How to update old content of a website

It is fairly common that old posts of a website that used to be performing well on SERPs, fall down over time and don’t generate traffic like they have generated before. In addition, it happens frequently that a content never performs like how it was expected. Like a website design that becomes outdated after a while and makes website redesign essential, a content loses its performance over time and needs to be updated. As such, for a healthy online presence you must know how to redesign a website as well as standard methods to update an old content. 

How to spot the contents that need updates 

You can either look for a professional web design service in Dubai to identify posts that are in need for updates, or do it yourself. You will be better off by seeking professional services, however, if you choose to do it yourself, prioritize your updating task as per below:

• Your high performing content that have fallen in ranking 

Pages that used to perform very well on some keywords, but have fallen significantly are the best pages to be considered for content update. This is something that must be done with care to identify the issue and resolve it urgently.  In most cases, this happens due to your competitors’ fresher content.

• Quality content that never performed well

Webpages that have performed under your expectation must be on your content update list. Web Pages that you published with high expectations to rank well on SERPs and bring healthy traffic to your website must be monitored over time. If you spot such webpages and figure out that they are performing far below your expectations, you must ask why. Such contents must be audited with care and updated accordingly.

• Your high performing web pages

Even your web pages that have outstanding performance, will fall down over time if not revised. You must be quite vigilant on such web pages to update them as needed to prevent being overcome by your competitor’s content. Hence, you must anticipate the challenges and cope accordingly. Simultaneously, take care of not making major changes, as it might have adverse consequences on your web page performance.

Choosing and prioritizing the right webpages for updating purposes is one of the most important factors on how to improve UX for your website. 

How to update old contents

1- Audit the external links

Start your content update by checking the external links within your content to ensure they are still operational. In many cases, the links to other sources might expire due to issues with the external source. Google doesn’t like external links that take visitors nowhere!

2- Look for any update about the content subject

There might be some information within your content that is due and needs to be replaced by new data. Besides, some information and data are subject to quick changes. If you provide informative content about such subjects like politics, tech, AI, etc. you must be checking them every now and then to make sure that the provided information is still correct, fresh and applicable. 

3- Consider restructuring the content

Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and see if the structure of content is easy to read and understand. In many cases, the first content structure that comes to the author’s mind is not the best structure. By reviewing the content and reading it from a visitor’s perspective, better structure might come to your mind.

4- keywords update

A standard content which is written to enhance SEO must contain target keywords. If you already defined the keywords you want your content rank for, take time to do another keyword research and update them if needed. For instance, your old keywords might have lost users’ interest and some new similar keywords are attracting users’ attention. As such, you must update your content based on the new hot keywords that are also relevant to your content. But if you didn’t use target keywords at the time the content was written, make sure to select your keywords and update your content by including them within the content.

5- Mobile responsiveness

Mobile friendliness of your website doesn’t seem to be a part of old content update procedure. However, it is quite important for your content to be displayed on mobile screens of any size as good as how it is shown on desktop and laptop. It would be a good idea to check all posts that you have published so far on a mobile screen to make sure of a perfect display. Mobile responsiveness is also one of the building blocks of making a website more user friendly. 

Conclusion

It is quite important for all webpages to be updated on a reasonable time frame. Not only contents that are not performing well are needed to be updated for better performance purposes, but also contents that are ranking high on SERPs must be reviewed and updated if needed for the sake of not being surpassed by competitors.

You may follow the steps outlined in this article to make your contents updated and refreshed and alternatively you can take advantage of professional services from a reputable digital service provider. 

Websima DMCC, as the leading web design and digital marketing service provider with a proven track record of success is always happy to help.

If you need any type of digital services, including updating old content, feel free to contact us and book for your free consultation meeting.