Written by Market My Market’s content team, with contributions from Katie McLoughlin, Hannah Kernal, Tyesha Ferron, Kenzie Fox, and Lindsay Bennett
As a business fighting to keep its web pages ranked highly on search engines, the battle to reach the top grows increasingly more difficult as the number of web pages in your niche grows. As a result, it’s not uncommon to be unsure where to turn in order to keep up with content marketing strategies that will allow you to stay ahead of your peers.
One such method that has consistently kept some of the most highly-ranked websites at the top is refreshing already-existing content on your site. Rather than creating brand new blogs and pages each time your work on content, updating and revitalizing old content is a surprisingly straightforward and effective tactic. Keeping your old posts fresh will encourage novel ideas, ensure you include up-to-date information, and continue to attract new leads to your site.
Why Updating Content is Essential for SEO
Like many other products, content has a life cycle. As time goes on, content matures and decreases in quality. Making small changes and refreshing these pieces is one of the best strategies to increase user engagement and add value to your website. Additionally, making these adjustments could vastly improve your SEO rankings in the following ways:
- Increased traffic: With more qualitative content, users are more likely to interact with it and stay on your website longer than they would if you kept outdated content. More organic users result in higher SEO rankings.
- Higher authority: Keeping your content updated with current and relevant information increases your authority, which is one of three EAT Google factors that boosts your SEO.
- More backlinks: With more authoritative content, you could see an increase in backlinks, which shows users your website is trustworthy. This encourages Google to rank your content higher.
These factors influence your content’s SEO and ranking in search engines. More authority, trustworthiness, and backlinks tell Google they should show your content to more users, making for better performance. As you see your posts reach their maturity and decline in value, you can give them a new life so they continue to boost your SEO.
Comparing your old content to your current high-ranking pages can show you where you can implement keyword improvements and improve your posts for your readers. When users interact with your content and find value in it, Google takes notice. This makes updating your content one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your SEO.
Contributed by Katie McLoughlin, Content Writer
How Do I Decide Which Blogs or Pages Need Updates?
If you are unsure which blogs or pages on your website need updates—or you need to determine which ones should be prioritized first—there’s an easy way to determine which material requires an update. Most websites built through WordPress will have administration access to some statistics. But you may also access these statistics through a tool like Google Analytics or SEMrush.
Depending on your website’s size and authority, you may have different standards or needs for reoptimization. For example, if you find that all of your content is currently getting fewer than 10 views within 12 months, you may have different priorities than a website that ordinarily gets 100 views in the same time span. In most cases, try to prioritize reworking content that is underperforming compared to your average page.
You may also try looking at the content itself. It may be easier to choose pieces to work on by looking at the content more granularly. For example, your content may perform better if you use appropriate geographical keywords and tags, original images, or a link to a website with good authority.
Contributed by Hannah Kernal, Content Writer
5 Strategies for Making Impactful Content Updates
Understanding the value of updating your old content is a start, but it’s not until you’ve made the actual updates that you’ll see the benefits. However, completely changing everything in your archive is likely not worth your time. Instead, your changes should be well-thought-out and intentional. You should approach updating old content with a clear strategy for positively impacting your SEO.
Add Value by Going More In-Depth or Removing Unnecessary Information
Providing readers with value should be your top priority while writing content. Valuable content guides the reader to the value you offer, turning readers into clients. As you update your content, consider the search intent of your target audience.
Every reader starts their search hoping to accomplish something, and your content should help readers do so. Your updates could cover a topic more in-depth in some posts. Others may require removing irrelevant details that detract from a post’s main idea, such as filler text.
Edit Missed Typos, Grammar Mistakes, and Punctuation Errors
When your content has writing errors, it hurts readers’ perception of your content and your brand. Many customers will avoid a company with poor grammar and spelling as they may see a correlation between the editing quality and your service’s quality.
Writing errors also affect customer experience and potentially SEO. There is a clear relationship between a website’s PageRank and spelling, with high-ranking websites typically posting content without typos. Editing old content to fix typos, grammar, and punctuation could help your posts rank better.
Review and Update Internal and External Links
Internal and external linking can keep readers on your site for longer and give your site credibility. Older content typically links that lead to outdated sources or pages that no longer exist, so all links should be reviewed and updated if necessary. Ensure every link in your article is active and takes readers to a useful, up-to-date web page by clicking on each one. Additionally, keep an eye out for opportunities to add internal links to newer content in your older posts.
Update Inaccurate or Outdated Information
Because your content was initially published, new laws may have been passed, and new information released, making the content inaccurate or outdated. Verify the statistics and studies referenced in your older posts to see if they are still accurate and up to date.
Allowing outdated content to live on your site can hurt readers’ perception of your authority on the topic. Find more recent, more accurate studies to cite in your client, then update the outdated information with the newest data. When you cite recent, better-quality research in your writing, you affirm your authority.
Optimize Your Blog Content’s Keywords for SEO
Previously, your content may have overemphasized keyword density, an outdated metric. When returning to update old posts, you can increase a post’s organic search ranking and traffic by turning it into high-quality content that incorporates keywords naturally rather than formulaically. Currently, using keywords in context is more valuable to readers’ experience.
As a result, you should check your old content to ensure your keywords are being used naturally and in a way that meets readers’ demands rather than being forced into the content. However, you can still use SEO tools to target primary keywords and make specific updates that deliberately include keywords in your content’s tags, headings, and body.
Contributed by Tyesha Ferron, Content Writer
Revamp Your Content Marketing Strategy with Market My Market
When there’s a decrease in website traffic, or you’re losing traction on social platforms, consider refreshing your marketing strategy with Market My Market. Our team of skilled professionals has years of combined experience revitalizing and developing websites and strategies for organizations in various industries. Market My Market will provide you with successful marketing tools through content creation, SEO optimization, and social media management.
Interested in learning more about our services and how we may help your company? Fill out our contact form or call (866) 634-4441 to speak with one of our team members today.
Contributed by Kenzie Fox, Content Writer
