by Fronetics | Jul 14, 2020 | Blog, Covid-19, Marketing, SEO
Your company blog can be a goldmine for search engines. These strategies will give your old blog posts an SEO boost — without days of work.
When time and resources are in short supply, use them well. That leads us to your company blog. One of the quickest ways to get search engines to pay renewed attention to your website is to update old blog posts for SEO.
Why?
Google and other search engines reward new content. When your site is stagnant, Google takes note and will not crawl the site as often in search of updates. The result is a lower freshness score and lower rankings. But writing brand-new posts is time-consuming and may not be at the top of your priority lists when urgent matters demand attention. You need a quicker solution where the bulk of the work is already done.
The fact is your library of old blog posts is a goldmine for SEO. Content drives traffic and leads long after it was published. A look at our own most-viewed posts in July shows a post from 2018 has suddenly sailed to the top our lists as well as Google’s search engine results pages (SERP), driven by searches for “benefits of corporate social responsibility”.
But resting on old laurels is really not an option. Old posts that relay dated information can actually hurt your content marketing strategy. To get the most out of the hard work we pour into content creation here at Fronetics, we need to regularly extract the best of past blog posts and let them shine in a new light. Cue optimizing old blog posts for SEO.
Updating old blog posts for SEO comes with a range of benefits:
- It’s a win not only for the updated post but for the entire site since Google prioritizes frequent activity.
- It lets you rework keywords for improved organic search traffic.
- It helps you stay relevant in the eyes of your target audience (dated product launch posts do you no favors).
- It saves time as you don’t have to start from scratch every time you need to publish.
But how do you know which blog posts are worth repurposing?
Setting out to randomly update old blog posts for SEO makes little sense. Some, from years ago, may event warrant deleting, especially if they contain keywords that compete for attention with newer pieces. Rather, there are certain characteristics that make some posts more worthwhile to update than others. The point is not to spend hours rewriting the post or entirely changing its premise, but to give it good once-over that makes it useful again — and, by extension, drive improved SEO.
Here are a few themes to look for:
The number of inbound links: Posts with a lot of high-quality inbound links have something those without lack: authority. That feature gives these posts a better shot at ranking when you do a page refresh.
High conversion rates/low traffic: These posts have served you well in the past but something is amiss about their reach. If you can improve traffic with more relevant keywords, you have created a top lead generator.
High traffic: Some posts consistently draw lots of visitors, but are you putting your best foot forward? You can squeeze more value out of high-performing posts and extend their life span by giving your audience the most up-to-date information available. If conversion rates are low, you may find revising the Calls-to-Action (CTA) could have a big impact.
Ranking opportunities: Does the post rank on, let’s say, page 5 of search results? It can make it a good candidate for updating. Free tools like Moz Keyword Explorer or Ubersuggest can help you identify alternative keywords that could help lift the post to a better position.
Trending topics: If your business keeps getting questions about a certain topic that you covered but that now sits buried on the blog, a refresh means a chance to capture those search queries. It is also a better option than creating a new, duplicate post that could hurt search rankings.
Next question: What exactly should you do to SEO optimize old blog posts?
1. Evaluate keywords
Adding content to target new keywords is the No. 1 priority of marketers who update old blog posts for SEO, according to a Databox survey. Again, free SEO tools can help you take proactive steps to improve the keyword focus of your piece. Use Google Search Console, for instance, to identify keywords that the post is already ranking for and that potentially outperform the original keyword. Even a small tweak could give the post a boost.
2. Rewrite headlines, subheads, meta description, and intro
Once you have nailed down one or two long-tail keywords that match the intent of your target reader, incorporate them into the headline (H1), subheads (H2), and meta description. To underscore the freshness of the piece, rework the first paragraph and include the keyword. If you are sticking with the original keyword since it is already ranking well, make targeted alterations to potentially draw even more traffic and check back in to see how it performs a few weeks later.
3. Find new internal links
What has happened on your site recently? Internal links to old product pages and resources need to go. Improve the user experience and boost SEO at the same time by linking to your newest and most relevant work. Internal links give search engines a road map that benefits both the post that you’re working on and the pages that you’re linking to. And, while you’re at it, make sure there are no broken links. Do it manually or let Check My Links do the work.
4. Update stats and link to new research
Few things will make me leave a page as fast as old stats. Multiply that tendency by X number of readers, and your post will gradually lose its authority and keyword ranking. A quick search should identify more up-to-date information from outside industry sources. In a fast-moving industry like the supply chain, new reports are usually not hard to come by. Add an expert quote or two, link to new research, and you’re on the way to re-establishing the page as a trusted, quality source in the eyes of crawling search engines.
