subject: Is Fresh Content Really That Important For Your Website? [print this page] Talk to web marketers and SEO companies and they all say the same thing: fresh content matters for your website. But is it really so important? Wouldn't a few well-optimised static pages do the job?
Well, it's worth remembering what regularly updated content says about you to both your customers and to the search engines:
What you're telling your users
Here's the thing: fresh means alive, stale means dying. At least in a user's eyes.
If your latest news is from two years ago, or your blog hasn't been updated in six months, it doesn't reflect well on you. At best it shows that you're too busy to care. At worst, it shows a neglectful approach to business.
Also, if your content is high-quality, you're giving your users a reason to return to your site or subscribe. Visitors start to see you as a resource, or as a leader in a particular field. Regular, useful free content (whether text-based or downloadable applications) is great marketing. So fresh content makes your users see you as:
* Dynamic
* Trustworthy
* An authority
* Useful
What you're telling the search engines
By updating your content frequently, you're telling Google and the search engines that you care about your users.
Why does that matter? Well, a search engine's quest is to deliver relevant content to users. Part of being relevant is how recent an article is. For example, if you search for "latest website design tips" it's no use getting an article from 2002. Therefore, if you have fresh content, a search engine sees that your site:
* Isn't neglected
* Is more likely to offer useful content
* Is more likely to offer relevant content
So, how does that help you?
Okay, so the search engines like fresh content. But why does that matter to you? Ultimately - it means higher rankings. And, as most people with a website now realise, high search rankings can equal hugely increased traffic and sales.
Any other benefits?
While we're on the subject of search, it's worth remembering that indexing text is still a key factor in how search engines work.
So, it stands to reason that the more content (text content in particular) you have on your site, the more chance you have of ranking for a variety of search terms.
You're also more likely to attract links from other websites - something which pushes your site even higher up the search rankings
In the end...
Fresh content is hugely important for your website's success. Even If you're not thinking of your search rankings, it can help increase your credibility and profile among your customers. After all, who wants a stale website?
