Before I launched my agency, I worked for several others and noticed a troubling trend.
Many focused solely on creating new on-site content for their clients, often neglecting older posts and pages. This was especially common with blogs at a time when the trend was to prioritize quantity over quality.
The situation always reminded me of the “pump-and-dump” strategies in the stock market – short-term mindsets that result sometimes in wins and sometimes in massive losses.
I knew this approach was flawed and ended in what I call “content decay.” When I launched my agency in 2017, I focused on refreshing older content as much as creating new content.
The results immediately impressed – and continued to impress.
For example, earlier this year, one of our commercial pest control clients had an underperforming blog post that was created by a previous agency. The content was decent but lacked many on-page SEO elements, especially header tags and internal links (two were actually dead!).
We updated internal links and all other on-page SEO elements and rewrote around 30% of the content. That single blog post jumped to the top position for target keywords in the target location within six weeks.
After amplifying it on social media, which naturally attracted other shares, quality links, and a Google Business Profile, we were able to attribute nearly $100,000 in new revenue to that one piece of content.
This experience convinced me that content decay is a serious problem for many businesses and needs to be addressed ASAP. This issue also inspired me to restructure our service offerings, making content refresh a core service for our clients.
What Is Content Decay?
Content decay happens when a webpage experiences a gradual decline in traffic over time. This can be due to several factors.
Search engine algorithms are constantly updating, and what worked a year ago may not work today.
New competitors are constantly popping up, creating newer content that may be more aligned with current audience preferences. Additionally, your content may simply become stale.
This problem has worsened with the rise of AI-generated content. Many brands use AI to churn out as much content as possible without a content strategy to keep it fresh and relevant.
With the right content decay strategies, you can combat content decay and ensure your content remains relevant long after you hit “publish.”
Recognizing The Signs Of Content Decay
First, you need to be able to identify content decay before you can fix it.
Pay attention to your engagement metrics and watch for these signs of decaying content:
- Decrease in organic traffic to that page/post.
- Lower overall search engine rankings.
- Outdated information.
- High bounce rate.
- Low average time on page.
- Fewer social shares.
- Negative user feedback.
Content Decay Strategies That Will Revitalize Your Content
So how do you combat content decay and improve user experience?
Here are a few content decay strategies to revitalize your content and keep it performing well.
Conduct Regular Content Audits
Periodic content audits help you identify underperforming pages or those needing an update.
Tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ahrefs track page performance and pinpoint content that would benefit from refreshing.
This will improve your content marketing strategy and boost your online presence. When conducting a content audit, I recommend focusing on key metrics like:
- Organic traffic.
- Bounce rate.
- Conversion rate.
- Time on page.
Update And Refresh Your Existing Content
Remember, you don’t just have to create new content. Sometimes, refreshing older content is a better use of your time and resources. And when combined with new content on a consistent basis, you’ve maximized your potential results.
If you have content that is performing well but could use some tuning, simply update it slightly and republish it with a new date. Content updating doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
Focus on making a few key changes that will make a big difference.
Content updating can be as simple as adding a few sentences or as complex as rewriting entire sections or refreshing internal links that point to better-performing pages (and making sure those better-performing pages also point back!).
No matter the approach, be sure to let Google and other search engines know that you’ve updated your content.
This will help them crawl and index your content more quickly. Here are a few specific content update ideas that reinforce why you or your agency must stay educated on all the latest – I argue weekly because of how fast industries change nowadays.
- Update outdated statistics.
- Add new information based on the latest research and developments in your field.
- Cut the fluff and use shorter sentences and paragraphs to improve the content’s readability and open up “psychological space” that readers can digest more easily.
- Add more visuals to your content, like images, videos, and infographics. Regarding videos, we constantly try to get company leaders to produce a short video discussing the focus of a blog or service page. The goal is to upload that to YouTube and link back to the article, then embed the video in the actual article itself. This helps in numerous ways, keeping people engaged and helping them become brand loyalists quickly.
- Ensure your content is optimized for current SEO best practices. This includes using relevant keywords throughout your content and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly.
- Check for and fix broken links. Broken links can frustrate users and hurt your search engine rankings.
- Make sure your content is still relevant to your target audience. Your target audience may change over time, and your content needs to reflect that.
Repurpose Outdated Content
Instead of letting older pieces of content gather dust in your archives, give them new life by repurposing them into other formats. This is a great content strategy for getting more mileage from your existing content.
For example, you could turn a blog post into a video, infographic, or even a podcast episode.
When you repurpose content, you make the most of your existing content while also reaching a wider audience. Repurposing content is an effective way to breathe new life into your content and reach a wider audience.
| Content Format | Repurposing Ideas |
|---|---|
| Blog post | Create an infographic, video, or social media post based on the information. Turn it into a downloadable checklist, template, or worksheet. |
| Infographic | Break it down into smaller, individual visuals for social media. Expand on each point in a series of blog posts or email newsletters. |
| Video | Transcribe the video into a blog post or create short, shareable clips for social media. Extract the audio and create a podcast episode. |
| Podcast Episode | Transcribe the episode and turn it into a blog post or create short, shareable audiograms for social media. Pull out key quotes and create social media graphics. |
Sunset Content That’s Past Its Prime
It’s a good rule of thumb to keep high-performing content for as long as possible. However, not all content is worth saving. Content sunsetting is the practice of removing outdated or irrelevant content from your website.
Not all content needs to be updated. If you have a piece of content that’s factually incorrect or no longer relevant to your target audience, it’s usually best to remove it entirely.
However, you can also choose to redirect that URL to a more relevant page on your site rather than deleting it completely.
Make Use Of User Feedback
User feedback can be incredibly valuable when it comes to identifying content decay.
You can gain valuable insights by using tools like Google Analytics and your Search Console, but don’t stop there. Use comments and social media to your advantage, too.
See what people are saying (or not saying) about your content. What resonates with them? What falls flat? This feedback is like gold when figuring out what content to update and refresh.
Consider sending out surveys to your audience, asking what topics they’d like to see covered or what content they find most helpful.
Create A Content Review Schedule
The best way to stay on top of your content refresh efforts is to create a content review schedule and stick to it. Life gets busy, and a schedule will ensure that your content remains relevant and engaging and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
For example, you could review all of your website content every quarter and flag any that needs updating. This ensures that you never let a piece of content go stale.
My agency monitors individual pages/posts weekly. Depending on the size of the website, from those producing 25 new pieces of content monthly to three pieces monthly, we overhaul older pieces on different timelines.
For example, for our large website campaign clients with 200+ pages/posts, we overhaul them monthly, say 5 or so. For a smaller website, the pages/posts will be overhauled quarterly.
Regularly Review Your Content, And Make It A Priority
Content decay is a real problem for websites of all sizes.
By implementing these content decay strategies, you can breathe new life into your old content. You’ll make it more relevant to your audience.
Not only that, but you will also improve your search engine rankings and boost traffic to your site. Regularly review your content, and make it a priority to keep things fresh, updated, and engaging.
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