If you’ve had a website for a long time, you probably have content you haven’t looked at in years. It sits on your site, dormant and underutilized. There are many reasons why you should update your website content, especially for SEO purposes!
1. Updating posts or pages will let Google know your site is active.
If you have content that is well-written and optimized, Google will want to push searchers to your content. However, if Google thinks your site is dormant or doesn’t get updated often, it will be harder for you to rank high. Updating old content is a great way to get Google’s attention and get new traffic heading to your site.
2. Some of your content may not be search engine optimized.
If you wrote some of your content years and years ago, it probably was not written up to the SEO specifications of today. Or, even if it was optimized, the keywords you’re trying to rank for may need to be altered slightly. It’s worth going back through content and improving the SEO. Again, you will be catching Google’s attention and grabbing new potential audiences with content that you already have!
3. Ensure you are avoiding keyword cannibalization.
Keyword cannibalization is the term used for when you have multiple pages optimized for the same keywords. It’s unlikely that Google will rank both of these pages in the top 3 unless you’re a huge site with lots of credibilities. Instead, it’s more likely that both of the pages will rank lower. The fix for this is simple–make sure that each page is optimized for different keywords or combine the pages.
4. Make sure everything on your site is still accurate.
Some content is timeless, and some can become completely obsolete over time. It’s a good idea to go through all your content at least once or twice a year to make small or big changes. Whether it be on a static contact page, or a blog post outlining your services, making sure content is accurate and up-to-date is crucial to keeping customers and readers happy and trusting. While doing this, it’s a good idea to change the last modified date. This helps readers know the information is in-fact up-to-date.
5. You can republish old posts as new and gain a bigger audience.
Whether you made big or small changes to something, you can republish the article as new by changing the date. This is a great idea if the article has awesome information and is still very relevant. Maybe the post didn’t get a lot of attention the first time around–you can give it another chance by republishing it. You probably have new followers and customers since the first time you published the article. This gives all your newcomers a chance to find the article through your social media or whatever other outlets you use to promote your work.
As you can see, there are several why you should update your website content, for SEO purposes, and otherwise. If this seems like an overwhelming task for you to do on your own, I can help you! Have a look at my SEO Writing Services or send me a message.