The supply chain stuff is really tricky. — Elon Musk
5. Add images and video
Time on page matters to SEO. And the more that draws visitors to stick around on the page, the better. Again, if time is limited, there are quick ways to update old posts for SEO. Consider adding a quick infographic, more engaging imagery, pull quotes, and anything else that is readily available, like a video produced for another part of your page. High-quality visuals also send a strong message of professionalism and trustworthiness that raise the profile of your blog in general. Remember to add alt texts that include the keyword.
6. Combine posts to turn the focus on high performers
Do you have posts with similar themes, concepts, and keywords? They may be competing with each other, eroding traffic and ranking for all. Here is your chance to pull segments of the weaker posts and add them to the higher performer (redirect the old posts to the new updated post). The benefits are twofold: the elimination of duplicate content and a content-rich new post which search engines favor.
7. Set a new publication date but don’t change the URL
Your work is almost done. Changing the URL, however, is generally not recommended. It requires a 301 redirect and means the loss of the authority the post has built up on your website. Instead, change the publication date, set it live, and share on social channels.
The bottom line
Optimizing old blog posts for SEO takes the pressure off producing new content when other tasks are calling. Even during less busy times, it is an integral feature of any content marketing strategy. The benefits are simply too good to pass up.
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by Fronetics | Oct 17, 2019 | Blog, Marketing, SEO
Search intent looks at the ‘why’ behind a search. If you’re looking to improve your website ranking, here’s how search intent affects SEO.
Highlights:
- If you truly want to rank at the top of search results, you’ve got to shift your thinking in terms of topic clusters.
- Think about your buyer personas. What kinds of queries they’re typing into Google – not just the actual words but the intent behind the keywords?
- Then start creating content to answer those questions in different formats like video, blog, and infographics.
Video transcript:
I’m Elizabeth Hines from Fronetics, and today’s topic is search intent and how it affects SEO.
I keep saying that trying to rank for certain keywords is a really outdated method of SEO. If you truly want to rank at the top of search results, you’ve got to shift your thinking in terms of topic clusters. And you should develop those topic clusters based on something called search intent.
Now search intent is the why behind a search query. What that means is why did the person conduct this search in the first place. There are 4 types:
- Informational: when a user is searching for specific information.
- Navigational: when a user is looking for a specific website
- Transactional: when a user is looking to make a purchase.
- Commercial investigation: when a user is researching products or services but they’re not yet ready to make a purchase. They might be looking for reviews and comparisons.
So, how can you optimize your website to better serve search intent?
Think about your buyer personas. What kinds of queries they’re typing into Google – not just the actual words but the intent behind the keywords? Are they trying to solve a problem, like, how can I extend battery life on my forklifts? Are they trying to understand how new federal regulations or mandates might impact their business? Or, are they trying to budget for a new solution and researching pricing?
The next step is creating content to answer those questions. Try answering the question in several different formats — long-form content, blogs, video, infographics. Creating this like of content with search intent in mind is more likely to get you ranking higher in Google search results than thinking about individual keywords and phrases.
For more information, visit us at our website at fronetics.com.
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by Fronetics | May 22, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Social listening describes the process of scanning online platforms to find the sentiment around your brand. Here are 4 ways that social listening can boost SEO.
Highlights:
- Social listening describes the process of scanning social media platforms, blogs, news websites and other digital forums to find the mention of any keywords.
- Regularly monitoring the sentiment around your brand through social listening can help prevent a problem before it blows up.
- Track your organic brand mentions and use that information to create a strategy about how to grow brand awareness.
Video transcript:
This is Elizabeth Hines. I’m the Creative Director at Fronetics, and today we’re talking about four ways social listening can boost your SEO.
Social listening describes the process of scanning social media platforms, blogs, news websites and other digital forums to find the mention of any keywords. In particular the name of your company or your CEO for example, to figure out the general sentiment around your company and your people. We used to use social listening mainly for social media marketing, but it can also be a really effective search engine optimization tool if you do it properly. So here are four ways social listening can boost your SEO.
1. Learn if your backlinks are coming from spammy websites
Backlinks from spammy or untrustworthy websites can negatively impact your search ranking. So a Google executive recently noted that this is just a normal part of being on the web and really you shouldn’t worry that much about it. But the one exception would be if there’s some kind of dedicated activity from a competitor, for example, buying up a lot of links and trying to ruin your search ranking. In this instance you should consider disavowing them and using social listening to figure that out.
2. Find guest blogging opportunities
One of the greatest benefits of social media is the opportunity to network with your industry peers and social influencers. Building relationships with reputable businesses and people could be a gateway to guest blogging, which is one of the most sound and effective ways to build your reputation with search engines, not to mention the people that follow those peer sites and influencers.
