How to Update Your Old Content with Jaime Shine @jaimeshine #vcbuzz

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Creating an effective content strategy is fundamental to any marketing plan.

But it is usually about creating new content.

Yet, your existing content may very well be even more important than creating new content because existing pages already have unique data, including rankings and on-page engagement.

It is much more effective to use your own data than relying on third-party numbers that any of your competitors have an equal access to.

How to create content updating strategy?

Let’s discuss!

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About Jaime Shine @jaimeshine

Jaime Shine @jaimeshine is marketer, writer and social media strategist for hire.

Jaime is owner of Clearly Conveyed Communications helping brands communicate with their target audience(s)

Questions we discussed

Q1 How did you become a digital marketer? Please share your career story!

I love to write. While most kids were playing, I was publishing magazines or newspapers with feature articles, ads, sports box scores and all. From promotions director to advertising roles to branding projects, I’ve always been interested in marketing.

Those interests led me to pursue a degree in Advertising, with a heavy emphasis on all kinds of writing. I spent nine years in various marketing roles in Corporate America, including more digital projects as the space commanded more attention.

I noticed that the small business owners I supported daily were looking for affordable marketing services beyond what our company offered. They knew they needed help in these areas but couldn’t afford to hire large marketing agencies.

In 2012, Clearly Conveyed Communications (CCC) was born. While I had worked in digital, this is when I started focusing on social media, content creation, writing for online projects and more. It’s been a crazy ride, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Q2 Why is updating old content so important and why do so many brands fail to do that?

Creating quality content is challenging and time-consuming, so you want to extract as much value out of it as you can. Your older content is a gold mine of benefits, which you’ve already spent time, energy and resources on, so don’t forget about it.

Updating your older content delivers a better user experience, so visitors find value on your site or blog, stay longer and show interest in your products and services. This includes visitors referred by backlinks, which will help boost your site’s SEO.

Updating older content and fixing broken links will also strengthen your site’s SEO by welcoming search engine crawlers and helping them index your site, boosting your rankings. Dead links stop search engine crawlers in their tracks.

Our society tends to focus on what’s new, which is why brands often fail to update older content. Once content is published and initially distributed, it’s put on a back shelf and forgotten about. Don’t do this and lose so many benefits!

Updating older content will also give you fresh ideas for new content! Approach a topic you previously blogged about from a different perspective, or explore a previous topic more in-depth by creating a series.

Q3 How to identify content that needs updating? How to get better organized with content updates to turn it into an on-going process?

Use a tool like @DeadLinkChecker to find broken links that may be damaging your rankings and usability. There’s a free tool, Multi Check (for multiple websites) and Auto Check (which runs on a regular basis and emails you reports).

Also, visit your website regularly! Before you create new content, look at older content you’ve already published on the same topic. Check popular posts to see if they need updated or can be enhanced with fresh information. Check pages before sharing!

Moving forward, include your older content in your content strategy. Dedicate time and resources to updating older content, refreshing your blog/site and cleaning up broken links on a regular basis. Make it an equal priority with creating new content!

Q4 How to update content? What are the key elements of a good content update?

First, check for broken links, missing videos, corrupt images or loading issues. Are your images optimized or are they slowing down the page from loading? Have you used images without permission? Get permission, or replace them with appropriate ones.

Next, look at the copy. Is the headline drawing traffic, or can it be improved? Reread the article and captions. Is the content still relevant or does it need to be refreshed? Add any new information that will bring the content up-to-date.

Make sure your content is readable (and skimmable) with appropriate visuals, short paragraphs and different sections, or headings. White space and proper formatting are your friends on screen. Add relevant videos, GIFs, polls or other media!

Q5 What are your favorite writing and SEO tools?

My favorite writing and SEO tools are Headline Studio and Email Subject Line Tester by @CoSchedule, Microsoft Word, @evernote, @wordpressdotcom and @DeadLinkChecker.

Our previous content marketing chats:

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