Does Fresh Web Page Content Matter?
Why regular updates to your website count for SEO
One feature of a website which is accepted to affect search engine optimisation is “freshness” i.e. the age of the content. This doesn’t mean that all new content will rank better than old content – there is much more to it than that of course. Indeed Google has advised that older pages which are still popular and engaging for users, can continue to rank just as well as new content which is of a similar quality.
However, what it does mean is that pages which are still useful but less than stellar in popularity (many dental website pages to be frank) may see slips in search positions as new content on competitor websites is published. Lots of other factors play a part, for example the number of other websites which link to the page, but, all other things being equal, fresher content usually ranks better than content which has become stale. So why is this?
One of Google’s stated objectives is to deliver the most relevant content to users and it does this by surfacing what it considers to be the best pages higher up in the search results. Logically, one of the factors it uses to evaluate this is the age of the content. Whilst new isn’t always good, the fact that content is relatively new is an indicator that it may deserve to rank higher. Google uses many other signals to determine where the page ultimately lands in the search results, but “freshness” is considered to be a strong indicator.
This is perhaps why we regularly see new blog posts get relatively high ranking fairly quickly before dropping away slightly over the following months. Another good reason for a practice blog!
What does this mean for your dental website?
This comes into the area of diligent maintenance and ongoing investment in your dental website; something you should budget for if you are serious about where your website ranks in search results. This is one area where we sometimes see reluctance to change or to invest in page “refreshes” as we call them. Without understanding why freshness plays a part in SEO, it is reasonable to see why some dentists are reluctant to change what they already see as a good page. However, where incremental improvements can make a difference to your Google position, it makes sense to get them done.
How frequently should you refresh content?
There is no absolute rule here. Guidance would be that all website pages should be reviewed every six months or so even if just to validate that the content is fine from a user’s perspective and is still compliant with current legislation. If there is an opportunity to add new sections at that point, then try to take it. Another indicator that content is becoming stale is when progress in your SEO campaign begins to stall and measures such as “bounce rate” in your analytics data start to rise. At this point you really do need to take action and get in there to freshen up the content and make it more appealing for users.
This type of proactive maintenance and incremental improvement will help with Google and also provide better opportunity to convert your website visitors into tangible enquiries. You don’t have to do it all at once – prioritise you main pages and work through those first before moving on to the lesser content.
Summary
Fresh content is recognised to be a factor in SEO i.e. where your web page is ranked by Google. Whilst there is no need to refresh everything all the time, content which has definitely become stale and where factors such as bounce rate in analytics data is increasing, warrants quick attention to improve. A website is like a machine in some respects, i.e. both require maintenance and a degree of TLC to keep them performing at their best. So please pay attention to what is on your website and make provision to maintain it periodically too. Your users will benefit and your Google rankings can too!
If you need advice on dental search engine optimisation, copy writing services or a free audit of how your existing practice website is performing in Google, please call Dental Media on 01332 672548.