3. Monitor your brands reputation
Mistakes happen and even companies with the best intentions will sometimes suffer from a social media crisis. So regularly monitoring the sentiment around your brand through social listening can help prevent a problem before it blows up, goes viral or at least is big enough for Google’s algorithm to down rank you for providing a poor user experience.
4. Grow brand mentions
Now a lot of people will tell you to use social listening to find linkless backlinks, which are websites that mention your content but don’t provide a hyperlink to your site. Then you should reach out to those people and see if they’ll add that link in. But in my opinion, this is an enormous waste of time. We’re seeing that linkless backlinks are becoming equally as important as regular backlinks for search engine optimization. So instead, I encourage you to use that time and energy to track your organic brand mentions and use that information to create a strategy about how to grow more. For example did you say something on Reddit that got lots of attention? Well, you should do more of that.
For more tips like these, check out our blog at fronetics.com.
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by Fronetics | Apr 16, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, SEO, Video Marketing
With the growing popularity of video, it’s harder for video posts to rank in search results. Here’s what marketers need to know about SEO and video posts.
Highlights:
- When choosing your video hosting platform, it’s important to consider the reasons why you want your videos to rank, such as lead generation or brand awareness.
- Spend time crafting an engaging video title and description and make sure to use keywords audiences are actually searching for.
- Don’t solely rely on optimizing your video to receive placement on search engines. It’s just as important that the rest of the page is optimized for SEO.
Video transcript:
I’m Ulrika Gerth, and I’m the Content Writer and Strategist at Fronetics. Today I’m going to talk about what you need to know about SEO and video posts.
So video SEO is simply optimizing your video to be indexed and rank on the search engine results pages, like Google.
In the last few years, video marketing has become more and more popular among businesses and it’s easy to see why. It’s cost effective and easy to produce. But with the explosion of video, it’s also become much harder to get ranked on universal search results.
Here are a few ways to optimize your videos.
1. Pick the best platform.
When choosing your video hosting platform, you need to consider the reasons why you want your videos to rank. Are you optimizing your video to gain traffic and generate leads? Or are you more interested in thought leadership and brand awareness?
2. Make the video engaging.
The video thumbnail is what searchers will see when your video is indexed, and therefore it plays an important role in whether they will click on your video.
3. Pay attention to the title and description of your video.
Just like they do for a blog post, the title and description play a role in ranking videos. Spend time crafting an engaging video title and description. Make sure you do keyword research so you use keywords people are actually searching for.
4. Ensure the rest of your page is relevant to the video and optimized for SEO.
You can’t rely only on optimizing your video to receive placement on search engines. It’s just as important that the rest of the page is optimized for SEO, or the search engines won’t bother to crawl it in the first place.
For more information, visit fronetics.com.
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by Fronetics | Feb 27, 2019 | Blog, Marketing, SEO, Website Development
SEO helps your website rank higher in search engine results pages. Here are the SEO basics to get your website performing better and in front of your target audience.
Highlights:
- SEO stands for search engine optimization — that much has stayed the same. It refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages.
- SEO works by optimizing a website’s pages, conducting keyword research, and earning inbound links.
- To rank well in the long term, build your SEO marketing strategy around topics, not keywords.
Video transcript:
I’m Jennifer Yim and I’m the Director of Strategy here at Fronetics. Today’s topic is SEO. SEO seems pretty straightforward. You pick a few keywords and your page is magically optimized for SEO, right? Not quite.
People understand the basic principles of SEO, but a lot has changed in the last decade. Let’s take a look at the basics to get your site ranking higher.
SEO stands for search engine optimization — that much has stayed the same. It refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages. This makes your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that your brand, product, or service can provide by search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.
What hasn’t stayed the same are the techniques we use to improve our rankings. This has everything to do with the search algorithms that these companies constantly change.
SEO works by optimizing a website’s pages, conducting keyword research, and earning inbound links. You can generally see results of SEO efforts once the webpage has been crawled and indexed by a search engine.
There are a ton of ways to improve the SEO of your site pages. Search engines look for elements including title tags, keywords, image tags, internal link structure, and inbound links.
Search engines also look at site structure and design, visitor behavior, and other external, off-site factors to determine how highly ranked your site should be in their results pages.
To rank well in the long term, build your SEO marketing strategy around topics, not keywords. If you do that, you’ll find you can naturally optimize for important keywords, anyway. Understanding your target audience and what interests them is key to attracting relevant visitors to your website through search engines.
For more tips on improving SEO and building your digital marketing strategy, visit us at Fronetics.com.
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