Nowadays, it is not enough to simply launch a website and leave it be. For a website to be successful, to gain traffic, score well on SEO rankings and reach new audiences, it is essential that a website is updated on a regular basis with fresh content.
‘Fresh content’ can be many things, including recently published or rewritten copy, blogs, videos, downloads and more. According to WordStream, Google and its users appreciate fresh content because it is more likely to be accurate.
Many business don’t realise the importance of fresh content and regular updates on their websites, or the perils of a static site lacking any recent updates.
Read on to discover 4 ways that fresh content can help your site, with all 4 points helping to boost that all important SEO score.
Keyword Opportunities
Although keywords, and keyword phrases, aren’t what they once were in terms of SEO importance; they still count! Years ago, an entire SEO strategy could be built around keywords, whereas now a little more is required.
However, they do still play a vital role. And, the more content updates that are made to a website, the more opportunity this presents to include important keywords.
Remember, Google can spot ‘keyword stuffing’ easily, and this results in a negative ranking factor. So much so, that is now also known as webspam and spamdexing. This process involves loading multiple keywords into the website content (as well as meta data) in the hope it will boost performance. Which it won’t.
So, choosing a single keyword and generating high-quality, engaging content around it is far more effective. And, with more content comes more opportunity.
Frequent Indexing
When a search is conducted on Google, it typically looks an incredibly vast number of pages within its search index.
Google’s search index is put together through the work of software known as ‘crawlers’. These crawlers visit web pages on websites across the world and store information about what they find in the search index. Google then render the content found and take note of key signals, such as keywords and website freshness.
Because the web, and the content within the web, is always changing, Google’s crawlers are always running to keep up. So, when new content is added to a site, the site is indexed again.
Although frequent indexing isn’t always associated with higher indexing, it is still important and means that crawlers will visit a site more regularly. If the frequency of visits from crawlers is higher, there is a greater chance that Google will find something that will improve SEO ranking.
So, keep updating and keep those crawlers coming to your website.
Google Doesn’t Like Static Websites
Google isn’t a fan of websites that don’t change, and static sites can result in de-ranking.#
It’s important to remember that over time, the needs of your website users change, as does what you are offering as a company. Therefore, the content within a website needs to evolve. As mentioned, Google likes up to date, accurate information. If updates aren’t being made, this cannot be achieved.
A static website also results in fewer of what we’ve already discussed. So, no new keywords, and less indexing, means poorer Google search results.
Keeping People Engaged
It goes without saying that one of the key functions of any businesses website is to engage with visitors – both new and existing. And, without fresh content, this is very hard to do.
Fresh content will keep users coming back to your website, looking for advice, and ultimately can lead to new business.
New content also provides things to share on social media channels, meaning these platforms are up to date, current and worthwhile visiting.
Additionally, it is thought that a higher volume of direct traffic can play a significant role in where your website appears in search results.
Content is King
It isn’t a myth; fresh website content really is king – and absolutely indispensable to a successful website and SEO strategy.
So, we strongly advise businesses to keep their websites current and up to date. If this is something that you feel you have the skills or expertise for, we can help, so please feel free to get in touch.
When it comes to web content and SEO, it’s time to start considering ‘Google’ as an individual that you want to please, not a machine that you tell what to do…
