4 Reasons Why Fresh Content is Critical for Your Website and SEO
By Andy Tretow - eGuide Content Marketing Manager
A website is a window into your brand and with today’s content-hungry algorithms, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your website is a living extension of everything your organization does. The days of having a website just to check that box are long gone. Now, customers and clients expect it to be the primary source of relevant information should they have any questions. Updating and adding regular content to your site will not only showcase the best of what your business has to offer, but it will keep those hugry Google Bots satisfied and coming back for more.. Here are four reasons fresh content is critical for your website and SEO:
1. Google (and other Search Engines) Care about your Content
Several years ago, Google announced they would be adapting the “freshness” algorithm for their search engine, and that changed the game. Rather than having the most relevant content be the guide, the leader in the clubhouse is the most recent content. By creating new content (once a week to start), you are setting yourself and your website up to succeed and get more eyes on your brand. If you take this approach from the start, you can eventually branch out to increase your exposure with a targeted keyword strategy. Doing this can keep you on page one, which can be the difference between a good year and a great one.
2. New Content Keeps Customers Coming Back
The last thing you want your website to be is predictable and static. Not only will this cause your current users to visit less often, but it will not be providing anything new for search engines to index. Consider a service-based business that is submitting a proposal for a large contract (hey, that kind of sounds like us). As the prospective partner combs through the proposals they receive, they decide to visit your website. Instead of the typical boilerplate information they would expect to see, they find 2-3 case studies that were posted in the past month. Even though they don’t all align with the project they are considering, they show a timely snapshot of recently completed work. This could mean the difference between a second-round conversation or being tossed in the “no pile”.
3. More Content Leads to More Keywords
Another of the many advantages to keeping your website new and fresh is taking advantage of the SEO Keywords. The more content you churn out, the more likely you will show up in internet searches for what you produce. Taking advantage of Google’s algorithm that favors new content can be your secret weapon for cracking the code on SEO. This method will help bring your brand in front of the eyeballs of your target audience and maybe even show up for fringe members of your demographic as well. So, you are probably wondering, how often should I make updates? Well, that is quite the debated topic, but we have found that updating the content of your website once per month is a good starting point for most websites.
4. Fresh, Quality Content Leads To Your Site Being the Authority
Fresh content on your website is a great start to gaining traction with Google, but it goes without saying (I am going to say it anyway) that it needs to be high quality. Now I am not saying you need to spend hours and hours of your week writing an award-winning blog article, but taking the time to create well-thought-out entries can put you into “rarified air.” This approach also makes marketing easier. Think, if you were to able to produce two blog posts and 2 case studies per month, that can be easily converted into one newsletter and 8-10 social media posts. The best part? Both the newsletter and social media posts would point users right back to the piece of property that is in YOUR ownership, the website.
Conclusion:
These four steps will ensure your website is not only up to date but is constantly adding new content that will start to point those analytics graphs into record-breaking territory. I know this information can seem like a lot if you aren't doing much right now, but it is all about taking small steps first. We suggest you start by updating your site once a month and creating a blog or two in that time. If that feels doable, increase your output little by little. Over time, you will start to see a difference being made not only with Google’s Freshness algorithm but in the traffic to your website as well.
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