When to Update Blog Content & Why You Should

Keeping your blog contented existent is important for SEO success. 

But updating posts takes clip and effort. And overdoing it apt won’t drastically amended your performance. 

This usher volition amusement you precisely however to attack refreshing contented and however often to bash it. To get the champion results without wasting resources.

How Often Should You Update Blog Content?

You should update overmuch of your blog contented erstwhile each 3 to six months to marque definite it’s inactive accurate, precocious quality, and aligned with what users are looking for.

But update frequence besides depends connected the contented type, what its intended intent is, and whether the taxable inactive makes consciousness for your brand. 

For example, quality articles mightiness request play oregon regular updates. While evergreen how-to guides similar this Better Homes & Gardens portion connected starting a plot could enactment caller for a twelvemonth oregon more. 

So, don't update for the involvement of updating. And alternatively absorption connected meaningful improvements that adhd value. 

Why Should You Update Blog Content?

Updating blog contented is important for a fewer main reasons: 

Maximize Your Return connected Investment

In contented marketing, return connected concern (ROI) is the gross you get from your contented compared to what you walk creating it.

And updating existing contented often yields a higher ROI than creating caller posts from scratch. Because it leverages the enactment you’ve already done to prevention clip and resources. 

For example: 

You tin boost your existent articles’ rankings connected hunt motor results pages (SERPs) and pull much postulation to them by incorporating keywords and utilizing on-page SEO tactics. By utilizing a instrumentality similar the On Page SEO Checker.

You tin besides revise calls to enactment (CTAs) successful existing posts to amended conversion rates. And crook visitors into customers without penning caller articles. 

Maintain Trust and Credibility

Updating your contented with the latest accusation helps it lucifer what users are looking for. Which tin physique spot and presumption your blog arsenic a reliable and authoritative root successful your niche. 

And successful a competitory market, caller contented tin acceptable your marque isolated from others with outdated information.

Get More Traffic from Time-Sensitive Search Queries

Google’s algorithm includes aggregate systems centered astir content freshness to prioritize caller contented for time-sensitive searches. Which tin assistance you look much prominently successful hunt results and pull postulation to your site.

What types of queries beryllium connected freshness?

Think searches related to cyclical events, news, and merchandise reviews.

For example, a hunt for “hurricane milton” connected October 9, 2024 shows results that are astir timely:

When you update your blog contented for these types of queries, you awesome to Google your pages are up to date. And that mightiness springiness you an borderline implicit competitors with stagnant content. 

How to Identify Blog Content that Needs Updating

For news-related content, you’ll request to enactment connected apical of however stories evolve. And marque changes arsenic needed portion the taxable is inactive relevant.

For different types of blog content, present are a fewer applicable ways to place erstwhile those posts are owed for updates. 

Look for Dips successful Keyword Rankings

A driblet successful keyword rankings (your positions successful hunt results) is simply a wide motion that a portion of contented needs an update.

Search engines perpetually refine their knowing of search intent. 

If your rankings drop, it apt means different pages are present amended gathering that intent. And this is important due to the fact that little rankings tin straight interaction your postulation and conversions.

To easy spot these drops, usage Position Tracking. 

It allows you to way your blog’s keyword rankings and quality for antithetic SERP features. 

To start, participate your domain sanction and click “Set up tracking.” 

Then, take a hunt engine, device, and location. And prime “Continue To Keywords.” 

Add the keywords you’d similar to way rankings for. Meaning the keywords you’re targeting successful your blog posts. 

And click “Start Tracking.”

Head to the “Overview” tab, click the calendar icon, and acceptable it to “Past 90 days.” 

Then, scroll down to the “Rankings Overview” table.

You’ll spot a database of your keywords, your existent rankings, and however your rankings person changed implicit the past 3 months.

Slight shifts successful ranking are normal. But if you spot a large drop, it’s clip to act. 

Analyze the pages that person overtaken you by clicking the icon to presumption the SERP.

From here, look for caller angles, updated information, oregon formats the higher-ranking pages are using. 

Then, update your contented to reclaim your presumption and amended service your readers.

Further reading: How to Track Keywords: The Ultimate Guide

Look for Other Declining Performance Indicators

Declining postulation and conversions are besides signs that contented needs updating. Because users volition apt halt visiting pages that nary longer look relevant—and they can’t person if they don’t get successful the archetypal place. 

You tin rapidly find these show drops successful Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

Log successful to GA4. And spell to “Reports” > “Engagement” > “Pages and screens.”

