What to do right now: Planning ongoing SEO content
So, what new articles are you adding to your site this month?
I know, I know. Content development and adding additional Website content seems like “too much work” when time is already short and your nerves are feeling frazzled. You can’t ask your marketing department to do it — they’re already maxed out. Fighting for freelance budget seems too overwhelming. And heaven forbid that you add something new to your plate.
Sound familiar?
I am just as guilty as other site owners and marketing departments. Part of my marketing midlife recovery means more and better writing — blog writing, writing for other sites and, yes, writing for my own SEO copywriting site.
Easier said than done.
The thing is, writing ongoing content is more than just a SEO trick. Sure, the engines love new content, and adding ongoing content is one of the ways they measure how “fresh” a site is. Sites without new, ongoing content tend to slowly drop out of rankings sight, despite their age and history. It’s just like Hollywood, baby — if not you’re coming out with new stuff, it’s easy to forget all about you.
Of course, I always hear the kickback — “Why should I add new content? It’s a pain to do. “Yes, it is. But here are the advantages of fresh content:
- It builds trust. When people search under various keyterms, they notice companies that continually position in the top 10. My favorite example of this is a company called Amsterdam Escape. Their site positions for main keyterms such as “vacations in Amsterdam” as well as long-tail keywords like “places to stay Amsterdam Newmarket.”
- New content overcomes objections. You can’t assume that prospects will contact you for more information. If your content doesn’t answer their questions immediately, they’ll find another site that does.
- New content can sell your product or service. This is the most obvious reason — good (or improved) content translates into better conversions.
- New content gains search engine positions. ‘Nuff said.
Make a commitment to your company to upload at least one new article per month on your Website. That may mean hiring a firm who can help you with an editorial calendar or topic ideas. That may mean asking your internal team to step up and start writing. Either way, ongoing content will keep those search engine rankings (and conversions) flowing.
I’d certainly agree wholeheartedly that regularly updated content can work wonders for your Google ranking. The only problem, I find, is when that’s all a client wants it for, and they aren’t bothered about whether anyone will actually enjoy reading it. Short sighted I know, so it’s up to us writers to educate clients that their content reflects their credibility, can build trust and increase sales.
I found your blog via Junta42’s recent list of the top content marketing blogs, and look forward to reading more of your posts.
Matt.
Hi, Matt – welcome!
You’re exactly right. That’s why some clients are hiring writers for $10/page. They believe that “any content is good content,” without realizing that bad content reflects negatively on their brand.
So our job, as copywriters, is to not only write *good* copy – but to educate our clients on the importance of good copy. What’s worked for you? Do you have a kick-off meeting at the beginning of the project to explain your technique? Do you distribute a white paper outlining the benefits or good copy? Or…?
You’ve made a number of excellent points, Heather. I’ll be revisiting this post when I need inspiration and motivation to write. Thanks!
Hi, Viki! Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you enjoyed the post. :)
Thanks for the great post. I agree that convincing clients to write good, informative content can really be a challenge, despite explaining the benefits for both SEO and business purposes. As an SEO Seattle firm, we find part of the problem is it’s also tough to quantify (the benefit of) good content in the short term, despite repeat success that good content will reap rewards in the long term.
Some say that content business is dying, but its just that quality content is missing. If we can write quality and attractive content, the market will be opened again for us. :)
You’ve shared quite valuable points, Heather. for better SEO results it becomes obvious to update the visitors, with all new contents, every time they visit our site. good content always reap rewards in long term.
hi
what u r saying is very right uploading a new content regularly is very important for ranking in google but as par knowledge content should be unique means it shoud not be a copy of other content that is very important thanks for this information
Ongoing SEO content helps in frequent crawling of site…
If any site frequently changes its content than the crawl rate of that site increases and also new content increases popularity of once site
I find that if tag my calendar to remind on the same day some recurring bill is due (e.g. rent), and that I always have to add one article of content before I pay that bill, then I consistently do it every month at the same time, and make new content a habit.
Google (as well as Bing) do love sites with great content. But unfortunately, bad things happen to good content – and someone may copy or steal it from you. If you’re concerned about that, I wrote a post about protecting your copyright you may want to check out. :)
Thanks for your post!
been following ur site around 3 days. really enjoy your posts. btw i will be doing report about this subject. do you happen to know other websites or online forums in which I can find out more? thanks in advance.
Hello!
Thanks and happy to help. Are you looking for more online writing resources? Just let me know…