Refreshing Old Content: Update Old Content to Gain More Website Traffic

Some content pieces are too good to be forgotten. You may be proud of an article, or tutorial and you want to update old content without throwing out the work you’ve already done.  Updating old posts with new SEO keywords, links, and multimedia can be very helpful since Google’s SERP favors updated links.

Based on recent data, 92% of marketers have reported content as a valuable business asset. As of this year, 56% are planning to spend more on content. SEO matters considerably as some reports indicate that updating old content can increase organic traffic by 106% with 93% of online experiences beginning with search engines.

Why is it Important to Refresh Your Content?

Search engines love fresh articles. Google admitted to favoring fresh articles using the freshness algorithm with an approximate 35% impact on searches. In other words, the more recent your content, the more Google and other search engines favor it in search results. Thus, it is an effective way to improve website traffic.

Constantly refreshing those content improves your content quality, makes them more insightful and relevant to the present need of your audience. Hence, updating your content implies that you care about your audience getting useful and up-to-date information.

Successful website admins know these rules and take advantage of them to rank high on result pages. This article highlights seven tips to refresh your old posts effectively.

Select the Posts You want to Repurpose

You have to figure which material on your website packs the biggest punch, gets people talking, and does the most in conversion. The best way to get this information is through analytics.

The best analytics out there is by Google console. Go to the traffic option and click on search analytics. You can check all the boxes you need data on, download the file, and have it on a spreadsheet.

The deal here is to work on niche related content in the top 40 on Google searches with low traffic but a high conversion rate. You should also look for those with high impression rates. These stats show that people find your post helpful. Hence, making it better will only improve its impact.

The best way to create these kinds of content from the beginning would be to create evergreen material. These are content you find helpful even after years of publication. They aren’t bubbles or news that become irrelevant in no time.  Subsequently, you can update and improve them by adding relevant links, data, explanations, and dates.

Get More Words into Them

Studying Google search results has shown that most articles that make it to the first page on Google have an average of 2000 – 2500 words. You can develop it by adding relevant info if your article doesn’t meet this standard.

Here’s a hack for you – get the top three ranked content on Google for your content category. Then, find the average word count for all three articles. The result you get is your target word count. You can also throw in an extra 100 words, to be sure.

Revise Your Keyword Targeting

This is another way to use Google Console to improve your content refreshment task. Click on the content that needs a keyword revision and select queries. Sort the queries by impression and choose those with the highest impact. Focus on these new keywords that have the highest relevance to improve the page’s SEO.

Target new long-tail keywords you might have also come across that can help you get more visits.

You can also update your Meta-description with this method by inserting the most searched keywords.

Keep Your URL the Same but Optimize Your CTA

As we stated earlier, it is best to refresh evergreen articles that have generated traction over time. It means the content has a history to back it up and has spent enough time ranking on Google. It is not advisable to create a new post and compete with your existing post. This will just create more problems.

Get Rid of Old Content

Even when updating your content seems like the easier option, some outdated ones have to go. These include job postings, time-limited offers, and other content that have lost relevance.

An effective tactic to employ is the 301-error. When someone searches for the old page, it quickly leads them to the more recent and closely related topic.

Follow up on Old Posts with a Second Part

You can create a new article that’s a sequel to an older one that you previously created. Don’t forget to include a ‘Part 2’ at the end of the title.

Now, you can link both content by including links to the other on each one. So the old post becomes more relevant because it’s linked to an even more recent and fresh article. You can also optimize keywords and edit the old post to boost its visibility and freshness, which in turn boosts the newer post.

Repurpose Your Old Content as Emails or YouTube Videos

Website admins usually repurpose to generate traffic and promote their old content. Some old materials are best refreshed as emails and videos. For example, you can turn lengthy web content into a series of promotional or informative emails to keep your list engaged.

Making videos from content is quite easy. It is also a great way to reach another set of audiences with the same message. You can also make cameo appearances on other social media platforms with nuggets from your web content that send them back to the original material.

Google and other search engines love fresh content. Complying with their requirements and constantly updating your posts keeps you on their radar. Successful website admins keep up to date with the latest best practices. One of these practices is keeping your content fresh. Make Google console your friend and use it to identify content with the greatest potential for refreshing.

Repurposing old content is very simple and profitable. There are many options to choose from on what to do with your old material. Try checking your analytics with the SEO tools mentioned above or if not, just contact an SEO agency to do it for you.