Is posting fresh content really a significant Google ranking factor? Yes, it is. In fact, posting fresh content has been part of the Google algorithm since 2009 with the so-called Google Caffeine update and then again with the 2011 Freshness Algorithm update. So it doesn’t look like the freshness ranking factor is going away anytime soon.
But if you think about it—why would it? When people are searching for answers to their queries, they don’t want to read potentially old content from years ago that might not even be accurate in today’s world…right? Although, with that being said, some content is timeless regardless of when it was posted.
Fortunately, Google understands user intent, meaning Google can determine whether the available content is new or old information and will try to match the results with the user’s search query as best it can with the content that’s available. But overall, posting fresh content isn’t a waste of your time now or probably ever.
So let’s go over some fresh content SEO tips for dermatologists. We will also cover why Google likes fresh content, what Google considers fresh content and how it’s measured, how to improve your freshness score, and more.
What Is Fresh Content?
Fresh content is generally considered recently published, rewritten, or updated content. Google, as well as human searchers, prefer fresh content because fresh content is generally more accurate.
There are four algorithm signals with every online URL that reflect the freshness of any given piece of content.
1. Published Date
When any given page was uploaded and published on the website.
2. Indexed Date
When the search engine crawlers initially found and crawled the page and added it to Google Search.
3. When the Page Was Previously Crawled
The search engine bots look for the date when any given page was last crawled.
4. When the Page Was Last Modified
The search engine bots also look for the date when changes were made to a page.
All of these are fresh content indicators and will make it easier for your business to be found online. This is because the more content you post, the more content you have available online for the search engines to discover and provide to their users’ search queries. And everything combined will generally mean higher search engine rankings for your content.
Freshness Versus Frequency
Content freshness and content frequency are very similar. However, they are not always the same thing. You could post something fresh to your website once a day or something fresh once a week.
Google and the other search engines will allocate more of their resources to sites that publish more frequently because they know there will be fresher content to crawl. Why would the search engines send their bots to crawl a website or page daily when they know you typically only post new content once a week or month? They wouldn’t because that would be a waste of resources.
However, if you post multiple pieces of content every week, then the search engine bots know they must check your site for new content daily because you regularly post fresh content that could be helpful to their users. So the frequency with which you post fresh content is extremely important when it comes to your search engine rankings.
Why Does Google Like Fresh Content?
Google prefers fresh content because, usually, the freshest content is more relevant. It’s a search engine’s job to provide its users with the best possible results for their queries. If they don’t, that user could decide to use a different search engine that does a better job at finding them more relevant search results and is ultimately a better use of their time. That’s why most experts agree that regularly publishing relevant content is one of the most, if not the most, effective tactics you can use for your search engine optimization efforts. Keep reading for more fresh content SEO tips for dermatologists.
How Does Google Measure Content Freshness?
Here is a quick overview of how Google and the other search engines measure content freshness.
- Original Publish Date of the Page: This is the date when Google or another search engine indexed your page for the first time.
- How Much of the Current Content Was Recently Updated: Extensive changes to any given page will generally signal more freshness.
- How Much of the Core Content Was Changed: The more changes to the core content or the main body of content signals more freshness versus someone just changing the date and time tags on a piece of content.
- How Frequently the Page Was Changed: The more frequently changes are made on any given page generally signals more freshness.
- How Often New Pages Are Created: The more frequently you add new pages to your website the better. Frequently adding new pages to your website could result in a higher freshness score.
- The Freshness of Backlinks to a Page: The freshness of backlinks to your pages matters. If you get new backlinks to your page from sites that have a high freshness score, it could help improve your score as well.
Can Updating Your Current Content Improve Your Rankings?
One great tactic for improving your freshness score is to take your old content and update it. The more you update it and add more information to it, the better. This will save you time and money by not having to produce more content completely from scratch. And it will help you increase your website’s search engine traffic at the same time.
As we continue learning about fresh content SEO tips for dermatologists, let’s talk a little more about local ranking factors and how content freshness can affect them.
What Are Local Ranking Factors?
There are certain factors that help the search engines determine your local rankings.
- Recency – How recently you posted any given piece of content.
- Relevancy – This refers to how well a local Business Profile matches any given search. Adding detailed business information to your Google Business Profile will help the search engines better understand your website and match your profile to all relevant searches.
- Distance – This refers to how far any given searcher is from the location term used in the search. If the user does not specifically enter a location in the search, Google will calculate their distance based on what it knows about the searcher’s location.
- Prominence – This refers to how well-known any given business is. Prominence is based on the information Google has about a business. This could include information from the internet such as likes, articles, directories, etc. These all play a factor in a business’s local search rankings.
Just remember that recency = fresh in the eyes of the search engines.
How Does Content Freshness Affect Your Local Rankings?
Google and other search engines consider content differently. Timely content such as news, NFL scores, trending topics, etc. needs to be fresh. But Google can determine by the topic whether or not the content should be fresh and will judge its freshness accordingly. Sometimes older, timeless content will be provided to a searcher depending on their search query. So fresh content is usually better, but not always. Therefore, make sure you are considering the type of content you are publishing. Crafting your content based on whether it’s timely or evergreen is extremely important. Evergreen content means that it will be relevant regardless of how old it is. So content like recipes, historical facts, etc. are considered evergreen content.
How to Improve Your Freshness Score
Here are some fresh content SEO tips for dermatologists. Performing the following will help you keep your clinic’s content timely, relevant, and fresh:
- Publish new content regularly (as often as possible).
- Refresh older content regularly (as needed).
- Prioritize content that is receiving high traffic (as often as possible).
- Change the publication date on your refreshed content immediately after you update it.
- Submit your new content to Google through the Search Console.
Now that we have gone over some fresh content SEO tips for dermatologists, let’s talk about what you can do to boost your clinic’s website, content, and page rankings.
Request a Demo of the Surefire Local Business Intelligence Marketing Software
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Fresh Content SEO Tips for Dermatologists Using the Surefire Local Platform
You can use the Surefire Local platform to easily view your analytics to identify your high-performing content. It can also be used to edit and update your blog articles. And the best part is that you can do all that and more, all from one convenient Surefire Local dashboard.
What’s Next?
Request Your Surefire Local Demo Today!
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