Protect pages that receive organic traffic, earn impressions, rank for relevant queries, have backlinks, support conversions, or explain an important service. These pages may still need improvement, but they should not be deleted casually. A page does not have to be perfect to have SEO value worth preserving.
Protect pages that already have business or search value during a rebuild. That includes pages with organic traffic, impressions, rankings, backlinks, conversions, assisted conversions, or important service information.
A page does not have to be perfect to be worth protecting. It may need better copy, clearer calls-to-action, stronger internal links, or improved structure, but deleting it casually can create avoidable SEO and user-experience problems.
Before launch, review performance data, Search Console data, analytics, backlinks, and sales usefulness so important pages are either preserved, improved, redirected, or intentionally retired.
