Website content needs to stay fresh, both for good user experience and so that you can rank well in Google. It’s recommended that you audit content every three to six months to avoid content decay, but also so that you can reoptimize your content and see better SEO results. If you’re considering reoptimizing content on your site, here are some ways you can make improvements.
- Review Target Keywords
- Optimize for Voice Search
- Address Competing Content
- Upgrade Mobile Content Experience
- Adjust Meta Titles & Descriptions
- Fix On-Page Formatting
- Include Relevant Internal Links
- Add More Engaging Multimedia
Review Target Keywords
Search intent and audiences evolve constantly, which means the keywords you once used may not be as valuable or relevant for your content marketing and SEO goals now. When revisiting your content, review the keywords you’re currently ranking for and identify gaps or underutilized keywords that you can better optimize for. You should also consider conducting new keyword research to find keywords you may not have included when you initially created your content, especially user-intent phrases, long-tail keywords, and geo-targeted keywords.
Optimize for Voice Search
As voice search becomes more popular, it’s important that you update and optimize your website content for voice search queries. Remember that voice searches are often answer-seeking phrases or sentences that start with who, what, where, when, why, or how—like “how to fix a clogged sink”—so be sure to include keywords that align with these questions. Additionally, you’ll want to revisit how you’ve structured your website content, as this plays a role in voice search optimization. For example, you might rewrite a webpage with FAQ-style content to target voice search queries more directly.
Address Competing Content
Have you created several webpages or blog posts that cover the same topics over time? It’s possible that your content could be competing for the same keywords and SERP rankings, which can lead to keyword cannibalization. Fortunately, you can fix this problem by reworking content intent and optimizing for different keywords. If you have two pieces of content that are practically identical, consider removing one and redirecting to the other—or look at combining the two pieces into even stronger long-form content.
Upgrade Mobile Content Experience
Google indexes the mobile version of websites first and desktop versions second, so good mobile website experiences are crucial for SEO. When reoptimizing your website content, you should also improve the way mobile users experience your content. Think about the pain points mobile users may face when consuming website content. Does the content display well on a phone or tablet screen? Are CTA buttons and navigation links reachable for the average user’s thumbs? Is text adhering to ADA website standards? If content is difficult to view on the mobile version of your website, make updates to your web design so that you provide better user experience.
Adjust Meta Titles & Descriptions
Concise, engaging metadata can lead to better click-through rates and SERP positions for your content. Not only should titles and descriptions be written to follow Google’s recommended character lengths, but they should also accurately summarize what the webpage displays. If you don’t have metadata filled out for each page or post on your website, that’s the first place to start. And if you do have metadata filled out, go back and look at lengths and keyword optimization. Remember that you’re trying to grab searcher attention and get them to click on your website link.
Fix On-Page Formatting
One of the quickest optimization fixes you can make with your website content is formatting. When updating content, make sure each page is following the proper header tag structure, where the page or post title is your H1 and everything thereafter starts with H2, then H3, and so on. Having clear organization in your website content not only makes it easier for site visitors to find helpful information, but it also means Google can better understand what your content contains and how it should rank content for relevant search queries.
Include Relevant Internal Links
When updating content, look for opportunities to include internal links to webpages and blog posts on your site. Internal links help guide users to more information or conversion pages where they can take action. Not to mention, internal links and the actions they drive can improve website metrics like average session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rates. If you’ve already been following an internal linking strategy, revisit the anchor text you’re using within content to see if there are ways you can improve keyword usage for link clicks.
Add More Engaging Multimedia
Text on webpages and blog posts isn’t the only content that can get Google’s attention. Videos and images can also boost traffic to your pages and get your content to appear in SERPs. By embedding YouTube videos into your content, you can connect your content to video search results and even increase average session duration on your pages from less than a minute to over three minutes. Images like infographics and GIFs can also help you get better search engine visibility—especially if you follow image optimization best practices—since searchers find information and content through Google image search.
Need to audit and reoptimize your content? Hurrdat Marketing offers content marketing and search engine optimization services to help you improve website content. Contact us today to learn more!
