Updating your content - a way to rank better in search results

In articles on the SEOSki blog, we have repeatedly stressed the importance of corporate blog. Its systematic maintenance will effectively increase traffic to the website and improve its visibility for business-relevant key phrases. In turn, from the point of view of site visitors, the blog is a reliable source of information - not only about the company and its offer, but also about the industry. By nurturing useful, high-quality content, you are also successively working on building and maintaining your image as an expert. To make it successful, content It must fulfil one more condition. It must be up-to-date. How do site owners usually approach this issue? They create new content on the site. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. However, why not make updates to articles that have already been published on the topic? In today's article, you will find out what you can gain from updating your content and how this relates to SEO.

What is a content update and how can it be carried out?

Updating content is nothing more than simply adaptation of the text to the current state of affairsadding new or more precise data. Importantly, it is not only updating the text, but also, for example, videos and infographics. 

How can the content be updated?

• by removing unnecessary parts - It is often the case that, when reading a published text after some time, we notice unnecessary, small-minded remarks in it. This is not unusual. As we develop over time, our copywriting skills also improve. Therefore, it is worth reviewing "old" content and looking at it from a new perspective
• by removing non-working links
• by modifying individual words, sentences, paragraphs - Changes should not only be made in the context of the data. Possible logical, stylistic and spelling mistakes must also be corrected
• by adding extracts of content - There probably isn't one of your blog posts that can't be expanded at least a little. It rarely happens that we fully exhaust a topic. That is why, when updating, it is a good idea to enrich the text with new themes and examples. Attention! However, they must have merit. Otherwise, during the next update ... you will consider them superfluous and delete them.

Content update and position in Google

How does updating content look from Google's perspective? Perversely, let's consider what the situation looks like for a subpage that is performing well in the search results, but whose content has not been updated since publication. The increasing number of readers who come to it will just as quickly flee it because they will not find useful information. The search engine will observe an increasing rejection rate and this will be a signal to it - this website presents low quality, so its position in the SERPs should be lowered. 

Both Google and Internet users themselves want content that is up-to-date, in line with the current state of affairs. If you ensure that this is what they receive when they visit your pages, you will ensure their approval and high ranking in search results.

2 tools to use when updating

Have you made the decision to update the content on your website, but don't know what to get down to first? Acting blindly is not the best idea. Fortunately, you can use tools that will show you what content is worth updating.

Google Analytics

In the first instance, visit Google Analytics. It is not only a tool to help you analyse traffic and visitor behaviour. It is also a treasure trove of clues to help you know which sub-pages need to be changed. In the Behaviour --> Overview panel, you will find, among other things, information on the rejection rate, traffic on individual sub-pages and the average time users spend on them. What conclusions can you draw from Google Analytics? Analyse the number of impressions, average session duration and rejection rate for your pages. In this way, you will identify the content that attracted many Internet users (e.g. with an intriguing title), but the content did not meet their expectations, as evidenced by the short time spent on the site. Analyse these texts and make changes to improve the quality of the entry.

Screaming Frog

A second helpful programme is Screaming Frogwhich will provide you with a list of addresses from the website URL and information about them. What kind of information is this? Among other things, the content of the title tag and meta description, the H1 and H2 headings, i.e. everything that is also useful for updates. Data on the loading speed of individual pages is also valuable. Those that take the most time may need to optimise the graphics, for example. PS. Remember that in the free version the tool is limited to scanning 500 URLs.

What blog content should be updated?

Among blog content, there are some that are in particular need of updating. While tutorials, reviews or analyses of all kinds have a universal appeal, the same cannot be said for articles on specific products or services. It is more than likely that some of them have changed over time (e.g. in terms of design, application). Check that the information in the content is factually correct. It is also necessary to verify the operation of existing links (external and internal) and to add new links. 

It is also important to update those entries which contain regulations. Check where you have raised the issue of a particular legal provision. If it is no longer current, be sure to refresh your entry. Refer to the current regulation or indicate that it has changed.

How to update your content - 5 tips

When updating, do not change URLs, categories or tags 

If you change the address, all links currently leading to the sub-page will cease to work and the page with the new address will have to work on its reputation from scratch!

Complete (or correct) the meta data 

Construct the title and meta description in such a way as to arouse curiosity in potential visitors, and in this way you will increase the number of hits on the site.

Do not hide the date of publication

It is a good idea to include the date of publication and modification next to each entry. You certainly know this from experience - users like to know when a text was created. Among other things, they decide whether it makes sense to read it on the basis of the date. Why spend time on an article that is several years old and the subject has evolved and changed?

Communicate change to the world

If you have taken the time to modify outdated articles, it would be a shame not to let your users know about it! Use your social media channels to do this. Share link to updated texts, e.g. on the company's fanpage.

Complete the internal linking

Perhaps other complementary content has appeared on the site since you published the post in question? It may be worth directing visitors to these places using internal links. 

Content update and... everyone happy!

Systematic and correct updating of the content on the website means win-win situation. It benefits both site owners, who see an increase in traffic, and readers, who have access to the latest information. Remember that a good content marketing strategy is not only about constantly creating new content, but also about updating published content. Therefore, find time in your calendar to analyse and upgrade them.