Contrary to popular belief, even the very best website content doesn’t hold onto its value forever. Quite to the contrary in fact, as now more than ever it’s of critical importance to ensure that the content your website features is not allowed to go stagnant.
What makes the bigger picture these days so much different than before is the way in which consumers all over the world spend much of their waking lives online. Rather the simply visiting a website every now and again, they practically live on them. Which in turn means they’re constantly looking for something fresh, new and relevant – something to help them choose one brand or business over another.
Which is where content comes into the equation – the single deciding factor that differentiates your website from every other. Allow your content to stagnate and you’re headed for trouble, for two very important reasons:
1. Lack of Engagement
First of all, regularly updated content is of critical importance when it comes to audience engagement. When looking to win over new customers in the first place, the quality of the content you provide will determine your success or otherwise. Likewise, content quality, relevance and how up-to-date it is will have a massive impact on repeat business and retention rates. After all, if you don’t give your site’s visitors a reason to keep coming back for more, why would they bother doing so?
High quality content that’s updated on a regular basis gives you the opportunity to outshine the competition as a knowledgeable, respectable and generally superior voice in whatever it is you do. It gives you an on-going voice with which to speak to your customers and generate discussion. It sets you apart from your rivals, shows that you’re genuinely passionate about what you do and ensures that your target audience members remain hooked on the way you do business in general.
2. Poor SEO Value
On top of this, there’s absolutely nothing more important when it comes to bolstering SEO efforts than rich, regularly updated content. Even if you have a website with thousands of pages of quality content, it will soon lose its prowess in the eyes of the major search engines without on-going enrichment.
These days, Google and Co. are paying more concerted attention than ever before to sites that tick the boxes outlined in the above point. They know what consumers want and, as a search engine, it’s their job to point them in the right direction. Which means that if it’s clear you’re providing the public with a truly outstanding website that is rich in fresh, varied and relevant content, your position in the SERP rankings will improve as a result.
On the whole, content should be thought of a little like a magazine, newspaper or newsletter of some kind. If the content it provided was amazing, you’d be impressed. But what if it never changed and you were sent the same copy over and over again? Would you bother to read it? Would you soon tire of the brand behind it?
It’s exactly the same with web content – anything other than fresh, relevant and engaging new content on a regular basis is a sure-fire recipe for audience discontent.
