Brave man !! all that work ...... like throwing all your notebooks in the fire ;-)

A couple of other have noted it as well, but if Steve Rubel thought deleting the content was no big deal, then it speaks to the value he gave to his own content. Apparently it was worthless in his eyes.

The other day, I was writing a blog post, and I went to link to a blog post of Steve's and realized his stuff was gone so I couldn't .... :( #Justsayin ...

Rather than deleting old content I have found it very useful to update and repurpose the posts. It's easy to do in Wordpress by viewing the last page of your posts and updating the content or even as simple as just changing the post date to bring it to the top. It's the same methodology as making the same FB post at different times of day to refresh the position on your friend's wall.

would he have been better off migrating the blog articles rather than deleting them?

WOW! I can understand wanting a fresh start, and it sounds like Steve is in a place (branding wise) that he can do whatever he wants. Totally agree this is not for us SMBs though, I need all the content I can get!

Nice piece!

Remember that Google itself recommended to remove content that was not performing since it affects the whole site. 
 
For more info, refer to Google Panda update.

I can't imagine deleting an entire blog while keeping the business itself going. It's one thing to delete an old post that you have a specific reason to no long want on your site, but the whole thing? I'd like to think my blog posts have more value than that.

I can't help but believe in Mr. Rubel's decision as, in his case, it was certainly an educated decision.

@Mike Weber: I do the same thing for a restaurant blog I built for a client. They have a Daily Special that I post every morning. Rather than create brand new posts and have hundreds of outdated posts, I simply edit the posts (I do have a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. post set up for each day of the week) and re-publish. I also change the post date so that that day's special comes to the top. I'm hoping this strategy is not hurting me SEO-wise,but it was the only option I could think of. I also post the specials on the client's Facebook page with links back; I include recipes, videos, other content to create interest on Facebook for the website...hope it's working! I can't imagine deleting an entire blog, either!

Wow! What made Steve (or HubSpot) think the decision was all about the impact on him? 
 
Deleting that content instantly broke all the links other bloggers have created to Steve's posts over the years. One of the major bits of blog etiquette baked into the concept of a "permalink" is that others can depend on the links they create staying valid. 
 
As Janet Aronica mentions, he also deprived her of the opportunity to draw on her knowledge of great content to cite in her post. (Maybe it's still there in the Internet Archive?) 
 
But potentially the biggest impact on Steve's social network could be the fact that he's presumably deleted all the comments and trackbacks that others have created on his platform over the years.  
 
Seems to me, Steve, that you lost sight of the "social" part of social media in making this choice.

Just because a decision is "educated" doesn't mean it is "smart."  
 
#facepalm

Susie Blackmon said it best, but I think "un" should be added to her use of the word of "educated" with her comment.  
 
 
 
A grave oversite to the integrity 
 
of any long-term archival benefits. But then, maybe he doesn't want to leave a trial after he's gone? Who could blame him? Clearly it was not worth all that much to him, but to the many others - how selfish - but his choice.

Posting again just to add one thing. 
What type of information did his blog have? If it was about gadgets for e.g. I doubt a gadget that is 5 years old will still generate any traffic for him.

Good, thoughtful comments. A few thoughts... 
 
First, on SEO value. The dirty little secret, with respect to team Hubspot, is that a lot of the Google traffic that comes to individual blogs is truly low value. It's a lot of people quickly looking for content and then moving on. That's less true for business blogs since they are funnels to the mother ship, which has a much higher return. 
 
Second, with respect to the community, I understand "the code" but how is this different than when a restaurant closes and moves to a new location? 
 
Finally, the big point here is that - in a world with too much content and not enough time - no site can be an island anymore. That's why companies are spending billions to build their brands on Facebook and Twitter and focusing less on-domain. The same holds true for me on Tumblr because of the way the media uses the platform. If you don't evolve, you die. 
 
You may all disagree and I respect that but I stand by my choice. 
 
steve

If you focus on the now, deleting the past is no big deal. Yesterday's news is trash. Throw it out. 
 
On the other hand, whatever you say could be of value in the future, if only for understanding how people talked about and adopted new technology. 
 
Throwing it away is a tragedy.

After 60 months of blogging, I decided to do the same. Sometimes, it is WISE to let go of the past and start anew.

hard to comment when two sides have a valid point... have also torched a lot of work in the past - either on an impulse or for what seemed to be practical reasons at that point in time... but now when i look back, have lost a lot of good content cos of that 
 
hopefully Steve has a backup of everything :)

I'd disgree. Yes, he's missing out on SEO juice but by virtue of writing this post, you've proven why he doesn't need is old content. His reputation is carrying him. People read his stuff because of the brand he's build for himself. He's living in the present based on the hard work he put in to build his reputation. That'll carry him. he doesn't need the old stuff anymore. At the end of the day, that's what this is all about: reputations.

Not only does this post tout the benefits of not deleting a post, but it certainly makes one realize the benefits of putting up a blog in the first place. Thanks for the great overview.

Hi I feel it's Steve's choice to delete the whole blog; I wouldn't do it for my blog. My blog has 300+ posts now that gets 300+ search hits every single day, if I delete it, I will lose the juice. This is why I pay money to host the content and take backups. 
 
One big reason why people would remove their past work is they are not comfortable with it, just go with it, that was your past self through time capsule.

When I thought Squidoo was the next big thing I moved lots of my blog posts to the platform. Then along came the Panda update and suddenly the best place for my blog posts was once again Wordpress. You can't always assume one platform is better than the other - scorched Earth policy or not.

"You'll lose all that coveted SEO juice you built." 
 
"You'll sacrifice a whole lot of inbound link love." 
 
"You'll limit social media mentions and content sharing." 
 
It's a rare blog post that generates social media mentions 3 years after it's written. 
 
These are horrible reasons to keep old content on the Web. If you're done with it you're DONE with it. There is no need to tie an albatross around your neck because you're afraid of losing "SEO juice". 
 
He made a business decision. His SEO strategy must support that decision. 
 
That makes him more right and you more wrong on these points. 
 
"You'll miss out on valuable lead generation opportunities." 
 
Maybe -- but today's media environment is so dynamic that generating leads off of old content may not be as productive as it seems attractive. 
 
"Throwing away all that content would be like throwing away money and burning a library of resources." 
 
There is more monetizable value in one contemporary relevant blog post that touches 1 million people than there is in 1 million old blog posts that no one cares about any more.

I hope he setup some 301's!!!

Having a clean start is always nice, but I do not really understand the reasoning behind this action. 

301's would definately be the way forward :)