But\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026there are some SEO tactics that are much more likely to yield results in the SHORT term.<\/p>\n
One of the best? Refreshing old content.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an example where a landing page for a profitable keyword saw a 600% boost in organic traffic within a week.<\/p>\n
![\"content](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/content-refresh-implemented.png\")
<\/p>\n
The good news? In this guide, we\u2019re going to show you exactly how to put a content refresh plan into action.<\/p>\n
Here’s what’s inside.<\/p>\n
- A content refresh is NOT just changing dates<\/a><\/li>
- How much should your content change in a refresh? [data from 4 sites]<\/a><\/li>
- \u2018Content Refresh\u2019 vs \u2018Content Update\u2019<\/a><\/li>
- How to implement a content refresh strategy (step-by-step)<\/a><\/li>
- Ready to start refreshing your content?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n
But first, a recent word of caution from Google, and a note on what a content refresh is not.<\/p>\n
A content refresh is NOT just changing dates<\/h2>\n
Look, Google is a bit of a propaganda machine.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re big white-hat SEO advocates here at Seobility. And we\u2019d never advise you to go against their guidelines.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s no doubt that many SEO tactics that shouldn\u2019t work in 2023 still do \u2014 even if prominent Googlers say otherwise. We had a big rant about that back in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n
However, with that being said, we do agree with comments John Mueller made on Twitter<\/a> last year when asked about refreshing content for 2023.<\/p>\n
![\"john](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/mueller-twitter.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJust updating dates in your articles and hitting publish again isn\u2019t going to cut it.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a chance you\u2019ll get a very short-term boost. But it will quickly fade. And worse, Google may eventually choose to penalize your page when it spots the pattern.<\/p>\n
So, a proper content refresh should mean a reasonably<\/em> significant change to your content. How significant?<\/p>\n
Well, to help us come up with a proper recommendation, let\u2019s look at an example content refresh from four big product review sites.<\/p>\n
How much should your content change in a refresh? [data from 4 sites]<\/h2>\n
We pulled the text from the current, and 2 previous year\u2019s versions of a buying guide for 4K TVs from the following sites:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Wirecutter<\/li>\n
- Tom\u2019s Guide<\/li>\n
- Tech Radar<\/li>\n
- What Hi-Fi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And then we compared the 2022 v 2023, and 2021 v 2023 versions using this tool<\/a> to get a percentage of matching phrases\/words.<\/p>\n
We grabbed the old versions of the articles from archive.org.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we got.<\/p>\n
![\"content](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Content-Refresh-table.png\")
<\/p>\nTakeaways:<\/h3>\n
- \n
- The biggest change from 2022-2023 was Wirecutter, who have updated more than 75% of their guide.<\/li>\n
- Tech Radar had the smallest year-on-year change in 2023, with just 20% of the text changing from last year\u2019s version.<\/li>\n
- What Hi-Fi updated 31% of their guide this year, but between the 2021 and 2023 versions, only 3% of text remains the same.<\/li>\n
- All sites have updated more than 50% of the text in their guide between 2021 and 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Our recommendations:<\/h3>\n
We\u2019re going to talk in \u2018years\u2019 here, as normally you\u2019ll be looking to perform a content refresh annually. But for fast-moving topics your schedule may vary.<\/p>\n
- \n
- For an incremental, yearly content refresh (i.e. 2022-2023), aim to update between 20 and 30% of your content at a minimum.<\/li>\n
- You\u2019ll probably want to conduct a bigger overhaul of your content every second year (i.e. 2021 vs 2023). We recommend around 50% of the text should change to be sure it will be considered \u2018fresh\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u2018Content Refresh\u2019 vs \u2018Content Update\u2019<\/h2>\n
The example above is from 4 big review sites. And with that being the case, our takeaways and recommendations are more focused on \u2018guide\u2019 or \u2018blog\u2019 style content.<\/p>\n
But what about service pages? Surely you don\u2019t want to be rewriting them every other year?<\/p>\n
Well, no. But you do<\/em> want to be adding to them\/improving them over time.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019d call that a content update, rather than a content refresh.<\/p>\n
Confused?<\/p>\n
We hear you. Let\u2019s define them.<\/p>\n
- \n
- content update<\/strong> – a small, incremental change to a page\u2019s content. Perhaps the addition of some new data, a new service, a new takeaway, or a small change to text. The vast majority of the previous content remains the same. Does not justify a change to the publish date.<\/li>\n
- content refresh<\/strong> – a larger change to a page\u2019s content. The new content differs significantly from its previous version and may justify a change to the publish date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You\u2019ll note that this ties in with John Mueller\u2019s tweets.<\/p>\n
However\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not 100% black and white.<\/p>\n
Because over time, a number of separate, small \u2018content updates\u2019 can add up, resulting in a page being significantly different from the original published version. At that point, a change of date may be justified.<\/p>\n
The technical term for that is wiggle room\u2026<\/p>\n
How to implement a content refresh strategy (step-by-step)<\/h2>\n
So now we know:<\/p>\n
- \n
- what a content refresh is,<\/li>\n
- what it\u2019s not,<\/li>\n
- and have some data on how much of our content we should be looking to update (if we\u2019re going to follow the example set by the big boys).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Let\u2019s dive into the process of implementing a content refresh strategy.<\/p>\n
Step 1: Identify priority content that\u2019s ripe for a refresh<\/h3>\n
Refreshing content takes time. And time is money. So how do you prioritize which content to refresh?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n
A content refresh campaign will have one of two specific goals:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Protect (or ideally, improve) the rankings of a high-performing piece of content, or<\/li>\n
- Reverse the momentum of a declining page<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
So you\u2019ll want to identify pages that fit (at least) one of the above criteria.<\/p>\n
Finding them is easy. But here are some quick tips.<\/p>\n
Note<\/strong>: it\u2019s possible that a page could fit into both criteria. For example one of your top-performing pages might have dipped a few spots over time.<\/p>\n
How to find high-performing content<\/h4>\n
What\u2019s high-performing content?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s your website\u2019s bread and butter. The top landing pages that bring in the bulk of your organic traffic.<\/p>\n
You need to protect the rankings of these pages. Which means you need to ensure they remain relevant and fresh.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, these top pages are easy to identify using either Google Search Console or Analytics.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how to find them in Google Search Console.<\/p>\n
Search Console > Performance > Search Results > Pages<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"search](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/top-landing-pages-gsc.png\")
<\/p>\nAnd here\u2019s how to find them in Universal Analytics.<\/p>\n
Analytics > Acquisition > Overview > Organic Search > Landing Page<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"google](\"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ga-landing-pages.png\")
<\/p>\nHow about Google Analytics 4?<\/p>\n
Well, at the time of writing we still have a little time left in Universal Analytics (although the clock is ticking<\/a>). But if you\u2019ve already switched over, here\u2019s a good guide to replicating the Universal Analytics \u201cLanding Pages\u201d report in GA4.<\/p>\n
- content refresh<\/strong> – a larger change to a page\u2019s content. The new content differs significantly from its previous version and may justify a change to the publish date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- content update<\/strong> – a small, incremental change to a page\u2019s content. Perhaps the addition of some new data, a new service, a new takeaway, or a small change to text. The vast majority of the previous content remains the same. Does not justify a change to the publish date.<\/li>\n
- How much should your content change in a refresh? [data from 4 sites]<\/a><\/li>