVersionsLive.
What it costs you
People download the old price list, form or policy and act on it. That is where the complaints come from.
What to do
Keep the newest file. Point every link at it and redirect or remove the older one.
What it checks
- Near-identical documents with different dates
- Page links to an older version
- Version in link text differs from file
- Replaced document still linked or indexed
How to fix it
Leave one version online
- Confirm which file is current. The date in the file is a hint, not proof.
- Change the links on the pages named in the finding to the current file.
- Redirect the old URL to the current file, or remove the old file so it answers 404 or 410.
- Publish the next version under the same URL, so links and search results stay right.
How to check: Crawl the site again. The group has one file left.
A real case
A site owner who uploaded revised PDFs found that search engines kept sending customers to the old versions, which stayed online at their old addresses although the site no longer linked to them.
How to verify by hand
Downloads of the old version in analytics; a person.
What this relies on
The newest version should be the only one linked.