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How Does Posting Fresh Content Help SEO?

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While the inner workings of the algorithms that govern how a website is ranked on Google or other search engines are kept as closely guarded secrets, there are trends that become apparent over time and through experience. One of these is that the “freshness” of your content matters. Your content has a bigger upward influence on your search ranking the newer it is. When you write a blog post or create a web page and it is noticed by Google bots and those belonging to other search engines it is at the height of its freshness. Overtime this freshness decays to a lower level.

Why is Fresh Content Important?

This makes sense when you think about it from the perspective of search engines. Google or any other search engine wants the most relevant and interesting topics at the top of their search engine results so that customers consistently find what they are looking for. The more people find what they are looking for the more people will use that search engine and the more money people will pay them for advertising.

Ranking sites by “freshness” is a logical way to decide which pages are going to be more up to date and useful. If you were searching for “top ten cameras” would you rather a post which was one month old be the top suggested site or a post which was two years old? The page which is two years old is likely to be completely out of date and won’t offer you any useful information and so search engines are unlikely to want to return this result to you near the top.

What Can Fresh Content Do For Your Website?

What does this mean for your website? Firstly and most obviously fresher content is better.

If you want to compete at the top of the search engine rankings you need to consistently produce fresh content for your website that is relevant and of a high-quality. Gone are the days when keyword stuffing an article or blog post can net you any serious gain in the search engines.

Secondly it is logical that a site that is more regularly updated with fresh content will rank higher than a site that produces fresh content less regularly. Consider two sites, both regularly updated and full of useful information on a topic. One produces new articles once a week; the other produces relevant articles once a day. Both sites are relatively fresh but the website which updates more often will be preferred, all other factors equal. This website is slightly fresher most of the time (since it will have updated more recently on most days) not to mention the added benefit of having more content.

Quick Tip List – Fresh Content =

  1. Higher Rankings because Google loves fresh content.
  2. More content for your readers to keep them interested.
  3. Keeps your website up to date with the latest information.
  4. Brings in more traffic and lowers Alexa ranking.

If you’re not sure if fresh content really works, just take a good look at this website. Hesham always publishes content that is of top quality and publishes often. This is a perfect example of how fresh content can build a fantastic blog.

fresh content

Fresh Content Must Be Better

Fresh content is a big factor in the ranking stakes but that’s not the only thing you need. (content is not the only king you know!)

Again Hesham is a perfect example of this. The content he publishes on this site is fresh, informative, and of fantastic quality.

There are a few ways to create better content:

1. Content That is Better by Default

If you have a unique piece of content that not many sites have then you might be the best by default. Of course if there is no competition then your it! But just be careful because other webmasters will catch on and produce similar content. Being the best by default does not happen very often now and when it does it may not last long.

2. Fresh Content That is OK but NOT BETTER

Some webmasters create content that is not better than others, just on par. This kind of content gets them ranking maybe on the first page, but possibly not in position one. Not standing out with better content sees a short ranking cycle.

3. Fresh Content to Knock Off Evergreen Aged Content

I have some top ranking articles that have held their position for five years or more. I guess you could call this evergreen content. (Content that is always relevant)  But the thing is, someone can come along and create a fresh piece of content that can out rank me at any time.

If someone tried to do this they would need to:

  1. Create an awesome article that is better than mine!
  2. Search engine optimize this article.
  3. Create authority back links leading to this article.
  4. Catch up with the social sharing and exposure.
  5. And more…

The first task in this list is a huge job in itself and the average Webmaster does not take the time to do this kind of thing. They just create content that will get them by. This is where the line is drawn between an average website and a top ranking successful website.

Therefore fresh content has to be better!

This leads me to my next point….

Never Settle For a Large Quantity of Fresh Content over Quality

However often you produce new content for your website it is still vitally important that you keep the quality high. Freshness without quality is better than nothing but will never get you to the top of the search engine rankings unless you have virtually no competition. The more up to date your website is and the more quality content you have the more visitors will flow to your site, but stop updating for just a few weeks and you’ll soon be seeing your competitors fast approaching in the rear view mirror.

