Freshen up your existing content

Filipa says: “Refresh and update your old and existing content.

Sometimes, to make your content fresh, putting a sprinkle on a certain article can make all the difference and improve your traffic – and your rankings in general.

Just taking that really big, boring chunk of text and turning it into a table, for example, can make such a big difference. Perhaps there was a certain user intent behind that article when you wrote it but, over time, that has changed, so you have to make sure it is up to date.

If you have a piece of content that is no longer interesting to the user or no longer up to date, they will open it, see that it’s not really what they’re looking for, and then they’ll go back to the SERP. It’s really important to keep the content relevant and really match that user intent.”

How do you select the content that needs to be refreshed?

“The first step would be to do a content audit. If it’s a blog, you can go to your set of articles and check where you lost traffic within the last month, compared to the same month last year. If the average ranking for a certain keyword dropped a lot, why is that?

Sometimes, clicks or traffic can decrease because there’s less interest in that topic. It doesn’t necessarily mean that your article is no longer fresh and updated. However, if the average keyword position is dropping, then it might mean that your content is no longer that interesting.

That content audit can be done by looking at the search intent as well, and by looking at your competitors. What new keywords or new content do your competitors have that you don’t? What can be done to make it fresher?”

How do you decide when to refresh the content, when to delete the content, and when to leave it alone?

“By looking at the search volume.

If you were targeting a primary keyword for a certain URL that suddenly doesn’t have much search volume anymore, then maybe you are not doing anything wrong if there was a bit of a decrease in the traffic. In that case, if the average position is different or the scenario has completely changed, you might as well leave it alone.

However, you might see that there’s a growth opportunity, and your competitors are mentioning something that you’re not. I’m not saying that you should completely change the topic of the URL because you should maintain that, but it is important to make sure that it is updated.

A simple example would be, ‘What’s the best smartphone?’ If you searched for that a year ago and then searched for it right now, the results would be completely different, but the user is still looking for the same thing. In that case, of course, you should update it.

There are also possibilities where you can merge two articles, or even split one into two because the topic is becoming too complex, and you don’t want to make a single article too big. It depends on what the content is about.

Some content that I update on a regular basis is content around pet welfare laws, because I’ve been working in the pet industry for a while. That is the kind of content that you should be updating all the time. Also, content around the beaches that you bring your pets to in Spain, for example, should be updated – and you can add ‘in 2025’ so that, when the user sees it, they know it is updated and it mentions the right places to go.

Sometimes there will be a spike in interest for a certain dog breed, and then suddenly there won’t be as much traffic anymore. Sometimes there are things to improve, but sometimes there aren’t, because it was just a spike on a certain type of breed or a certain diet.

If you have an article on the best food that you can give to your dog, you might see that a subtitle on that article is becoming very popular, so you could transform that small paragraph into a separate article about that specific topic.

It is obviously very important to link the articles to each other because, if the user wants to read more, they can keep reading and they don’t need to leave your website. You retain them and they can find all the information that they’re looking for within your website.”

Do you usually add content when you are refreshing, and does the word count matter?

“It does matter, although not always, because there’s no single formula that fits all. It’s important to consider whether you should add a small paragraph to an article that already exists or whether you might as well create a new article entirely.

Ultimately, you need to answer the user intent of the main keyword of that article first, so the user can find it immediately. Then, if they want to keep reading, the information should be there. If it’s too long, then you can write a new article about it, if there’s enough information.

Whether I end up with more words or fewer really depends. I try not to make drastic changes or make an article too extensive. Sometimes it’s just small changes. I’m not saying you need to add huge chunks of text or delete big sections. You want it to stay similar but be fresh.

You can often just add a sprinkle, like changing the year and making sure it’s updated. Maybe you just add a certain word into the meta title or the H1. It might be a very small detail.

It doesn’t have to be about changing the text itself. It could be adding a video or adding schema, which can also help. When I talk about making the content fresh, it can be more than the text. It could be technical issues and making sure that the URLs are healthy and working well.”

What tools do you use to uncover content that has dropped and identify opportunities, and what tools do you use to decide how to enhance the content?

“You can have a look on Google Search Console and compare the clicks from the previous 28 days to last year, and see where those big drops are.

If you have a URL where you don’t have that many clicks, but you are starting to get impressions for a certain set of keywords, that might mean that there’s an opportunity. That article could be ranking on the 10th or 11th position, but it might be getting some impressions, so that could be a good piece of content to refresh.

For search volume, I like to use Ahrefs or Semrush. If you’re improving a set of URLs, you can create a project where you can have an overall overview of all those updates that you’ve been doing over a period of time.

You can also use something like Screaming Frog if you just want to do the blog posts, the services, or the product descriptions. It really depends on what you choose to work on but, in the end, it is a lot of information coming from a lot of places – and mixing that together.

You can also use analytics like traffic increases. It’s a bit complex, but you can also use engagement metrics like whether the bounce rate decreases, or the time spent on the page increases. That can be tricky because the time on the page can be lower if the user finds what they are looking for straight away.

Depending on what the content is about, those metrics can also help you, through something like Google Analytics or Adobe.”

How do you measure the success of refreshing your content?

“You can look at many different metrics. If the average position of a certain keyword improves, that is a good sign. However, there are so many more metrics to look at.

Also, you have to give it some time. You might see results quite quickly, but it might take a couple of months. It’s trial and error. It might work, but it might not work. It’s tricky.”

How do you decide what content you need to add to the page?

“You can check the competition on the SERP. If you have an article for a keyword phrase like, ‘How to train my dog to play fetch?’, and you see a drop on that URL, then you can go on Google and put in that keyword to see what is ranking. If all of your top-ranking competitors have a video, that might mean that adding a video to your own article could help you start ranking higher.

Of course, video requires a lot of resources and it’s not an easy thing to do. However, maybe your company already has an appropriate YouTube video that you can use and bring to that article. It doesn’t have to be a huge effort; sometimes something small can make a difference.

If you don’t have schema, do your competitors have schema implemented on their websites? If so, you can try and have it as well.

You can also look and see what topics your competitors are not mentioning that, if you were the user, you would like to see in that article.”

If an SEO is struggling for time, what should they stop doing right now so they can spend more time doing what you suggest in 2025?

“Often, we have limited resources, As SEOs, we can focus so much on creating new content, and wanting to put out 10, 20, 50, or 100 articles per month or per week.

If you don’t have that many resources or that much time, why not look back at what you already have and try to make it better? Just one word could be what makes the difference.

Go back to the content that you already have, do an audit, and make sure that it answers your users’ needs so that it builds trust and drives conversions. It can be damaging to have outdated information and outdated articles on your website.”

Filipa Serra Gaspar is an SEO Consultant, and you can find her over at SEOLipa.com.