Not All is Evergreen: Updating & Letting Go of Older Content

Older content may seem like a good thing to hoard on your website. It’s common knowledge that many websites use blogs and related content as a way to present relevant industry and brand information to target audiences and Google. Content is excellent for both hitting target keywords and emotionally connecting with visitors to your site. That’s a big reason why “content is king”. Does that mean that it’s impossible to have too much text in your arsenal? Can any older content be considered “evergreen”?  Join us as we delve into the specifics of how much content your site should have, when it should be updated, and when it’s time to just let it go! Here are some items to consider when deciding what to keep in order to best benefit your rankings.

Mass Amounts of Older Content can Hurt Your Rankings!

If your writers regularly post, your content’s history will become a tapestry of information that’s been woven over the years. It may reveal a great deal about your brand’s story.  As your posts begin to pile up and the idea well begins to run dry, your ideas may start to blend together—posing significant problems for both your search engine rankings and conversions. When older content starts to pile up, not only does your site run the risk of cannibalizing its own ideas, but it can also overwhelm your audience. Too much content on a site contributes to:

• Audience and search engine confusion on what content actually matters 
• The UX becoming boring, dry, and leading to reader disinterest 
• Decreased click-through rate (CTR) on your site
• Decreased conversions

The Goal of Content is to Increase Audience Interest

Your content needs to help increase your website’s traffic. When your site is oversaturated, your audience can easily get distracted or lost in a sea of information. Readers miss your most important ideas. Creating relevant, informative, and interesting content is more important for search engine optimization (SEO) than creating mass amounts of content “for the sake of creating content”. If your site even looks crowded, it’s time to take a step back and rethink your team’s approach. Clear out the clutter and update your content strategy to cater to your target audience.

Before Deleting, Perform a Content Audit!

Your content strategy will be much more effective if you refresh it with an annual site content audit. High-performing content is the key to ranking success, and keeping content that is no longer relevant can result in increased bounce rates, which hurt your site’s authority with Google. A content audit can be taxing, but trust us⁠—the juice is definitely worth the squeeze. The appropriate approach to an audit involves examining your site page by page. Judge its content based on:

• Its strengths and weaknesses relative to your current marketing/keyword goals
• How it supports/enhances your brand
• How your content is performing for your site (Is it being found and read?)

The overall goal of an audit is to paint a picture of what content is benefiting your site, the topics your audience is drawn to, and of course, what older content needs to be updated or deleted.

Sometimes Updates can Be Beneficial

Evergreen content is content on your site that has the potential to be long-lasting and isn’t time-sensitive. While content that doesn’t help search performance should typically be deleted, sometimes you can update certain posts or pages to better fit your current marketing efforts.  While Evergreen content should remain “fresh” for your readers, it doesn’t mean that you can’t provide it with a little water and nourishment every once in a while. If you have older or evergreen content you’d like to keep on your site, there are some simple steps you can take to give your content an upgrade.

Peek at Your Competitors

No, it isn’t cheating! Perform a competitor analysis and take a look at what your higher ranking competitors are doing. This can be one of the easiest ways to point your older content in the right direction (with your unique spin) during an update. While auditing the competition, examine:

• Page length
• Image use
• Page structure
• The keyword phrases they rank for

From there, your team can take matters into their own hands and refresh older content to reflect the standards that have elevated your competitors to the top.  From expanding landing pages to changing up keywords, a refresh is a simple way to adapt older content into relevant information for your target audience.

Look at Comments and Reviews for Potential Additions

If you have a review management strategy in place or are active on social media, pay close attention to what your audience is saying and asking. Comments and questions about your brand can give you a pulse on what your content needs. You can then update your content accordingly.

Keep Your Content Updated Regularly With Dallas SEO Dogs

At Dallas SEO Dogs we have the privilege of creating content for clients across several different industries. Our content writers understand how to approach each brand’s content output. We make sure only the most relevant information is front and center for your target audience.  Ready to scrub your site clean of excess content and truly get your brand’s message across? Our digital marketing team is here to help you create a content strategy that brings in results. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation!