One of the best ways to take advantage of that fact is actually not to create completely new content, but to refresh old content. That’s right. Let’s take a look at how you can take advantage of a content refresh to boost your rankings.
Two Types Of Content
When you create new content, you should keep an eye on maintaining a balance between evergreen content (blog posts and pages that users will find useful any time of year) and seasonal content (topics that will experience high and low interest throughout the year.
Many people think of web pages as evergreen content and blog posts as seasonal content, but that’s not necessarily true. Some blog posts continue to get visits years after they’ve been published, and some “static” web pages on your site might require frequent updates. An example of evergreen content might be answers to frequently asked questions (which could be posted on a web page, as well as answered individually in blog posts), while seasonal content might be “The Best Ski Destinations of 2016” for example.
Should you refresh evergreen content? Yes. But you shouldn’t need to very often. Changing products, cultural shifts, new technologies, and rebranding are reasons to update evergreen content. Seasonal content, however, usually requires more regular refreshing to keep gleaning benefits from it.
How Seasonal Content Boosts SEO
Google and the other search engines always look for the most relevant content. Often, that means the most recent content. Creating seasonal content allows you a shot at the top-ranked title – or at least a spot somewhere near the top. The better you time the release and refresh of this content, the better your chances.
Let’s say you want to do an annual roundup of the best ski destinations. So in November 2016 you write your first one. You do it all by the book, creating quality content with relevant keywords and taking the time to build links to your post. Do you really want to do that every single year?
Instead, why not just refresh the page? You’ll take advantage of those same links, while drawing in repeat visitors who want to know what’s new. Plus, you’ll draw new crowds altogether.
Getting The Timing Right
Timing your refresh right isn’t as easy as it sounds. In our ski destination example, you’d want to keep in mind that while skiers mostly ski in the winter, they often plan their trips nine-to-twelve months out. On top of that, search engines also take some time to re-index pages. To maximize the benefits of a refresh, plan on doing it around 2 months before you expect traffic to peak. Coordinate with your social media team in advance to maximize seasonal traffic. And when seasonal traffic fades, search engines will lean on your evergreen content, so expect peaks and valleys in both.
Not sure when to refresh? Let cThru Media assess your paid and organic search traffic to help you build a content calendar designed to maximize your ROI. Contact us today!
