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SEO Maintenance: How to re-optimize your old content?

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To keep your blog growing, you add more and more content doing your best to market everything you write. It’s a long and challenging process and it’s well worth going through.


But while doing that, you may be missing a low-hanging fruit, something that may boost your blog traffic considerably over time, that is go back and optimize your old content.


Here are 5 tools to do that, without any help or expensive audits.


Re-optimize for easier keywords


It all starts with keywords. Often when I see good content struggling to generate some consistent traffic and go back and re-optimize it for easier keywords. It never changes the meaning of the content: All I do is find out how others put it when searching for questions and answers to my articles.


The easiest tools to do that are Serpstat and Ahrefs. You don’t have to be an SEO to use it, nor do you need to register an account. The free open version is enough to feel comfortable and decide whether you need to use it more. For keyword research, I use two sections of the site:


  • Content marketing -> Search questions (To find out which questions users type in Google’s search box when researching my topic)
  • SEO research -> Keyword research


This could also give you some great content ideas for the future too!


In Ahrefs my favorite section is Content Gap showing you some keywords your competitors are ranking but you are not:


Ahrefs Content Gap

The tool has many more features you’d want to look into if you decide to give it a try. You can find which keywords are missing from your site, compare yourself to competitors, monitor your rankings and more.


All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets: Stand Out in Search


Do you know what a rich snippet is? It’s a chance to stand out in search and thus get a higher click-through even when your content is not as high as #1-#3. For content-based projects, the most important rich snippet one can get is Ratings and Reviews as well as FAQ schema. Here’s what the latter looks like in search:

FAQ Rich Schema Markup

[FAQ Schema adds a quick Q&A right inside your search snippets making it much more noticeable and hence much more clickable]


All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets is an easy to use WordPress plugin. Whenever you write a tool or a product review, just select the “Review” schema and provide the review author and the average score you give. You can go back and edit your older reviews too!


Yoast plugin supports a lot of schema types as well!


Don’t forget to use the Schema Markup Validator to make sure Google is able to see your code.


Find SEO and Usability Errors


There are quite a few SEO crawlers out there that help you catch errors on your existing pages that may be preventing those pages from ranking higher. These include Netpeak Spider and Screaming Frog.


An SEO crawler helps you easily diagnose your site or page SEO health:


  • Find which error pages your blog is linking to (You don’t want your readers to click broken links!)
  • Find pages with missing internal links (This means your readers will have no other choice but leave your site)
  • Find broken images (Make sure your site is appealing) or too huge images (Those slow your site down)
  • Find pages with too little content (Those are weak pages that may drag your blog down)
  • … And much more.


You’ll understand much more about your site when playing with the tool.


The two less advanced, but still useful alternatives:


  • Broken Links Checker: I am using this WordPress plugin to get rid of broken links in my old articles as well as old comments to those articles
  • Check My Links: This is a simple Google Chrome extension that will signal of any issues with on-page links while you are browsing the web


Make Sure You Rank in Mobile Search


Way back in 2014 mobile usage of the Internet has reached and surpassed desktop usage. These days mobile digital media time in the United States is higher at 51% compared to desktop (42%).


Moreover, search is the most common starting point for consumer research on mobile devices, which means people do search from mobile and your blog needs to rank there!


That being said, if your blog is not mobile friendly, it will be hit in two ways:

  • Users won’t be able to find it (Google is now only showing mobile-friendly websites for mobile search users)
  • Users won’t be able to use it (for obvious reasons).


It’s crucial to make sure your site is mobile friendly. Mobile-Friendly Test tool is provided by Google and it lets you quickly see how your site renders on a mobile device.


It is also a smart idea to play with your site on your own mobile phone and make sure all calls-to-action work the way they are supposed to.


Find Which Keywords Send You Clicks


Google Search Console is a must-have for many reasons:


  1. Currently it’s the only way to find which keywords are sending you some search referral traffic
  2. It signals you of any critical issues with your site: Primarily, if your site has been hacked
  3. It shows you overall site health and how often Google bots come to visit.
  4. It gives you an idea how Google sees your site (navigate Google Webmaster Tools select “Fetch and Render”)


Search Console is also a great tool to find your most powerful pages to re-optimize:

Google Search Console

Old content gives you a huge opportunity for improving your organic visibility. Instead of creating something completely new, you can rely on already existing data. It does take a lot of time and you can never really mark this task as done. You will need to go back and re-optimize your existing content on a regular basis.


If you have no time for this time-consuming task, consider hiring a high-quality SEO service.


