How Updating Old Content Can Improve Your SEO Strategy

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Why should you update content?

Have you noticed that Wikipedia frequently shows up in your search results? This is not only because it is a reputable and reliable source of content, but because this content is continually updated – something that Google rewards highly. Dedicating time to a content refresh has many benefits. These include:

  • Improved SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

The value of content decreases over time. Search engines are designed to find the content that will be most helpful and accurate for users. Relevant, fresh material is prioritised, while older pieces will continue to drop in the rankings.

Over time, this can harm your SEO. By updating old pieces, you show search engines that your content is up-to-date, accurate and still relevant. Content becoming ‘less fresh’ is one of the factors Google uses to determine the quality of your website – improving this will result in a spike in your traffic.

  • Increase Audience Engagement And Click-Through Rate

Up-to-date content will result in an increased click-through rate. If you are viewing your search engine results for information, would the publish date influence your choice of click? Users are more likely to read recently published articles – as a result, the click-through rate of an article you publish will increase when you update it.

This is important for Google’s algorithm as you will be more likely to rank higher if more users click on your content from the search engine results page. Updating your content will not only make it more appealing, but this will indicate to Google that the material is of high quality and attracting traffic.

  • Save Time And Get Results

It takes much less time to update an old article than it does to write an entirely new one. This does not mean to cease creating new content altogether, but dedicating time to both practices has the potential to bring results while saving time, reducing the workload and delivering faster results.

SEO Content Strategy

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4 Ways To Search Engine Optimise Old Content

Updating your content provides many different benefits. Here are the four methods to refresh older pieces and how it will increase your search engine traffic.

1. Show Google That Your Content Is Fresh

Content published recently gets a higher ranking, particularly for topics that change frequently. If you are only posting new content, you are not leveraging the opportunity to also rank higher through your old content.

As a solution, you can revive that content – by updating you can almost double your website traffic. Change the publication date or save any changes or updates in WordPress. When Google crawls your site again, you’ll see a boost in your search engine traffic. Edit your content with the 2021 SEO trends in mind, for optimal results.

2. Improve Your Content’s Accuracy

Every Google update is centred around improving the user experience. If your site is designed for a great user experience, you’ll succeed with Google’s multiple algorithm changes and reap the rewards of their ranking factors. Make your content more usable and helpful for your visitors by updating it to provide new and more accurate information.

3. Increase How Frequently Google Indexes Your Site

As you work to improve the old content you’ve published on your website, your website will benefit as a whole, and not just on the blogs that you have updated. This is because Google crawls your entire site to see your most recent updates.

Google then uses this as a measure to set aside time to crawl your site. By updating old content, Google will crawl your site more frequently without you needing to publish more often.

The more Google crawls your site, the more likely your most recent information will show up in search results after publishing, which gives you a significant advantage in your search engine results rankings.

4. Share And Promote Your Content Again

Now that your old post has been updated, you can promote this again as fresh material, getting even more use out of the original content. Make sure to share this on all relevant channels such a social media or email campaigns with plenty of share buttons on the page to maximise the potential reach.

Grofuse Checklist For updating Content

  • Revise your keywords to check they are still relevant or if they need to be improved.
  • Update graphics and other visual elements that might be outdated.
  • Fix broken links and examine all of the internal and external links to ensure that the content you’re linking to is updated and accurate.
  • Update on-page SEO elements such as the meta description, meta title and image alt-text.
  • Check for grammatical errors and writing style to make sure that your tone suits your current branding.
  • Finally, change your publish date and reshare it on all relevant channels.

To conclude, if you want a simple and time/cost-effective strategy to boost your SEO, a great solution is to update your old work.

If executed correctly, a content refresh can help you generate noteworthy traffic results, keep your audience engaged and show search engines that your older pieces you had forgotten about still hold a lot of value for your SEO strategy.

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