Then, prime the day scope astatine the apical of the screen, take “Last 90 days” and prime the toggle adjacent to “Compare.” And click “Apply.”

Scroll down to the array and participate “/blog” successful the hunt barroom (this assumes your blog contented each falls nether a subfolder).

You’ll present spot a database of your blog posts (and perchance your main blog page). Review these posts to spot which person had the astir important dips successful views and cardinal events (Google’s terminology for conversions).

Find Significantly Older Content

Old blog posts are premier candidates for updates. Because they mightiness beryllium outdated, irrelevant to your brand, oregon adjacent harmful to your SEO efforts. 

What constitutes “old”?

Generally, you privation to absorption connected thing that was published anterior to implementing your existent keyword strategy. Or thing that was published anterior to a absorption connected SEO astatine all. 

Once you’ve identified which posts these are, cheque their show utilizing Organic Research. 

Add your blog’s subfolder and click “Search.” 

The “Pages” tab displays each the pages successful your blog on with utile metrics similar keywords. 

Use the “Filter by URL” container to find the nonstop URL of each aged blog station you privation to analyze—one astatine a time.

See whether these posts are ranking for immoderate keywords oregon driving immoderate integrated postulation to your site. 

Even if they’re old, posts with immoderate magnitude of postulation and rankings are worthy updating.

But don’t halt there. Also look for aged posts with tons of prime backlinks (links from different sites that constituent to yours).

These pages already person authority. They conscionable request amended contented to match. 

Use Backlink Analytics to find these pages. 

Add an aged blog post’s URL and click “Search.”

On the adjacent screen, marque definite the drop-down adjacent to the URL is acceptable to “Exact URL.”

The “Overview” tab shows you what the page’s wide backlink illustration looks like. Including the fig of referring domains and backlinks. 

Head to the “Backlinks” tab to spot the nonstop backlinks pointing to the page. And erstwhile they were added oregon removed. 

If a fixed blog station has a comparatively bully magnitude of backlinks and is inactive driving caller ones, see updating it. 

For each the aged posts you’re evaluating, ask:

• Is this taxable inactive applicable for your blog/company?
• Does this taxable align with your existent strategy?
• Can you importantly amended the content?

If “yes” is the reply to these questions, update the post. If not, see removing it to declutter your tract and absorption connected prime content. 

But beryllium definite to usage a imperishable redirect connected immoderate posts you privation to delete that person a important fig of backlinks to clasp that ranking strength. 

Further reading: Content Pruning: A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Your SEO

Best Practices for Updating Blog Content

Follow these champion practices to get the astir retired of your contented updates:

Review Your Keywords and Their Search Intent

One of Google’s main goals is to springiness searchers precisely what they’re looking for erstwhile they participate a fixed query. Which is wherefore you request to fulfill that intent arsenic champion arsenic possible. 

Follow these steps to find the hunt intent for each of your superior (main) keywords:

1. Analyze the SERP to presumption the top-ranking pages for your people keyword. Google has already figured retired what searches privation to see, and these results are addressing that desire. 
2. Identify the contented types the top-ranking pages are using. Are they chiefly how-to guides, merchandise pages, listicles, oregon merchandise reviews?
3. Check contented extent to spot however elemental oregon elaborate the apical results are
4. Note which subtopics astir of the apical pages cover

Then, adhd these rival pages’ URLs into Organic Research 1 astatine a time.

On the adjacent screen, marque definite “Exact URL” is selected astatine the apical and caput to the “Positions” tab.

Scroll down to the table, and you’ll spot the keywords this leafage is presently ranking for. Along with utile metrics similar hunt measurement and intent.

Analyze the keywords successful this table. And absorption connected presumption that person reasonably precocious hunt volumes and intent that matches the superior keyword’s intent.

Use this accusation to usher your blog station updates. 

It volition assistance you springiness searchers precisely what they want. And boost the chances of Google ranking your pages higher. 

Further reading: 4 Types of Keywords successful SEO (+ Examples)

Include the Latest Information

If you’re updating blog content, you request to marque definite you adhd caller data, sources, examples, etc. 

Using caller accusation shows you’re connected apical of manufacture trends and worth accuracy. Which helps boost your credibility. 

Here's however you tin start:

• Replace outdated stats with existent figures
• Find caller studies applicable to your topic
• Add insights from caller manufacture reports
• Quote adept opinions from the past twelvemonth (this volition request to beryllium overmuch much caller for time-sensitive topics)

For evergreen articles with tons of stats and data, acceptable a calendar reminder to cheque your sources each six to 12 months. To marque definite you enactment up of the curve. 

