Why Refreshing Old Content Is Necessary

Even ‘evergreen’ content that is supposed to last forever ends up out of date in Google’s eyes, as new content on similar topics get published. 

When I say ‘refreshing content’, I mean applying tweaks, edits, updates and completely new sections to your existing website content and marketing collateral.  

Think of it as “maintenance” to continually improve your content in order to guarantee that what you provide your target audience is always quality. 
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Here are the reasons why refreshing old content is vital not only to your marketing, but to your overall business:  

• Refreshing your older content generates more traffic for your website. 

  If you check your analytics, you’ll find that there might be few content pieces you’ve written that are performing poorly.  

  Chances are, if they lack the views or the click-through rate is terrible, it’s probably because it’s been there a while, completely untouched.  

  Regardless of the reason, refreshing those pieces can be a good move to make them more relevant once again. Keep in mind that updating your information is always a good way to spark new interest in your brand. 

• Refreshing and repurposing content helps you attract new people. 

  We are living in a fast-paced world and the needs of our customers are constantly evolving. If you don’t keep up, your business may be left behind. 

  Repurposing your content into other media forms can increase the possibility of you attracting new customers who prefer, say, Podcasts as opposed to blogs. You can also use this opportunity to capture the interest of a new market segment you’re targeting. 

• Search engines love updated content. 

  Refreshing content is a highly effective strategy for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). 

  Search engines like Google reward websites that have new and relevant content with higher rankings – increasing your chances to attract more visitors. 

• Consistently updating your content solidifies your authority. 

  Constantly improving your content and providing only the latest information and knowledge can strengthen your branding and solidify yourself as a key opinion leader in your field. 

  It creates a distinct impression that you care for your audience by providing them with content that is relevant and accurate. 
  

• Refreshing old content saves your business time and money. 

  We all know how time–consuming it is to produce new content. However, refreshing old pieces can take less time and allow you to focus on more urgent concerns of your business. More importantly, it won’t cost you a lot to update what’s already there and get great results. 

1. Content that adds value in the eyes of your audience. 
2. Content that adds no value. 
3. Content that damages your brand. 

You don’t want the latter two to hurt your business.
  
The goal is to get all of your content into category (1). 
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So, to make sure that your content is performing well, increasing your rankings and generating quality leads, focus on the last two and apply these following tips. 

1. Review your content. 

To know which among your older content should be updated, you must do a thorough review of each piece. When doing this, it’ll be helpful to ask some questions like: 

      “Is this out of date?” 
      “Does this have poor stats?” 
      “Does this still reflect my branding?” 
      “Would my target audience find this helpful?” 

2. Check the readability of your content and make some necessary changes. 

It may not actually be the information or the wording of your content, but the formatting or readability that’s the issue.  

Ensure that your punctuation, grammar, headlines, subpoints and text styles are easy to read and correct. Include modern photos, take advantage of whitespace and make the overall look of your content accessible. 

Broken links are really frustrating for your audience. So, make sure that the embedded links are still working. Also, add some more internal links to related and relevant content to help your SEO and provide a great customer experience. 

4.Include other forms of useful media like videos and images.

Adding updated and relevant media like videos and images into your blogs can strengthen your overall message and improve user experience. They can also make your written content more pleasing, entertaining and easier to read.  

5.Produce new formats of content using your older content. 

You can also convert your old content into new formats – this is called repurposing content.  
 
For example, you can use some important points from your blog and make them into individual social media posts. You can also convert your videos into a podcast, or an infographic from your eBook. 

This way, you can start to attract different users with different preferences. 

6.Consolidate old content together. 

Running out of new topics to write? No problem.  

Combine multiple articles which share a similar or same topic to create one ultimate guide that will be useful to your users. This also tends to be great for SEO. ​

You may lack the time, the ability and resources to do what needs to be done. But this definitely shouldn’t stop you!  
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There are professional copywriting services offered by many local freelance copywriters who can cater to whatever your business needs.  

Quality freelance copywriters with Marketing backgrounds are quality content writers who can help you create and refresh the right types of content (audio, visual or written) for your business through their expertise and experience.  

They offer various benefits without the ongoing costs of a full-time employee. 
See: How to hire a copywriter – the 7 steps your business should take. 

So, while content creation is extremely important for your company, you don’t always have time to do it yourself. It’s best to reach out for help. 

Since content writing is a professional specialty, you can guarantee that quality copywriters are versatile when it comes to incorporating your marketing strategy.  

Furthermore, freelance copywriters understand the role copywriting plays in digital marketing success (i.e. website copy, social media copy, blogs, articles, SEO, SEM, etc.), which is important in unlocking numerous opportunities for your business.  
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Just make sure you pick the right copywriter!