Fresh content for your website
As I sit down at my desk, which is cluttered with everything from empty gum wrappers to my printer and monitor, I wonder how this (Palouse Express) website would fair as a desk. Items are constantly added, cleaned and returned, and removed, filed away in the cabinet below or tossed in the trash. Content on a website should be just as fluid and constantly touched. There are several reasons to maintain fresh content on a website.
Fresh content can equate to fresh indexing
There are several ways to freshen up the content on your website. The first is to add new content to your website. A few ways to accomplish this is:
- Writing a blog post
- Add a new product (if you sell online)
When you add new content to your website, you are alerting search engines to come and take a look, or crawl your website again. The more visibility and action the website has with search engines, the greater the opportunity to increase your ranking. Also, it is important to add new content in order to keep your customers coming back for more.
Clean content is quality content
On the other hand, just because you have a clutter-free desk, it doesn't mean the desk is clean. Dust still accumulates. The same idea can be applied to your content. Take the time to write good content that is applicable to your industry, passion, or expertise. Make sure it is clearly stated and rid of the 'dust'.
Clean and clear content is also important to increase the number of keywords available to be indexed. This does not mean that you fill your blog or various pages full of keywords. Google and other search engines use clean content that is focused on the purpose of your website, not content that is driven to get as many keywords in the content as possible.
Another aspect to consider is out-of-date content. If you have an old blog post that is no longer valid, it may be wise to delete or unpublish it from your website. In the majority of instances, I wouldn't advice deleting content but if the content will do more harm when indexed then good, it is something to consider.
Updated content is encouraged
Your workspace may not get a spring cleaning every week but it is nice when your candy bowl is refilled or pens are put back. Search engines encourage updates to websites too. Updates do not have to be anything as time-consuming as a new blog post or announcing product. It could involve updating images on the homepage slideshow or add an image to an already published blog post. The key is to make sure the update will be noticed.
Stay fresh!
There are so many reasons keep your website fresh. If you find that you struggle to stay fresh, develop a goal or two. Once you have a goal (ex: write a new blog every week), add your goal to your calendar in order to set time aside so you can accomplish your goal. That way, 10 AM on Tuesday mornings are devoted to writing a new blog. Hopefully, when you carve time out on your calendar, you are that much closer to achieving success!