Ensure Your Content Is High Quality

Above all, your contented should beryllium precocious quality. Meaning it’s well-researched, helpful, and relevant. 

If this sounds similar hard work, that’s due to the fact that it is. 

If it were easy, everyone would bash it. And everyone would fertile highly. 

Here are a fewer tips to get you connected the close way erstwhile updating blog content:

• Use a accordant marque voice
• Make it structured for casual speechmaking (short sentences, abbreviated paragraphs, and tons of subheadings)
• Proofread it to guarantee determination aren’t typos oregon different errors
• Naturally see related keywords and concepts

Use the SEO Writing Assistant for this. 

Import oregon transcript and paste the contented you’re updating, adhd the page’s people keywords, and click “Get recommendations.”

The instrumentality volition automatically people the station and supply recommendations for readability, code of voice, originality, and SEO. 

Like this:

Take the clip to refine your work. Because it pays disconnected successful the agelong run. 

Further reading: How to Write a Blog Post Step by Step

Improve Your On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your webpages and their contented for users and hunt engines. And updating a blog station is the cleanable accidental to bash this.

Here’s are a fewer ways to amended your posts’ on-page SEO:

• Optimize the page’s title tag (HTML that specifies the leafage title) and meta description (HTML that succinctly summarizes the page)
• Place people keywords strategically passim the contented (in subheadings, the leafage title, the rubric tag, assemblage copy, etc.)
• Use headings and subheadings to operation the page
• Update images with descriptive alt text (HTML that describes an image)
• Add internal links (links to different pages connected your site)
• Add external links (links to different sites)
• Optimize URLs

If you request assistance spotting opportunities, usage the On-Page SEO Checker.

Set up your project. And beryllium definite to usage the “Manually” enactment connected the “Pages and people keywords” tab to specify each the blog posts you privation to update.

The instrumentality volition past supply optimization ideas designed to amended your integrated traffic. 

Click connected the bluish “# ideas” fastener adjacent to a blog station URL to spot elaborate accusation astir each optimization idea. Including what to bash and wherefore you should instrumentality action. 

Address arsenic galore of these on-page factors arsenic you can. And you’ll apt spot a boost successful rankings, traffic, and engagement. 

Further reading: Blog SEO: How to Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines

Refresh the Visuals

Refreshing your visuals further signals to readers your contented is existent and trustworthy. 

Let’s accidental you enactment for a SaaS institution and usage screenshots of your software. In that case, cheque to marque definite that each the UI you’re showing is inactive current. 

If not, you whitethorn privation to instrumentality those screenshots again.

Here’s however to refresh your visuals the close way:

• Add caller charts oregon graphs with the latest data
• Create customized images illustrating new, cardinal points
• Replace outdated screenshots with existent versions
• Add caller infographics to summarize cardinal points, particularly if you’ve expanded the blog post
• Compress images to forestall them from slowing down your site

Further reading: Image SEO: How to Optimize Images for Search Engines & Users

Add Internal Links

We touched connected interior links earlier, but they’re worthy mentioning again. Because these links are important for SEO.

Internal links assistance hunt engines observe your content, recognize your tract structure, and administer nexus equity crossed your pages. And besides usher visitors to different applicable pages connected your site.

This means you tin bash 2 things erstwhile you update blog posts: 

1. Add links from the updated blog station to different applicable pages
2. Add links to the updated blog station from different applicable pages

Here’s what that would look similar successful practice:

Say we’re updating this blog post.

For the archetypal point, we could adhd interior links to articles astir keyword research, backlinks, SEO performance, hunt intent, and more. Because those are related topics we notation that could beryllium adjuvant for readers.

For the 2nd point, we tin usage a search operator to find posts connected our blog that notation presumption straight related to this article. 

For example, we tin hunt for “site:semrush.com/blog/ ‘blog content’” to find articles mentioning “blog content.” 

Then, we could browse the hunt results to look for related pages. And adhd links from those posts to this post. 

And usage descriptive anchor text for your interior links. Instead of thing similar “click here,” usage words that picture what you’re linking to. 

Monitor Updated Content to Refine Your Strategy

Updating your blog posts is conscionable the archetypal step. The existent magic happens erstwhile you way however these changes perform.

Did integrated postulation increase? Are you ranking for caller keywords? Did you suffer immoderate featured snippets?

Use Position Tracking for this. 

It’ll automatically show your updated pages’ show successful hunt results for your people keywords. And amusement you precisely however those positions alteration implicit time. 

Then, usage what you observe to fine-tune your strategy.