Freshness is vital for SEO, often appearing on “Top SEO Ranking Factors” lists regarding the topic.
An easy way to improve freshness is to update past content, especially for pages with striking distance keywords at the bottom of the 1st search engine results page (SERP), that could earn more organic traffic.
Google has long had a facet within its algorithm called Query Deserves Freshness (QDF) that determines the need for recent content. Yet, they may also value aged content for certain queries like recipes.
Though some searches are more evergreen, freshness applies beyond just current events and new tech features. Who doesn’t want to know the latest research on their subject of interest? This helps users, and search engines too, more often than assumed.
Here are 5 ways to improve freshness:
- For your pillar or hub pages, pull blog previews from keyword-related categories/tags.
- Show a Date Modified at the top, perhaps describing your updates.
- When adding internal links, change the context surrounding the link too.
- Maintain a schedule for updating your essential content, studying competitors for insights.
- Treat updated pages as new through your outreach process, like sharing on social channels and with partners.