HOW REMOVING & UPDATING OLD CONTENT CAN IMPROVE SERP RANKINGS
Targeting keywords, constructing backlinks, and producing fresh content. Before you notice an improvement in your organic rankings or traffic, you must wait several months after implementing each of these SEO tactics. Unlike paid advertisements, which drive visitors to your website the day after it launches, SEO is a tactic that takes time. But what if I told you that not all hope is lost. With a few minor adjustments here and there, you may bring your outdated content back to life and get the desired results.
Reusing outdated material means giving your pages new life. Whether or whether your website is performing well, this raises its rankings. Google constantly appreciates new material. Why? Because the user will find it more relevant. They even claimed that 35% of queries are affected by their freshness algorithm. You can quickly move up numerous search positions by replacing your outdated material on your pages.
Why Rankings are improved by Reviving Old Content?
As we previously stated, Google adores fresh or new information. Websites that publish new content typically rank higher than those that do so with old content. However, if you consistently publish new content, the SERPs don’t show your older posts. By updating your older content postings, you can increase organic traffic to your website by over 40%. Because of this, updating older posts can give them fresh vitality. Make sure to update the date after you have posted your modified content. Following that, Google will crawl the page once more and recognize this as new content, improving your ranks.
Here is how you may update your content to raise your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) rankings
1. Select the posts on website that need updating
Finding out which blog entries on your website need to be updated is the first thing you should do. The greatest places to search are Analytics and Google Search Console. Analytics allow you to identify the pages that are working well, attracting the most visitors, and garnering high levels of engagement. These pages are the ones that are functioning well, as you now know.
To use Search Console, follow these steps:
- Enter Search Console.
- Observe your dashboard.
- Pick “Pages” next, then check “Clicks,” “Impressions,” “CTR,” and “Position” from the drop-down menus.
You will see something similar to this after choosing those options. Google compiles a list of every page and displays its position in the SERPs. On the first page of search results, Google displays 10 results. Start by concentrating on the pages that are between positions 10 and 30. This is due to the fact that 91.5% of Google users never scroll past the first page. Compile the first 10 pages you encounter. By doing this, you can concentrate on the articles that are bringing you the best rankings rather than spending a lot of effort optimizing every single article.
2.Some website owners believe that by replacing their outdated material with a fresh page, they will increase the number of pages in the index. However, this is not the best option. It is always preferable to simply update your current URL. The current URL has a proven track record and has achieved certain rankings. You have to start over when you make a completely new page. Maintaining consistency among all of your changes also prevents you from competing with yourself.
3. Remove outdated content
Your website’s content may be quickly updated and optimized. However, not all of your archived content needs to occupy space on your website. For instance, details on goods, services, or outdated job advertisements that you no longer require. The blog posts that are too identical to other ones or that are more well-liked should be removed from your website. Any duplicate content for your website is subject to the same rules.
The most effective method for managing all such pages is typically a 301 redirect. The advantage is that it directs visitors to an updated website or directs them from outdated products to similar new ones. This preserves the value of the previous URL you had.
Keep in mind that adding too many redirects to your website will strain your servers and cause it to load slowly, which will hurt your rankings. In some circumstances, you can include a unique message informing the audience that the content was out-of-date and linking them to a relevant website.
4. More content
In the end, it will help to add extra material to your current pages. The best content should appear at the top of the search, in theory. SerpIQ discovered that a webpage’s ranking increased with the number of words on it. Make sure your page contains 10–15% more words than the term that your rivals are ranking for. You don’t want to include content that is comparable to what your rivals are writing. Research your topic, read other blogs, have a discussion, and gather ideas on what to add. Your material is not just restricted to words, keep that in mind. To improve your posts, you can include pictures and videos. When the Google crawlers re-crawl your posts, they’ll take pictures and videos into account as well.
5. Add Additional Keywords
To make your material more pertinent, conduct keyword research. You might have discovered new long-tail keywords to target that you weren’t aware of before since you last added material to your post. Because it will affect the rankings, we do not advise changing the main/seed keywords in the posts. However, if you incorporate long-tail keywords, your content will rank higher. Put new keywords in all of your old posts.
6.Update the meta description and title
Your page’s ranking on Google is influenced by your CTR (click-through rate). Enter the desired term into Google, then check the page titles and meta descriptions of your competition. Make sure the post links you use offer more information about a keyword that is being looked up. Get more CTRs by creating engaging titles and meta descriptions. Make sure they are distinct and neither too lengthy nor too short. Use precise keywords instead of filler terms. Write your content with people, not machines, in mind.
7. Use Promotion to Increase Traffic to Your Content
According to research, sharing your content might increase web traffic by 75%. The use of social media to promote your work is highly recommended. You can also receive shares, clicks, and links by posting on social media. All of these contribute to conversions, which raise rankings and trust.
After optimizing your posts, you should index your pages as the next step. So, how can you speed up the indexing of your pages?
After updating your pages and leaving them alone, Google may not come back to your website for weeks or months before crawling your pages once more. To speed up indexing, you can simply resubmit your pages to Google. Go to Google Fetch and add your pages there in Search Console. Google will take a day, two, or even a week to crawl your page once you’ve done this. Using the ‘Dates’ option, you can always keep track of how your revised pages are coming along. Results won’t be available for at least two to three weeks after google re-crawls your page.
Conclusion
SEO involves more than just regularly producing new or fresh material. All of your previous work or information must be maintained current or optimized for current searches. Your page ranks will fluctuate frequently because Google’s SERPs are dynamic and constantly changing. Therefore, if you stop updating your old page content, it will be further pushed down. To learn how a customized SEO plan may increase the number of people who see your website and convert them into actual, paying customers, get in touch with SSI right away.