DEV Community

Cover image for How Updating Your Old Content Can Help With Your Rankings
Kranthi Shaik
Kranthi Shaik

Posted on

How Updating Your Old Content Can Help With Your Rankings

In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), creating high-quality content is essential. However, once you've created your content, you can't simply leave it alone and expect it to continue performing well. In order to maintain and improve your search rankings, it's important to regularly update and refresh your old content. In this article, we'll discuss how updating your old content can help with your rankings.

First and foremost, it's important to understand why search engines value fresh content. Search engines want to provide their users with the most relevant and up-to-date information possible. If a piece of content is outdated, it's less likely to be relevant to the user's query. Therefore, search engines give preference to content that is fresh and updated regularly.

Get Free Job Alerts by Downloading EZJobs App in Android or IOS

One way to update old content is to add new information. Let's say you wrote an article on "10 Tips for Improving Your SEO" two years ago. While the tips may still be relevant today, there may be new strategies or techniques that have emerged since you originally wrote the article. By adding new information to your old article, you're making it more valuable to your readers and more relevant to search engines.

Another way to update old content is to improve its formatting. If your old content is difficult to read, has long paragraphs or lacks subheadings, it may be time to reformat it. By breaking up long paragraphs and adding subheadings, you're making it easier for readers to scan and absorb your content. This not only improves the user experience but also makes your content more likely to be shared and linked to.

You can also improve your old content by adding new media. Adding images, videos, and infographics to your old content can make it more engaging and visually appealing. This can help keep readers on your page longer, reducing bounce rates and improving user engagement. Additionally, incorporating media can make your content more shareable on social media, which can increase your traffic and visibility.

In addition to the benefits for readers, updating your old content can also signal to search engines that your website is active and relevant. When search engines crawl your website and see that you've made updates to your old content, they'll recognize that your website is actively maintained and that you're committed to providing high-quality, up-to-date information to your users.

Another benefit of updating your old content is that it can help you rank for new keywords. By adding new information, reformatting, and incorporating media, you're making your content more relevant to a wider range of keywords. This can help you rank for long-tail keywords and other related terms that you may not have been targeting before. By ranking for more keywords, you're increasing your visibility and attracting more traffic to your website.

It's important to note that not all content should be updated. If a piece of content is no longer relevant or doesn't align with your current goals or messaging, it may be best to retire it. Additionally, if a piece of content has a lot of backlinks, it may be best to leave it as is. In these cases, you can redirect the old content to a new, updated piece of content to transfer any authority from the old page to the new one.

In conclusion, updating your old content can help you maintain and improve your search rankings. By adding new information, improving formatting, and incorporating media, you're making your content more valuable to your readers and more relevant to search engines. Additionally, updating your old content can signal to search engines that your website is active and relevant, and help you rank for new keywords. So, don't neglect your old content. Take the time to update it and keep it fresh, and you'll reap the rewards in improved search rankings and increased traffic.

Top comments (0)