What is THE #1 deciding factor whether you attract a large number of readers to your website? Besides spending tons of money on ads, the primary factor is search engine optimization (SEO). According to 2022 metrics, there are 3.9 billion searches being conducted every day, and 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. By focusing on SEO, websites can attract more organic users without having to spend a copious amount of money.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it essentially evaluates how far up you come on the Google results when someone searches for specific keywords. The higher you rank, the earlier you come in the results, and the higher visibility you get. For businesses, this translates to online clients being attracted merely by adding the right keywords to your website.
One key piece of managing your SEO strategy is ensuring that you provide regular content updates for your readers and search engines. So why is this so important?
Why updates are so important?
Staying relevant
Think of SEO updates like Facebook or Instagram updates. Those familiar with Instagram know that at one-point certain hashtags made posts go viral, while right now reels are THE thing to do in order to gain a broader audience. The same happens with SEO. SEO is constantly changing, which impacts the algorithm and what content creators, or businesses must do to stay relevant.
The more relevant you are, the more people you will reach. And the more people you reach, the more likely you are to be able to help more people with your product and/or services.
It shows Google you’re still active
The reality is that there are many websites out there that don’t get updated regularly. This indicates to Google that you’re either not in business anymore, or you’re simply not very dedicated. Google rewards websites that keep their content up to date. By changing the content to be more SEO friendly, Google gets alerted that your content has been changed and your business is still running.
This again pushes you up on the search engine results and you are therefore more likely to be found by people searching for your content.
It’s important for clients
Your clients want to be able to trust you. They can only do that if you demonstrate yourself to be an expert in your field. If your website is outdated then it no longer is seen as a reliable source. Not only does this reflect poorly with readers, but search engines like Google will also take note. Regularly releasing content as well as updating older content is a great way to stay relevant and show readers that you’re on top of things. Search engines also take regular updates as a positive sign so they are more likely to rank your website higher up search results.
How can you make sure your content is up to date with new SEO?
Knowing when to update your content is a challenge on its own, and if you haven’t been in the field for a long time, you won’t know what to do.
Your most viewed content
If you run a blog and that blog has certain posts that do better than others, it’s crucial to keep those up to date. If you have to filter and be selective about which posts to update, and which ones to leave for later, these are the ones you’ll want to start with. When people view your posts, you’ll want to make sure that the content is still relevant and also assure that more new readers come to your site to view that post.
Get rid of content that’s irrelevant
Some content may simply not be applicable to you or your business anymore. If you used to be a commercial and residential roofing company, but you’ve since gotten rid of the residential component, get rid of any old blog posts that reference residential roofing. This distracts, as well as attracts the wrong kind of clientele.
Also consider getting rid of content that you don’t love, and that others seem to not love as well. Maybe you have a post that really practically nobody reads.
Combine any similar content
It’s likely that if you’re serving a specific audience, you’re regularly writing content about similar topics. You most likely have several posts around the same exact topic, perhaps just with a different spin. For example, if you are a skincare brand, you’ve probably written a few posts about the importance of cleansing your skin. It’s best to simply combine the two or so posts together.
SEO will hold it against you if you have too many posts referencing similar content, and the last thing you want is it to ding you for something you simply have been diligent in writing about.
Update ALL content
Your website doesn’t just consist of a blog section full of posts. It also consists of different pages including an About page, the home page, etc. All these pages must be updated regularly in order to rank higher on search engines. If you’re finding the thought overwhelming, simply work on one of your static (aka doesn’t have constant updates with new content like a blog page) pages first, and then work on one section at a time. Soon enough, you’ll have your entire website updated!
SEO is complex, the rules are constantly changing, and regularly updating content is just one facet of the process. As a business owner, your main priority is to get new clients in, and SEO is a great way to do that. However, between client meetings, calls, and admin work, it’s unlikely that you also have the time to stay up to date on the new algorithm rules that SEO operates by. That’s why it can be so incredibly helpful to outsource this kind of work.
At Nerd Crossing, we can help you with web, digital, and social media marketing. This includes incorporating SEO into your content and updating it regularly, as the SEO world changes and adapts. We want to save you time and energy doing what we do best so you can do your best. You will never have to worry about your website not being seen again and can focus on what you do best in your business – helping others!