How to Update Your Content (in 10 Easy Steps)

Do you have pages or posts that are outdated and need to be updated? It is worth the effort to learn how to update your content and get Google’s attention.

It’s better for the user experience and good for SEO. Follow these ten steps to update your content, and make it even more valuable the second time.

Don’t ever change the title of your post or the URL! (Google will consider it a new post, not an updated post and you will have to wait for it to be indexed all over again.) Let’s get started.

You probably have a piece of content you wish to update. Are you unsure where to begin? You can choose any old post (I tend to start from the oldest post or you can look in GSC and select a post that is getting views but no clicks and update that.)

Let’s get started and learn more about how to keep your content fresh.

Table of Contents

Consider Before Updating

You could make your posts harder to read if you make minor updates or improve them in a fragmented way.

It is easy to create a patchwork of parts that don’t fit together. But you can avoid this by planning and having a clear understanding of the changes that are needed. You can also organize your activities strategically to ensure that you meet your content goals.

Consider first:

What is the purpose of this post? What benefits does it provide for users? Is it informational?

What role does it have in your website? Where does it fit in your content plan? And what are the goals you wish to achieve with it? It is essential to think about the purpose of your content before you start making changes, so you will know why you are changing it. This will make it easier to recraft your posts and make them better.

10 Steps to Update Your Content

Rewrite or a Minor Update?
Refresh Your Research
Do You Have Similar Content?
Is it Up to Date and Factual?
How can You Improve it?
Is it a Quality Post?
Reread Text before Republishing
Review Your SEO Title and Meta description
Delete or Keep old Comments?
Modify the Publication Date?

1. Do you need a complete Rewrite or a Minor Update?

Before you do anything, read through your page or post and determine how much work is needed to make it more updated. It doesn’t matter how many changes you make. All that’s required is a clear understanding of the overall plan.

You can just make minor changes such as spelling and typo corrections. But this piece will discuss how to make more significant changes to existing content.

2. Refresh your Research

Before you update content, it’s a good idea to refresh your research. You might take the time to review search terms and search intent over time. Also, you might want to check out the competition, and read some of the first three articles on Google page one (can you do better?)

You might also find valuable clues in Google Analytics and Google Search Console data. This update can rank for longer keywords if your page performs well with long-tail keyword searches. If your page is struggling, you can look at your data and make changes for improvement.

3. Do You have Similar Content?

Content cannibalism is a problem. Too many pages on your website can confuse users and affect your SEO. Google can’t decide which page to rank when faced with similar content.

Google doesn’t know which page to rank, and users don’t know which one to click. If you have the option, avoid creating too similar content. This is easiest to do by looking at other pages on the topic.

It is okay for pages to have some similarities. If most of your content is identical to other pages on your site or elsewhere, that’s a problem.

You have many options for dealing with similar content on your website. Some of these fit very well in the updating process! You could combine two articles that are similar into one article. This would allow you to include all of the best parts.

You could also add unique content on one page to differentiate them. Another option is to write on the same topic in another way. You can find similar content before you decide what to write so you don’t create the same issue.

4. Is your content up-to-date and factual?

Give your content a thorough read. Is there anything new since the last time it was written? Are there any new facts on the topic that you should add? Your content will be more helpful to users if you keep it current. This can help you gain an edge over your competitors. This makes your content more trustworthy, which has its benefits.

You will gain more followers of your blog if they know that you always have the most up-to-date information written in a simple-to-read format.

Check that you refer to the current facts and any promotions or prices. You’ll make people feel uncomfortable if you offer services or events they can’t use. This can be a lasting impression. Users who are repeatedly disappointed with your site might abandon it and move on to another website.

It can take some time, but it is worth it. Although URLs might still be active, there is a possibility that the page’s content has changed. If you’re looking to create a great user experience and haven’t added new links in a while, click on them, and you’ll be amazed at what you discover! (They could be out of date or going to an error page.)

5. What can you do to improve it?

Is there anything you could add to improve your page while updating your content? You can also check the responses to your comments on the page you last published. You can answer questions pre-emotively if you find them.

Google often displays search results about what “People also ask” and “People also search for” for your title search, check these out for some ideas to freshen up your data.

6. What is the actual Quality of the Post?

After you have made the necessary changes to your content, look at its overall quality. Are you able to read it easily? Can it deliver on its title? Is it easy for users to understand what you are saying by connecting ideas and arguments?

You should also consider how you use media. What if you could add an image, chart, or video to make it easier for users to understand? Accessibility is also important!

7. Reread text Before Republishing

If you’re OK with the changes made so far and don’t plan to make any more, you can take the time to go back through your page or post from beginning to end. Better yet, have someone else read your page and give you feedback. This is the same process as when you’d review a new piece of content before it goes live.

Are there any typos? (always use Grammarly for free to check everything that you write.)

Are all the internal and external links added? You can always make minor changes later, but it is better to do these things right the first time.

Finished? Checked? Are you ready to republish your content?

Your content should be fully updated and ready for the world to see again. Before you publish your new content, here are some things to remember.

It is best to edit and republish from the dashboard of your website platform, it is quicker and easier. Here you can preview how the changes will look in real life and make any adjustments.

Not using the Rewrite and Republish tool? Then you will need to copy and paste the updated content onto the page in edit mode. After that, you can continue with steps 8-10. You might have some issues with the formatting of your text. Double-check that everything is displayed correctly before publishing.

8. Review your SEO title and Meta description

Your Meta description and SEO title should reflect the content of the page. To get users to click them in search results, they must be attractive. After updating the content, ensure that your Meta description and SEO title are still effective advertisements for the page.

9. Delete or keep old comments?

If you have comments from a previous page, consider deleting them or keeping them. It might be better to delete comments if the page has been updated a lot. They won’t be as relevant anymore. You and your readers might find them confusing. If you update the date, these comments could appear older than the page.

10. Modify the publication date

You might want to modify the publish date of your post. This will allow users to see a newer date for your post, which makes it seem more reliable for them to use. WordPress will push your post into the “Your recent posts” list and other automatic feeds based on the publish date.

This is the final step in updating your content.

Now click on Republish’ or Update.’ Take a look at the updated content on your front page and marvel at your work!