Since 2018, Ukti<\/a> has created content for well over 50 clients on retainers. Can you guess how many focused on content refresh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udd2f Just one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes \u2014 refreshing content might seem like a common strategy, even an obvious one, but only a few follow the practice with diligence. Some possible reasons why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That one client we helped refresh content belonged to the BFSI sector. (Anonymizing due to NDA \ud83d\ude37) Their SEO team carried out the content audit while our team of writers did the content updates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udde0<\/em> <\/em>What is<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>Content Audit<\/em><\/strong>? It\u2019s the practice of analysing your content inventory to get a comprehensive idea of what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not against a set of key metrics.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Most of the changes we made included the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This type of content refresh happened every couple of months. However, there was no fixed timeline for updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like our very own BFSI client, there are plenty of companies without a content refresh strategy. And that\u2019s a huge problem. You know why? Because it\u2019s the easiest way to revamp your old but top-performing content to keep the traffic coming along with leads and conversions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udde0<\/em> <\/em>What is Content Refresh?<\/em><\/strong> It\u2019s a process of adding, updating, deleting, and optimizing old, stale content to improve its overall performance.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n As Ramiro Somosierra, Founder\/Editor of <\/em>Gear Aficionado<\/em><\/a>, describes it, \u201c<\/strong>content is a living, breathing entity, much like the internet itself. So stagnation is a digital death sentence, you see.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s jump in to see how content refresh helps you save time and resources while getting the same results as freshly published content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Content marketing is a game of numbers, for sure. But it\u2019s not a game of quantity. Your ROI doesn\u2019t increase with the increase in content published. No.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you look at the average lifecycle of content – from the moment it\u2019s published, the content sees a good rise<\/strong>, reaches its peak<\/strong>, and then starts to plateau<\/strong> before finally losing traffic due to content decay<\/strong>. However, when you refresh the content during its stagnancy stage, you can extend its lifecycle and give it a second chance at driving more traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To refresh content, you may only need to update the dates, including the latest data, add one more H2, delete outdated sections, or make other minor changes – nothing major!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a tried and tested method that 2x the monthly leads from old posts for <\/strong>HubSpot<\/strong><\/a> and grew their organic search views by 106% on average. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When compared to the process of content creation, which is costly and time-consuming, the process of refreshing content is a low-hanging fruit offering the quickest wins on the SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides, you also get to reap a variety of benefits, as highlighted below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One way to think about content refresh is the Animalz way. \ud83e\udde0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt Animalz, we think of content like a product. It helps us take a more holistic view on content and prevents us from churning out content just for the sake of creating something new.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n — Jimmy Daly on <\/em><\/strong>Animalz\u2019s blog<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your content is your biggest demand generation asset. But like any well-liked product, it needs to stay relevant and at par with the needs AND preferences of the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, instead of a publish-and-publish-more approach, you should actively track and analyse the SERP performance of your content. This will help you find opportunities for refreshing content timely to slow down content decay and sustain the traffic for high-performing assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, and for the bonus, you\u2019ll be keeping the algorithm Gods really, really happy. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does Google consider the freshness of content a ranking factor?<\/em> Well, yes and no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hear from Google itself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n How Search Works, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Google uses well over 200 ranking signals to answer a user query. As you can see above, the freshness of content is not applicable to all but only certain types of queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, Google does broadly define five main ranking factors. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udca1If you\u2019d like to learn how Google\u2019s ranking systems work, you can check out their guide here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n (Need content writing services<\/a> for better ranking? Request a sample at contact@ukti.co.in)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026a word of consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Refreshing content entails more than just content updates. If anything, the process is 20% content update, 20% on-page SEO update, and 60% diagnosing what\u2019s causing the content decay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes! Your backlink profile, site structure, domain authority, and other SERP elements are as responsible for your rankings as the quality of your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, whenever you decide to perform a content audit and single out content to refresh, make sure to look at individual SERP elements like featured snippets, keywords, page ranking, meta title, meta description, etc. If need be, you\u2019ll probably need to update metadata along with the content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t have to spell out this one for you, but for those in the back, having a performance system is not the same as having access to GSC and GA data. Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s about having a dedicated process to review performance data, identify gaps and opportunities, and create a plan to optimize for them all within a specified timeline. So you can make good use of the content data at hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As Charlotte Chamberlain, Content Strategist at Tao Digital Marketing<\/a>, emphasizes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUtilising new data from software like Google Search Console, you can add in more key terms, answer new queries and continue to increase performance.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Elaborating on how to update on-page SEO, Charlotte further shares:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing recent GSC data can help you find long-tail queries or questions that haven’t been answered. You can add them in and also include\/update internal links to connect further content from the hub.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using tracking software, you can also see if any tweaks could be made to the layout, CTA placement, or H2\/H3 order for featured snippet optimisation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like content creation, refreshing content should always be ongoing. It\u2019s a time-consuming process and will stress your resources if done at unplanned intervals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take cues from Ben Pines, Director of Content at AI21 Labs<\/a>, who says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don’t believe in a “once a month” optimization sprint. Instead, experiments are part of the weekly schedule\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Delving deeper into his process, Ben gives a glimpse of how they manage it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe maintain a constant revisiting and optimization process, which throughout the months has shown to really elevate content performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though each optimization is different, here are 4 things I always do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whose words will you trust more? Your mom telling you that you sing well, or Beyonce saying you sound shit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Queen B, of course. Not only because she is unbiased but because she\u2019s an authority on the subject of singing. Opinions matter, but they matter most when coming from someone who\u2019s credible and has authority over the subject. The same thing applies to content and refreshing content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding subject matter quotes to your old posts is the most failproof way of elevating their quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharing his experience with refreshing content, Caleb Rule of the Rule Marketing Group<\/a> shares the story of how they improved performance for a piece by The Pedowitz Group,<\/em> ranking in the top 2 for \u201crevenue marketing\u201d phrases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter 6-8 months, the blog post had fallen down to the 4-5 range. We took a pass at updating with fresh quotes from the subject matter expert, updated graphics, and improved grammar. Within a month, the post was back up into the top 2 ag<\/strong>ain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This mattered for a couple of reasons:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned earlier, content refresh is as much a content strategy as it is an SEO strategy. Since the web changes every minute of the day, updating on-page SEO along with content should be a no-brainer, agrees Sankit Javiya, SEO Manager at Mailmodo<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Google and people crave updated content and fresh information – no one wants outdated information. So, content refresh works defiantly. And by strategically updating content, SEOs can achieve quick wins. <\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Showing the way, Sankit also shares some handy tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor listicles, incorporate trending items and edit titles and meta with the latest dates (e.g., 2022 to 2023)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A content refresh can work wonders for informational content ranking between 10 to 25 or dropped from the first page. To dos for this: Modify intent, add new sections, remove irrelevant information, update statistics, and more. This surely boosts the rankings of those pages.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those little tweaks can pay off big time. It\u2019s also a straightforward way of showing off proactiveness and adding incremental value to your content assets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re living in the age of information overload, where nearly 7.5 billion blog posts are published every single day. In 2020, three years ago only, the same number was at 4 million! But do you know how much content the average person consumes<\/a> in 2023? 4 articles, 8,200 words, and 226 messages daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now imagine the number of keywords you\u2019re competing against! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Outperforming bigger sites in such a saturated space, that too with a constrained budget is no easy feat. If you have published content that\u2019s getting attention from the intended audience, it\u2019ll be wiser to pour more effort into refreshing and updating it instead of creating fresh content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Why is Content Refresh So Important (Hint: It\u2019s CPR for Dying Content)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGoogle on Content Freshness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Before You Jump the Gun and Start Updating Content\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Refresh Blog Posts: Tips & Real-Life Examples <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1 Have a well-established performance tracking system<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
#2 Refresh content systematically, not just at intervals<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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#3 Consider including subject matter expertise <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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#4 Improve your on-page SEO to boost performance instantly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Neglect Content Refresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n