SEO is the ultimate driving force behind successful online business and is the single, most important investment a digital marketer can make. However, such an evolving metric requires its strategy to keep it current and responsive to the equally dynamic search engine algorithms.
An SEO-optimized site with the right content and perfect keywords today may not be as relevant two years on and may suffer relegation in SERP ranking leading to loss of traffic. Here are a few tips on how to breathe life into an outdated SEO for traffic growth. To know more about the factors that affect website ranking and traffic, read here.
Update old blog posts
Blogging has long been a symbiotic twin with successful SEO for online traffic generation. Online visitors look for information, and blog posts provide this with relevant and helpful content that attract higher and consistent organic traffic.
The downside to this is that blog posts have an online lifespan of two years, beyond which search engines treat them as outdated and no longer relevant.
According to Sitechecker research, leading SEO agencies prefer updating and republishing the old SEO blog posts that were previously successful for sustained ranking and traffic. More on this research is available on the highly-researched and detailed infographic by Sitechecker.
Courtesy of: https://sitechecker.pro/
Old blog posts already carry a trusted authority to both search engines and target audiences that can provide leverage for top SERP ranking with little spend. An up to date old post will attain high SEO ranking faster than a new one would, and this revitalizes and sustains your organic traffic.
Optimize keywords and phrases
Successful blog posts thrive on strong and relevant keywords to drive SEO ranking. Most times, these keywords reflect the current industry trends at the time of publication and may fall into disuse when new buzzwords acquire prominence.
The blog content may still carry valuable and helpful information, but people could be searching using different keywords or phrases that search bots fail to associate with your blog.
Undertake another keyword research when considering the republication of old blog posts to align with SEO metrics. An excellent way to help your SEO ranking is the use of relevant but evergreen keywords that possess timeless value. Keywords that contain the prefix “how to ..” are likely to attract more search hits and retain your blog on top SERPs.
Update images and screenshots
As you update your content for SEO conformity, consider another vital factor for ranking and traffic attraction – the dwell time.
Dwell time and click-through rates are primary factors in SEO ranking and, any digital marketer must focus on ways to improve these elements for enhanced traffic, conversion rates, and better ROI. If you plan to drive traffic from your old content, remember to update images and screenshots as well for relevance.
Quality photos, illustrations, and exciting videos are excellent for keeping visitors on a page long enough to get your message. Make this content shareable to generate backlinks and attract even more traffic to grow your conversions and gain higher SEO ranking.
Select relevant images and videos to complement your blog and remember to assign them the right file names and keywords with correctly formatted alt text.
Modify the publishing date
Publication dates are essential in determining the authority of your posts even when they are in the evergreen category. Visitors will turn away from a blog dated so far back despite having quality content for the simple reason that it could be obsolete. They want current information that preempts any further searches for additional sources.
Blog SEO updates must carry republication dates to indicate its improved status and bring it to present online needs. Take care that you make better changes to merit the search engine acceptance. Any cosmetic changes for purposes of date modification will earn you penalties from the search engine company.
Promote the updated content
The updated content needs serious promotion to bring it to the attention of your target audience. Promoting updated content has the double advantage of attracting new traffic and enticing back previous visitors curious to check out what is new. Whatever the case, treat the update the same way you handled it when first published to create awareness.
Your starting block will be the existing audience to gain the initial traction before moving onto social media platforms for a more general audience. Running social media ads campaign has the advantage of speed, extended sharability, and affordability. Use your social media platforms aggressively for better results and in the shortest time possible.
Conclusion
Regrettably, most people wait until the SEO is out of date completely to take notice if at all. However, best practice demands a continuous assessment of your online resources for updates to grow your organic traffic. The number of page visitors, average monthly searches, and search volumes are the metrics that reflect SEO ranking for on-page content and, any dip in performance is a sign for urgent review.
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