Is your SEO Rewarded by Refreshing Old Content?

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in, if you have a website, then the laws of SEO will apply. In the all-important world of search engine rankings, a website will have a few articles or content, that will determine how much traffic the website will get. Google uses nearly 200 different variables to decide how web pages get ranked in searches. Therefore, finding out exactly what to do is no easy task. The good news in all this is that there are some things that pretty much stay unchanged, as far SEO is concerned. The chief among them is to update older content.

Just Optimize It

If you have older content on the website, then you may want to think about just optimizing it, instead of deleting it and starting over. This is because starting over is more difficult compared to just updating it. This method is not surprising, when you think about it, since products and technology can become outdated. In fact, it is not unusual for a website to enjoy good ranking, despite having outdated content. But in the short run, you could be missing out on lots of business if you don’t refresh old content.

However, there are some important things to keep in mind when you refresh old content. The following are some of the main ones.

Keeping an Eye on Keywords

Chances are your content just needs better keywords to stay abreast of searches. Keywords are changing all the time, therefore, use a keyword planner to get your content out and ahead of searches.

Changing the URL

Some people may be tempted to change the URL, but the thing is, why change the URL if the present one is doing well in rankings? The thing to do is reorganize and refresh the existing content. Getting a new URL, even one filled with completely updated info and keywords, risks drowning in the Google search algorithm, at least for a while.

Don’t Forget the Call to Action

You have done all the necessary updates and are happy with the overall look of things, but what about optimizing call to action? After a potential customer reads the info, will they feel like they should take the next step and buy? The call to action feature is there to address this question. You can also think about adding any new offers or promotions at this stage, as well as adding a “leave your email” option for customers. The idea here is to convert browsers into buyers.

The Importance of Refreshing Old Content

As time goes by, page ranking will start to erode as it loses its relevancy. The biggest mistake is to not notice this change in stature. In fact, many people don’t even realize there is something going on until it’s too late. Contact us today and let us help you stay up to date with the Google game.

Lynne Motkoski, Digital Marketing Strategist

Specialty: Digital Marketing Strategies
Education: MA Communications & Technology, BComm [U Alberta]

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Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.