SEO

Does it make sense to make improvements to older web pages?

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(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…

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What’s the optimal number of words to have on a web page?

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(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.)

This is a question from Holly who has taken my course on Web Content Optimization.

She asks, “I’m confused about all the different messages I get on the length of articles and posts. Are longer articles better? Is there an optimum length? Is there a point where content is too long?”

Good question. Complicated question.

A page, article or post can be optimized for a number of reasons…

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Can conversational copywriting be optimized for the search engines?

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(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.)

An interesting question from Phillip, who took my course on conversational copywriting.

He wonders if using natural, plain-speaking and conversational language in your copy and content might be detrimental to optimizing for the search engines.

That’s a reasonable concern.

Five years ago I spent a lot more time focused on SEO and keyword optimization. Not so much today. But it’s still a factor when I build a new post or page.

To illustrate Phillip’s point, let’s look at how someone might optimize a text link for the term “cheap coffee maker”.

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Everything you forgot about link-building.

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Web link buildingVisit a handful of online marketing websites and blogs and you’ll get an idea of the emphasis being placed on the various activities near and dear to marketers’ hearts.

You’ll find a lot about search engine optimization, in spite of the howls of people who say SEO is dead. (They’re wrong.)

You’ll find plenty about the benefits and rise of social media.

And you’ll find tons of information on content marketing.

But you can go for quite a while without finding a meaty page or post about link-building.

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Optimize each page of digital content according to its purpose.

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Web content optimization.Content marketing is a hot topic, and for good reason.

Content is the lifeblood of most websites, blogs, video channels and photo apps.

A constant flow of new and compelling content gets visitors hooked and keeps them engaged.

What is content? Often it’s an article or a post. But it could be a review or a buying guide. It could be a video, a photo essay or a slideshow. Or an ongoing series of photos on Instagram or Pinterest. Or a podcast or a vlog. It could be a multimedia mashup.

Add together all those new pages, posts, videos, photos and podcasts – plus all the tweets and Facebook updates that are created – and you have hundreds of millions of new pieces of content uploaded each day.

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Why I became a long-tail keyword junkie.

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Cheetah with long tailIt used to be easy to win with keywords.

Go back ten years and everything was different. If you spent a little time learning the rules, and had access to a decent keyword research tool, you could get yourself placed high up on page one of the Google search results almost every time.

Why was it so easy? For a few reasons.

First, most internet marketers didn’t have a clue when it came to keywords. So with a little knowledge and the right tools you could beat them every time.

Second, there were a lot fewer websites back then. Today? Tens of millions more websites and who knows how many blogs.

Third, Google’s algorithms were a lot less complex and sophisticated. So if you knew the rules, you were good to go.

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