Are there any other SEO tools you are using for your blog? Let’s discuss on Twitter @urdigitalau or @pulkitseo

Author

PULKIT

AGRAWAL

FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR


Profile


My name is Pulkit Agrawal and I'm the Founder and Managing Director of UR Digital. I invest my soul and imagination into every client. I have worked across many industries, over the past 15 years and countless highly successful SEO projects and campaigns.

Skills and Achievements


Multi-lingual SEO (English, German, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese). Google, Semrush, BEC Australia and LinkedIn certified. Member Entrepreneur Leadership Network. Guest Author Entrepreneur, Semrush & Inside Small Business.

Connect with me on

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With the help of the right keywords, businesses can create more relevant content that ranks higher in the SERPs. The higher your website ranks in search results, the more visible it becomes. This increased visibility can lead to more clicks and ultimately, more traffic to your website. But it's important to remember that SEO isn't a one-and-done deal. Keeping your website relevant and up to date with the latest trends and algorithm updates, requires ongoing optimisation and monitoring. Increases Website Visibility For businesses to stay competitive, having an online presence is vital. SEO helps to increase website visibility by making it easier for potential customers to find business online. An SEO-optimised website appears higher in SERPs, making it more visible to users. Moreover, a higher ranking on search engines leads to increased trust and credibility among users. This, in turn, can lead to more inbound links and referrals, further increasing the website's visibility and authority. Enhances User Experience SEO is not about optimising for search engines but also for users. By creating relevant, informative, and engaging content, businesses can enhance the user experience on their website. This can lead to longer page dwell times, lower bounce rates, and more repeat visits. Mobile optimisation is not only crucial for enhancing user experience, but it is also a significant ranking factor in search engine optimisation (SEO). By ensuring that your website is optimised for mobile devices, you can improve your website's search engine ranking and visibility. Search engines like Google prioritise mobile-friendly websites because they provide a better user experience to mobile users, who make up a significant portion of internet. How To Create Readable, SEO-Friendly Content? Identify your target audience Content marketing is all about connecting with people on a personal level. To make this happen, you need to know your target audience - the folks who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. You need to know your audience well enough to resonate with them. This could lead to a lack of engagement, high bounce rates, and fewer people visiting your website. So, take the time to research your audience's demographics, interests, and behaviour. This will help you create content that speaks directly to them. When you know your audience's needs and wants, you can create content that addresses their interests and concerns. This will help you drive engagement, increase traffic, and achieve your marketing goals. Plus, by using the keywords and phrases your audience is searching for, you can improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) and attract even more visitors to your site. Finally, don't forget to gather feedback from your audience. This will help you better understand their content preferences, what they find most compelling, and areas of interest. Surveys, polls, and focus groups can be great tools to get this feedback. Tips to create content that resonates with your target audience: Use a conversational tone: Use language that is easy to understand and avoids technical jargon. This will make your content more accessible to a wider audience. Address their pain points: Address the problems or challenges that your audience is facing and provide solutions that can help them. Use visuals and multimedia: Visuals and multimedia can help break up the text and make your content more engaging. Be authentic: Authenticity is key when creating content that resonates with your audience. Use real-life examples, case studies, and stories to make your content more relatable. Provide value: Make sure your content provides value to your audience. Whether it's educational, entertaining, or inspiring, your content should be worth their time and attention. Crafting compelling content that genuinely connects with your ideal audience can transform your content marketing approach. Research your keywords Keyword research is a vital component of content creation, as it enables you to comprehend the search intent of your target audience. By gaining insights into the keywords and phrases people use when searching for a particular topic, you can craft content that effectively meets their needs and provides valuable information. Effective keyword research also allows you to identify the most relevant and high-traffic keywords for your content. By including these keywords strategically in your content, you can boost your search engine rankings and improve the visibility of your website to potential visitors. Tips for conducting effective keyword research: Begin your keyword research by identifying broad topics related to your business or industry. Refine your search terms using long-tail, more specific, relevant keywords to your business. These keywords have a lower search volume but are more targeted and can help you attract more qualified traffic to your website. Analyse your competition to identify the keywords they target. Tools like SEMrush , Ahrefs , or Moz can help you identify your competitors' top-performing keywords and use them to create better and more targeted content. Use keyword research tools to identify the most relevant and high-traffic keywords relevant to your business. Tools like Google Keyword Planner , Keywordtool.io , or our Customer Portal (UR Digital customers only) can help you identify keywords with high search volume and low competition. Focus on user intent when conducting keyword research. 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