Why you should be refreshing (or sometimes even removing) your old website content

Bobbie

Written by Bobbie

2022
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The best way to think about the content on your website is that it could always be better. Here’s why reviewing, refreshing, and removing content should be high on your list if it isn’t already.

You’ll make your site easier to navigate

By taking a closer look at your analytics, you may find that there are pages on your site that simply aren’t being seen. You could have separate pages with details of your brand’s history, mission and key values, but are people reading them, or are they simply taking up space in your footer? Or, are there key pages that are missing from your site?

A KCC (kill, combine, create) exercise can help you to streamline your entire sitemap. By taking a closer look at page views and the quality of the content on your site, you may find that several pages can be consolidated into one (or even deleted entirely) to keep your site clean, tidy and easy to navigate. You may even find that there are opportunities to create new landing pages for traffic that’s coming from paid ads or Google.

By regularly reviewing your content structure as a whole, you’ll ensure users can get everything they need as quickly and easily as possible.

You’ll keep your content relevant (and be rewarded for it)

Relevant content is the best kind of content. So if you review your content regularly, and ensure you’re always giving your audience the answers they’re looking for, then the Google algorithm will thank you for it. But this doesn’t mean undergoing a complete overhaul.

Start by conducting a content audit to identify strengths and weaknesses in page content, and look at stats such as bounce rates and page views. There could be product descriptions that would benefit from some long-tail keywords or an FAQs page that could incorporate more common search terms. Or, if there’s a blog post that’s seen great engagement, then why not repurpose it and republish it?

Keep things relevant and fresh and you’ll appear higher up the search results. And better organic rankings means better quality traffic to your site.

You’ll improve the user experience (and increase conversions)

Improving your content won’t only help drive users to your site - it will also help them to convert once they arrive there.

Take a look at your page content. Are your users getting all the information they need from your product pages? Or is there too much information for them to sift through? Are your USPs hidden on your About page in the footer, or are they displayed proudly on your homepage for everyone to find?

Thinking like a new user or, even better, using a heat-mapping tool will help you understand how people use your site. But when it comes to actually making changes to the content on key pages, always do an A/B test. It could be something as simple as tweaking the copy on a button from ‘Check availability’ to ‘Book now’, but you’ll have the data to back up your decisions and won’t risk making drastic changes that could impact your conversion rates.

You’ll ensure your site is a true reflection of your brand identity

Think of your brand as a person that’s always evolving. The copy that you created when you launched your site three years ago may no longer be relevant. The direction of your business may have changed, your brand may feel more premium or be more established than it used to, or you may have realised that your website just doesn’t “sound” like you anymore.

Your site will set the tone for a lot of your marketing initiatives, so if you’re going to start anywhere, it should be there. It will be the first port of call for those who have just discovered your brand and is a place that your loyal customers should enjoy returning to, so it’s important that it’s always up-to-date, and looks and feels current.

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