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 | May 6, 2020 | Blog, Content Marketing, Covid-19, Current Events, Marketing, SEO, Strategy, Supply Chain
So much to say, so little time. Supply chain marketing during Covid-19 — leaning in is better than backing out.
Turmoil does not quite begin to describe the situation that supply chain companies have experienced lately. The Covid-19 pandemic threw in just a few weeks the finely calibrated, just-in-time supply chains into a state of disarray. In the midst of the struggle to get product from Point A to Point B — while also ensuring the health and safety of employees — many companies had little choice but to adopt an all-hands-on-deck approach.
We saw it ourselves as our clients were suddenly buried in challenges that only weeks earlier had posed no issues at all — securing electronic parts overseas, locating warehouse space, finding freight forwarders, moving product out of port, and more.
If supply chain marketing during Covid-19 had to take a backseat during the initial phase of the crisis, beware of staying quiet for too long. Letting your marketing channels sit idle for an extended period, or drastically scaling back at a time when communication matters more than ever, is not a risk-free strategy.
Let us explain why:
Covid-19 supply chain marketing: Lean in or risk losing ground
Go silent — or stay strong
In the wake of the first shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain companies understandably had to devote extensive resources to regain their footing. Few industries felt the impact as deeply as the supply chain. For some, the disruption opened up a flood of new business, sending the entire organization scrambling to keep up. For others, it meant every budget line item had to be scrutinized.
At the same time, we noted another challenge brewing for busy organizations: Maintaining a strong online presence during a tumultuous time. How do instill confidence in current customers and gain new leads if you say little or nothing at all?
After the first flurry of crisis-related marketing emails that many of us received (“We are here to help”), some companies — overwhelmed by the scope of work — let their social media accounts go silent and blog pages seized being updated.
The risk? Taking a break or withdrawing altogether could put your organization in a worse position later.
A McKinsey study underscores this point — conventional downturn strategies can actually hamper recovery. The performance analysis of 700 high–tech companies during two decades of market contractions showed “making obvious moves (for instance, cutting costs) as well as counterintuitive ones (such as increasing sales and marketing expenditures) quickly can improve a company’s position when the recovery begins.”
Interestingly, the best-performing companies increased their marketing and advertising spend relative to their competitors, but also compared to their own spending when times were better. However, from our perspective, the issue is far from just spend but identifying the most effective marketing channels and tactics at a time when resources may be scarce.
Weaken SEO — or make it soar
The risk of cutting back on supply chain marketing during Covid-19 also extends to search engine optimization (SEO). Rather than a one-time project, SEO needs constant attention to hum. It is the foundation of your effort to improve the quality and quantity of unpaid website traffic by increasing the visibility of your site or page to search engine users.
SEO and content go together
The completion of a well-designed website is only the beginning. If there is anything SEO demands more than anything else, it is content. You simply cannot ace one without the other. New, key-word optimized content is what makes SEO tick. Google Search has for years used a freshness algorithm to index pages. This means fresh content gets rapidly indexed and lands higher in search rankings than older content.
Backlinks — other reputable sites linking to your content — are also crucial to building SEO. When you provide up-to-date, insightful content, chances increase others will notice and link back to your site, especially during a time when so many are online searching for information. The same goes for backlinks and traffic to your site generated by social media.
So, what is the risk of going quiet?
The short of it: SEO can suffer. If content was the backbone of your marketing strategy before the pandemic hit, your organization has likely established a history of domain authority and is, as a result, in a better position to weather the storm. But not even the best of sites can escape the reality of what matters to search engines. Although you can still squeeze juice out of old keywords, lack of new content puts your organization at a disadvantage when search engines evaluate your pages in competition with countless others.
So much to say — can you find the time?
In many respects, supply chain marketing during Covid-19 comes down to this: Who would you want to do business with during a time of great uncertainty? What signals do you want to send to your audience? What do you want to tell them? As challenging as it may be, leaning in is better than backing out.
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 | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, SEO
Being aware of the marketing acronyms being discussed on the internet is key to staying up with the latest digital marketing trends and ideas.
Highlights:
- Key performance indicators (KPIs) are the metrics you determine to be most important in measuring the success of a digital marketing campaign.
- All-important search engine optimization (SEO) is what allows your page to rank high among search engine results.
- A positive user experience (UX) is crucial to converting leads.
If you’re not up on internet language, the profusion of acronyms can sometimes make it feel like an unbreakable code. Being aware of some key marketing acronyms can go a long way toward helping your business generate online leads and revenue.
There are a seemingly endless supply of acronyms being thrown around out there, from the general to the highly specialized. These eight marketing acronyms are the ones you need to know to help you navigate digital marketing language and be on the cutting edge of best practices for your business.
8 marketing acronyms you need to know
1) KPI: Key Performance Indicator(s)
Effective digital marketing campaigns start with documented goals, accompanied by the metrics you will measure to determine how successful you are at reaching those goals. KPIs are your most important metrics. Choosing the right KPIs for a specific campaign is critical to its success, since these metrics are how you evaluate and tailor your efforts.
2) CTA: Call-to-Action
Even if you haven’t run across this particular one of our marketing acronyms, you’re probably aware of what it refers to. Your CTA is the vital step in which you ask your audience to take an action that moves them one step closer to your objective of connecting them with your company. Creating effective CTAs is key to converting leads.
3) SEM: Search Engine Marketing
SEM refers to the type of advertisements that appear on search engines such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo among the sponsored results. These advertisements can be effective if you choose your keywords wisely.
4) SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SEO is one of the most important marketing acronyms you’re likely to run across. All of your digital assets, particularly all website content, should be geared toward ranking highly when prospects search for keywords relevant to your business. There are mountains of material written on SEO, as it’s a crucial topic for digital marketers. Our four-part series on writing for SEO is a good starting place.
5) CRO: Conversion Rate Optimization
CRO refers to the idea of increasing the percentage of website visitors that take the desired action on your page – or, more specifically, the visitors that convert into leads. Optimizing your conversion rate means ensuring that your website design, content, and functionality make it easy and attractive to navigate, as well as being persuasive.
6) CTR: Click-Through Rate
Your CTR is the number of clicks an advertisement or post receives divided by the number of times it has been shown or shared. This metric not only lets you determine how effective your content is, but it also helps you measure engagement on social channels. An engaged audience and a high CTR means more opportunities to convert leads.
7) CPL: Cost Per Lead
When you’re paying for leads to be delivered to you through an ad campaign, your CPL refers to the amount you pay each time a user fills out a form, subscribes to your blog, or provides an email address.
8) UX: User Experience
When it comes to digital marketing, user experience refers to the ease and navigability of your website and other digital assets. CRO, for example, is one of many aspects of UX, which also is affected by the overall architecture of your site, how quickly your page loads, the quality of your content, how your website interacts with your social media accounts, and more.
What other marketing acronyms have you found useful?
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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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