On average, Google processes 40,000 search queries every second totalling to a whooping 3.5
billion each day. While data consumption is at an all-time high, the amount of
content produced is much higher. Approximately 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is
produced daily, and this figure continues to increase by leaps and bounds owing
to new technological advancements.
These numbers point towards the importance of fresh content in today’s technology-driven and digital world. With this magnitude of
data, information gets stale quicker than Usain Bolt completes a 100-metre sprint.
Businesses need to cut through the noise using
tools such as: videos, infographics, GIF’s, images and blogs to get noticed.
The absolute last thing that sells in these “data mayhem days” is stale
content.
According to Nielsen’s Total Audience Report, the average
American adult spends 10.5 hours with media per day.
"To stand out, many brands
are embracing people-based marketing practices to ensure they are delivering
tailored, personally relevant messages, content and offers at each stage of the
consumer journey."
WHY IS FRESH CONTENT ON YOUR SITE IMPORTANT?
Google’s Recency Bias
The search engine king, Google, uses a variety of
algorithms to provide searchers with the most relevant and recent information.
The Googlebot using these algorithms crawls
around the web to index new sites and webpages. This applies to both paid and
organic content. Each update having reliable information (unnecessary updates
don’t count) alerts Googlebot to index pages.
User demand, coupled with the relevance and
recency of your content, is what leads to frequent indexing. It doesn’t
necessarily result in higher rankings but makes websites noticeable to Google. When
brands post and share trending and quality content on websites and linked
platforms, Google re-evaluates their site ranking. This eventually leads to higher
indexing and visibility.
Updating content from posts with the highest
traffic is the first step in repurposing and refreshing content. Other webpages
and social media embedded feeds also require regular content upgrades.
Below, you’ll notice an infographic with Google’s
governing principles. These principles help their algorithms sort through your
content.
SEO
Updated websites benefit by keeping audiences
informed and improving site discoverability. Website visitors play an important
role in search engine rankings—by curating and sharing content on trending
topics or an issue that’s driving internet engagement through the roof—brands
can increase their chances of being seen.
Fresh content optimizes sites due to the
increased use of keywords. These keywords, when built in organically and
naturally into the piece, lead to higher SEO. This is because Google algorithms
give priority to keywords during site indexing and page ranking.
When we say organically built in, we mean
sprinkling limited and specific keywords throughout the piece. Keywords are the
way to go, but moderation is key. A good rule of thumb for keywords is one for
every 100 words. Stuffing content with excess keywords ends up backfiring. At
the end of the day, quality is important over quantity when it comes to
keywords.
Excess Keywords ≠ Higher SEO
Preparing for the Alpha’s
Marketers and brands need to buckle up to cater
to the digital natives—Generation Z’s and Alpha’s—who were born with information
at their fingertips. The first-borns of Generation Alpha were emerged when the
first iPad was launched. Though this generation is still pint-sized, their craving
for content and data consumption will be the highest of all previous
generations.
Businesses need to augment their content
creation and curation abilities to fit with data consumption patterns and
expectations. Since there are so many things on the internet, the challenge now
is to grab attention and be a part of larger conversations. Not providing recent
and interactive content isn’t even an option if a company wants to conduct business.
This certainly cannot be achieved through a blog post you wrote five-years ago.
It’s important to keep pace with what’s happening online. While it might seem
impossible, there are tools and software like PARKER and Sprout Social which simplify content curation
and creation.
Keeping your website up to date with
educational, industry-specific, and quality content is key. This can be
achieved by embedding and integrating social media and curation tools with the
website.
Building Trust
Adding value through unique products is no
longer the only selling point for businesses. They need to add value through
up-to-date content that fulfills consumers’ compulsive need to know more and to
engage.
Brand reputation and trust are of prime
importance to users especially the younger generations. The iGen doesn’t want
self proclaimed chatter about how great your product is; they are inquisitive problem
solvers who turn to Google rather than to humans. They are avid learners.
According
to the study The State of Gen Z™ from 2017:
“85% of
Gen Z watched at least one online video in the past week to learn a new skill.”
What people want is conversations, not from
call centre’s, but from avenues like social, websites and in-person. When
brands care to indulge in conversations and stand up for current issues that
matter to their audiences, that builds brand loyalty. Timeliness is imperative.
Nike’s ad featuring Colin Kaepernick wouldn’t
have garnered such massive engagement had it been launched a month later. It landed right before the NFL’s new season
was kicking off which was no coincidence; taking timing into account made Nike’s
campaign more effective. This just reiterates the importance of keeping your
content current and on trend.
7 KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Create fresh content
- Make your content creation as frictionless
as possible
- Place importance on timeliness
- Embed many of your channels into your
website; still vary what your saying where and when
- Invest in content management
- Utilize Meta-tags and keywords
- Build audience trust
CONCLUSION
The
content marketing industry is expected to reach $413 billion by 2021. Now’s
the time to revisit your content strategy or formulate one.
Brands
who think they can survive this trend might as well operate under a rock. It’s
best to sail with the digital and data driven tides.
If you want help with your content on your
site, please reach out. To find out more about PARKER - a dynamic content hub that brings fresh content from your multiple trusted sources
to your website, simply and quickly - visit parkerhub.online.