Creating fresh content is rewarding but can quickly become exhausting.
Fortunately, a content refresh strategy offers a more efficient way to improve your website’s visibility, engage your audience, and boost SEO without starting from scratch.
Here’s why a content refresh matters:
Content will age, lose relevance, and—thanks to competitors—underperform. With a thoughtful refresh, you can breathe new life into older posts, turning them into traffic and conversion powerhouses.
Meet SuperOffice: A CRM Pioneer
SuperOffice is an award-winning CRM platform based in Oslo, Norway. Launched in 1989—years before Salesforce—they have helped over 6,000 companies drive revenue growth with tools for sales, marketing, and customer service.
Their philosophy? Turn relationships into revenue.
Their full suite of tools empowers businesses to:
- Grow revenue with advanced sales features
- Improve communication through effective marketing tools
- Deliver superior customer experiences with robust service tools
When I had the chance to collaborate with their team, led by expert SaaS marketer Steven MacDonald, we focused on a strategy that transformed their blog into an even more powerful resource.
But I wasn’t always convinced a content refresh strategy would deliver the results Steven anticipated.
Content Refresh Case Study
A Fresh Perspective: My Hesitation
At the time, I believed in delivering fresh blog content and creating conversion-focused copywriting.
So, when asked to assist on a content refresh strategy, it seemed like a waste of time.
Wouldn’t new ideas bring more value than rehashing the old ones?
Steven didn’t try to convince me outright. Instead, he suggested we run a small test.
“Let’s refresh one piece and see what happens,” he said.
I agreed but stayed skeptical.
The Challenge
SuperOffice’s blog was already a top-tier resource for CRM insights. However, some older posts were losing traffic, slipping in rankings, or just not resonating with audiences anymore.
Steven wanted to address these underperforming pieces by updating and optimizing them, breathing new life into forgotten blog posts.
The Strategy
Steven shared his refresh process, detailed in his newsletter—a goldmine of practical insights.
Here’s what we did:
1. Identify outdated content using Google Analytics:
- Navigate to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.
- Filter by blog pages and compare performance metrics over the past six months.
- Flag content that showed a decline in traffic or engagement.
2. Refresh and optimize content with simple but effective updates:
- Change the publish date to make it appear current.
- Revise title tags and meta descriptions for SEO impact.
- Update outdated stats and research.
- Add new visuals, such as infographics or images.
- Incorporate fresh stories, examples, or case studies.
- Enhance depth and clarity by cutting fluff and adding actionable insights.
Steven’s simplicity and focus were refreshing (pun intended). He wasn’t bogged down with overcomplication—just actionable steps that made a real impact.
The Results: 15,000 More Visits
We applied these updates to one piece of content as part of a content refresh strategy and waited. A few weeks later, Steven emailed me with the results:
“The content refresh project you helped me with has already delivered 15,000 additional visits.”
This single test validated the effectiveness of a content refresh strategy, showing how updating high-potential pages can deliver incredible results with minimal effort.
Steven, ever the marketer, followed up with:
“Are you sure you don’t want to help with a few more pieces? :D”
Hooked by the success of the project—and Steven’s enthusiasm—I agreed to take on additional refreshes alongside creating fresh content. This became a turning point, changing how I approached content marketing.
Why Content Refresh Strategies Work
Refreshing your existing content is a strategic move that can significantly enhance your website’s performance. Here’s why a content refresh strategy is essential:
1. Boosts Organic Traffic and Rankings
Refreshing your existing content can lead to significant improvements in search rankings and traffic. Updated articles tend to perform better because they align with what search engines prioritize—freshness and relevance.
For instance, after a Google Core Update, businesses that refreshed outdated content saw a 154.2% increase in organic traffic and a 241.5% rise in SERP features. These results underscore the power of targeting high-potential pages with strategic updates to title tags, metadata, and on-page content.
Search engines reward content that stays useful and current, so updating posts regularly ensures you remain competitive.
2. Enhances User Engagement
Outdated content isn’t just a turn-off for search engines—it can also push readers away. Posts with outdated statistics, irrelevant examples, or uninspiring visuals tend to have higher bounce rates and lower engagement.
Refreshing your content addresses these issues by:
- Improving readability: Break up dense sections with headings, bullets, and concise summaries.
- Adding new visuals: Include charts, infographics, or videos to captivate your audience.
- Incorporating up-to-date stats and case studies: Build credibility and trust with accurate information.
These updates not only improve the user experience but also signal to search engines that your site provides ongoing value to visitors.
3. Adapts to Algorithm Changes
Search engine algorithms evolve frequently, with changes that can heavily impact how content is ranked. For example, Google’s updates in recent years have prioritized user experience and content relevance over keyword-stuffing and shallow posts.
Regularly refreshing your content ensures compliance with these updates by:
- Addressing new ranking signals like page experience metrics (e.g., Core Web Vitals).
- Ensuring your posts reflect E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
- Reoptimizing for keywords that align with current user intent.
With a content refresh strategy, you not only preserve your rankings but also seize opportunities to outperform competitors who neglect their older content.
4. Optimize the Date and Metadata
As Steven shared in his LinkedIn post, the dates you display on your content can have a significant impact on performance. During a site migration, the “Last updated” date on several pages was mistakenly replaced with the “First published” date.
This change caused over 7,000 keywords to lose rankings, leading to a dramatic drop in organic traffic—from 8,600 daily visits to just 5,400.
The solution? Restoring the “Last updated” date to reflect recent updates. This simple adjustment signaled to search engines and users that the content was fresh and relevant.
Within two months, traffic and keyword rankings rebounded to previous levels, all thanks to correcting the publish date.
The lesson here is clear:
- Displaying a recent “Last updated” date sends a freshness signal to search engines.
- Outdated or inaccurate dates can make even high-quality content appear irrelevant.
If your content is up-to-date but still underperforming, updating the date—along with a few tweaks, like refreshing statistics or examples—can lead to substantial gains.
5. Fights Content Decay and Revives Performance
Even your best-performing content isn’t immune to content decay—a gradual decline in traffic, rankings, and engagement over time.
This happens because:
- Competitors publish newer, more optimized content on the same topics
- Outdated statistics and examples make your posts less relevant
- Shifts in search intent or algorithm updates change how your content is evaluated
Content decay can leave once-thriving posts buried in search results, losing their ability to drive meaningful traffic. However, a content refresh strategy is your antidote.
Let’s Elevate Your Content and Drive Results
If you’ve been creating new content but neglecting older posts, it’s time to rethink your strategy. A content refresh strategy can breathe new life into your website, boost SEO, and engage your audience like never before.
For more tips on maximizing your website’s potential, check out Why SEO Is Important for Small Business or Website Post-Launch Checklist.
Oh, hang on. Are you ready to take your content to the next level?
Contact me to discuss how I can help refresh and optimize your website for growth.