Image © pressmaster – Fotolia.com

About

My name is Milica Pantic (aka Mitz) and I am a serial full-time blogger. I started out with one website many years ago and it went so well, I sold my businesses and began living the internet dream. Since then I have been perfecting the art of building websites to earn money online and I will never stop learning. This is an ever changing business and I love the challenge. Please feel free to download my favorite FREE REPORTS if you are interested in improving your blogging business or starting one from scratch.

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{ 39 Responses }

  1. Chatung says:
    Everyone is hunger for up-to-date information so as i do, and there's no doubt that search engines (like Google) would ignore such factor. But as you concluded on the last, "Freshness with Quality" should the actual tactics. So, being a blogger we should always keep this point on mind..! Bdw, @Mitz Thanks for reminding again..:)
  2. saanvi says:
    It's refreshing to see an article that delivers what you expect to see once you get to it. Great tips. I know for our team it's a constant balance in finding fresh ideas or re-visiting older ones where we can add much more value.
  3. Bob says:
    Really informative post. I have just now started blogging and I love it!
  4. tonygreene113 says:
    Fresh content and sometimes hurt because of the other numerous resources that may also be talking about the same topic. Giving a new take on the subject based on personal experience can make you stand out a bit more.
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      I think you always have to have your own spin on things too! It is no good being the same because that is just boring! :)
  5. Bram says:
    Great article Mitz. Like always you are taking your own medicine and posting content that is above par. Freshness is a factor in SEO that keeps eluding me. I can't get my head around whether it's based on domain or page freshness.. Perhaps both. Would love to know more about it but it's very hard to test this.
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Some day your blog hits authority status... according to who I do not know...but what ever you post can rank above most sites, even if it is duplicated from their site...I have tested this by taking an article from ezine articles. I rank number one for it even though there are at least 20 other blogs that have reposted it and ezine articles too!! so work that one out??? Socialmediatoday took an article from one of my sites and it ranks above me!!! But I am getting traffic so I don't care..
  6. Ardiv Jauhari says:
    Hi Mitz, saw your post at Basic Blog Tips and was impressed, somehow I stumbled upon another one of your post here and still impressed haha! Good to know that I've made the right decision to blog daily and publish fresh content everyday, thank you for the tips again. :)
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Ha ha You are stumbling around the internet and seeing me everywhere! That happens all the time! :)
  7. Firdaus says:
    Hey Mitz.. Thanks for your valuable information about one of the vital information about importance of fresh and unique content. we can also maximize the frequency of crawling of our website by frequently adding new contents . Thanks
  8. James says:
    Posting fresh content surely helps SEO because our readers do not want to read the sme content over and over again. If we keep on posting new posts and content, we can modify the use of SEO and make our blog a better place for the audience to visit and return satisfied.
  9. Tonia Garner says:
    fresh content makes Google spiders visit your website a lot. I remember I had this website that made about 10 blog posts per day. I bookmarked each post, and was getting about 500 uniques per day. After a month of constantly updating, I was ranking for so many long tails. I was getting min of 10k hits per day.
  10. Socorro Carneya says:
    fresh content makes Google spiders visit your website a lot. I remember I had this website that made about 10 blog posts per day. I sbookmarked each post, and was getting about 500 uniques per day. After a month of constantly updating, I was ranking for so many long tails. I was getting min of 10k hits per day.
  11. paslcellulaze says:
    If you have a website, add content talking about that; don't stray off topic and talk about your favorite recipe. Keep all the content you write very focused so the search engines will see a common theme through your website.
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      I know I hate it when you go to a blog and they have posted what they had for dinner last night or pictures of their holiday when the topic has nothing to do with their niche.:)
  12. Dominique Jackson says:
    While I definitely agree that consistently updating your blog with new posts is great, I disagree with some of your points. It's been shown quite frequently (and pointed out in your post) that age can actually help your posts rank higher. A lot of high ranking posts for certain keywords are there because they are older and have built up a large number of high quality sites linking to them. So posting fresh content is helpful but I don't think it's nearly as important for SEO as this post makes it seem.
