Today we’ll talk about the importance of regularly updating content on the site.
90% of SEOs work on the “set it and forget it” principle:
- prepared technical specifications for the copywriter;
- optimized content;
- bought links;
- switched to other tasks (abandoned)...
Updating content, like creating new content, is a key formula for traffic growth.
Why is a content update necessary?
- QDF (Query Deserves Freshness) - the request requires fresh results;
- visitors like up-to-date content (materials with a more recent date are clicked on more often);
- user expectations change (images, videos, descriptions);
- information and visual obsolescence.
Different queries have different needs for "freshness".
How do search engines determine the freshness of pages?
Search engines evaluate the freshness of content based on several factors:
- Dates: discovery, publication, changes;
- Update percentage and its importance;
- Frequency of updates as an indicator of activity with content;
- Traffic and behavioral factors (PF);
- Dynamics of link growth and freshness of linking pages;
- Changing anchors.
How do you know when it's time to update the page?
- The page is older than 12 months;
- Loss of traffic;
- Poor ranking for key keywords;
- Low coverage (similar competitor pages are ranked for more words).
How to find such pages?
To do this, use analytical tools:
Go to Yandex.Metrica: Reports - Standard reports - Content - Login pages.
Compare segments with previous periods. Compare two segments of 6 months for articles less than a year old, or 1 year for articles older than a year.
It is important to select the last significant source “Transfers from search engines” in order to exclude all traffic from advertising, direct visits and other things.
Next, analyze the data. Work first with pages where traffic has decreased by more than 1.5 times.
There are two types of updates:
- Small updates: 5-30% text + change of update date;
- Global change: up to 100% content + change in publication date.
How can you improve the article?
If the page isn't getting any traffic, rewrite it from scratch:
- change the format;
- expand the coverage of the topic from a “different angle”;
- check the page for compliance with the intent.
For pages that rank for fewer queries than competitors, try expanding your topic coverage:
- analyze the visibility of competitors for similar items;
- add missing content to increase ranking for more mid and low frequency queries.
Minor improvements:
- Changing Title/Description (additional optimization, improving CTR on search);
- Reduced download speed;
- Improved readability through formatting;
- Updating anchor texts of internal links.
If you have questions or need recommendations on SEO, you can contact the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" by email: info@seo.computer.
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