(What follows is the outline I wrote in advance of recording the video. They’re my talking points. Not a regular post or article. Just an outline.)
I got an email from Sally, who has taken my course on Web Content Optimization.
She asks:
“I’m working with a client who wants me to create a lot of new content pages. Which is great. But as I look through their site I see a lot of existing pages that could be improved. Should I mention this? Is there a benefit to improving existing pages?”
I love this question. Mainly because nobody has ever asked it before!
And the answer is yes, there is huge value to improving old content.
The older that content is, the more important it is to update it and improve it.
Here are a 3 things to watch for and to do…
1. If the content pre-dates February 2011, it may fall foul of the Google Panda update.
The Panda Update introduced a long list of new rules, most of which related to content quality.
For example, if your client’s site is that old, it may still have some really short pages of content. And maybe those short pages are really not very well written, and are text only, without any images or video.
So it’s actually quite urgent that they be updated and improved.
2. Check out that old meta data, and maybe add some OG tags too.
When it comes to SEO and the meta data in the head area of a page or post, best practices change over time.
Often that means lightening up on the density of keywords.
And if your platform allows for it, add some OG tags for social media.
3. All text? Go multimedia.
This often means making the page or post longer. Longer content tends to do better both when in comes to organic search and on social media.
And… add more images and video. This makes the content more engaging, more accessible on mobile devices, and more shareable through social media.
We could talk more about this, but those are the three main points.
NOTE: To learn more about optimizing a whole range of different types of web content, check out my course, Web Content Optimization.
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