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Well I disagree because although great content rules, better content that is fresher will knock off the old one quickly. Also a few quality back links to the new content will cement the rankings. Fresh content can still come from a site with more authority and rank better easily. :)
  13. Abhik says:
    Hey Mitz, it was really a good read. Content was, is and always will be the king but the nature of it changed a lot over time. Happy New Year
  14. Sneha says:
    Hi Mitz, I post the contents almost every day and also hold a view that fresh content is very important. It is working for me too. Thanks for the share..
  15. Connor Harley says:
    Fresh Content is the way to go. It's worth all the time and effort to dig up fresh new ideas. Work on a potential topic and capitalize on it. Don't ever compromise quality over posting information early.
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Yes I agree Connor...never compromise on quality. :)
  16. Abhishek says:
    Nice Article. I understood what you have said but its to hard to follow as producing fresh contents needs lots of effort.
  17. Kai says:
    Mitz,This is really the kick in the pants we need as bloggers. My focus is providing relevant content, evergreen or otherwise, because your reader can still learn and understand from your story. I like learning also, SEO being an important topic to bloggers, but I\'m putting my reader\'s needs before SEO.Thanks for the great post.Kai
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Hi Kai Yes I like to always put the reader first because that is who we aim to please and who Google wants to make happy too! I have banned myself from learning as there are too many ways to make money, too many ways to drive traffic, too many social media strategies, and so on.. You only need what works for you.
  18. John Banks says:
    Hi, I would love to be able to produce that much content on a regular basis! I agree with you, fresh content is great. When I look at the traffic analysis of my own blog the traffic from Google is still quite high each week. This is due to search terms I was not expecting on old posts and new. Obviously the more posts you can produce, as long as they are of good quality your blog is only going to benefit. Nice post - happy new year. John
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      yes it is hard to do but well worth the effort! :)
  19. Damon says:
    This is the main reason that comments are so important for blogs. It helps to keep the content on older posts fresh by making new updates every time a new comment gets posted. I never understood blogs that keep their comments closed.
  20. Tushar says:
    Yes Never compromise your content for quantity instead of quality. Every Blogger prepare a checklist for publishing a post and follow it perfectly. Fresh content is the King and SEO can only act as the Queen.
  21. babanature says:
    This is a very nice post indeed, fresh content is the key to a successful blog. This is a very nice and comprehensive post
  22. Servando Silva says:
    While fresh content is important and a good indicator for Google and other search engines, I also like to write evergreen content constantly. I'd call this "fresh evergreen content". Or at least, make updates when something changes. I think every time you update a post, your ping services alter search engines to go over and re-scan your article. And of course, fresh content is very important for constant visitors. Leave your blog without new content fer a few weeks (or months) and say goodbye to your loyal readers :)
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Yes one important thing with blogging is that you have to keep the ball rolling or your blog dies.
  23. Patricia Weber says:
    Valuable information. I'm certain that even though SEO rules change, that fresh content is a constant. Thanks for the post.
  24. Khaja moin says:
    Agree completely fresh content really works, when it`s hot topic it can bring lots more things. I tried this, when recently many faced problems with WP 3.5 I posted something which can help and it`s on page 1. Anyway social share and getting links also needed, which I did! ~@Khajamoin1
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      oh I had a problem with WP 3.5 too!! LOL I agree that this is a great way to get more traffic!
  25. Ryan Biddulph says:
    I post 10 times or more daily Mitz on multiple blogs. Love the advice! Fresh content rocks. Valuable fresh content rocks even more. Slow down, calm down and commit to putting out awesome content, and you will do so, and boost your ranking too. Thanks!
    • Mitz Pantic says:
      Yes I agree to never post bad quality content just to put content up. It just does not work. The whole aim of the game is to post stuff that people want to see. :)