04 Dec Check the sell by date on your content

One question we always get asked is how often you should update the content on your website, social media etc. It’s a very valid question and goes beyond the obvious answer, which is how contemporary and fresh do you want your digital output to appear?

As most people know Google and other search engines do not like website which do not refresh their content regularly. The way they manage this is to assume the website is dormant and ignore it – so you wont find it on page 1 of a search index, actually you may not find it at all.

Google want fast loading, constantly refreshed content and before you think that’s easy: just cut and paste everything you can into your site – their algorithms check to see if you are plagiarising stopping you cutting and pasting as you had hoped you could.

Annoying but true – Google want fresh content, written without silly Meta tags and they want it updated regularly.

Well how regularly, the answer to this is as often as possible, but we would always advise changing content in say a blog or a Magazine format on a monthly basis.

If you think of it as a news magazine, as we do we change fortnightly – and the good news is that you can populate social media with your new content. This not only increases sharing, but also starts to help with your authority and popularity, which again is music to Googles ears, and should boost your search ranking.

So it’s all good news except it takes time – and that where enhanced content management comes in and the creation of a content framework that delivers what you need.

The framework should also include images, obviously new images are better, as not only can Google tell if you are plagiarizing your copy, but it can also tell how often your images are being used. Yes Big Brother is here, but it’s easier to go along than kick up a fuss. Your social media channels will love the new images and fresh content.

But the warning on the bottom of the page is don’t get persuaded by any so called experts, to take chances and try some techniques which Google frown upon such as trying false links – these are Google no –no s and will get you blacklisted, as being a black hat SEO troublemaker, which sends you to the back of the class and straight to naughty step. There is no need to take chances the key is great content and a fast changing shop front for your digital shop window.