The SEO Magic of Blogging: How Fresh Content Attracts Traffic and Backlinks

Blogging can be a great way to share your knowledge, gain exposure, and build a community around your brand. However, just having a blog isn’t enough to get results. You also need to create a content strategy and publish regularly to keep your readers’ interest.

Let’s say you want to launch an eCommerce website. First, set up and customize your online store with a user-friendly website builder like Wix, using website templates to create a professional and visually appealing design effortlessly.

Next, add a blog to your site and create a content calendar. Commit to regular writing, whether you choose to publish content weekly, biweekly, or every other day. Fresh content is essential for SEO, as it tells search engines that your blog is relevant and up-to-date.

Here’s why you should blog consistently – and how to do it without burning out.

Is Content Freshness a Google Ranking Factor?

From an SEO standpoint, content freshness refers to new or recently updated content, including text, videos, audio files, or images. Google’s search bots take this factor into account when crawling web pages. This is particularly true for pages featuring news or other types of content where freshness matters.

Therefore, fresh content can be a ranking factor for time-sensitive search queries. In an eCommerce context, such queries may relate to:

• Seasonal product guides
• Product launch announcements
• Trend-based content
• Sales and promotions
• Regulatory changes impacting your products
• Industry news and insights

For example, a recent blog post called ‘Top 10 Gifts for Tech Lovers This Holiday Season’ is likely to rank higher in search results than one that covers the same topic but hasn’t been updated since 2020.

Content freshness is less important for evergreen topics, but you should update your posts every few months.

Most industries are constantly evolving, and new information is being discovered. Search engines prefer recent content, meaning that you’ll lose to your competitors if you fail to update your blog with fresh, relevant data.

How Does Content Freshness Impact SEO?

Fresh content signals search engines that your blog is active and current, which can result in higher visibility and traffic. Plus, it allows you to adapt to changes in user intent, making it easier to climb  Google’s rankings.

Updating your blog regularly can also improve key SEO metrics, such as session duration, bounce rates, and click-throughs.

For instance, many blogs have similar content, repeating the same information over and over. If, say, you google ‘heart disease risk factors,’ you’ll find hundreds (if not thousands!) of articles saying the same thing but in different ways.

As we all know, researchers are constantly discovering new risk factors for this condition. If your content covers the latest findings, visitors may stay longer on your blog. This can result in a lower bounce rate and other improvements, such as:

• More backlinks and shares
• More time on page
• Higher click-through rates
• Increased organic traffic
• Improved conversions
• Higher engagement

These factors can positively impact your SEO, leading to higher visibility in search results. On top of that, you’ll provide a better user experience, which can further improve your website’s rankings and conversion rates.

Fresh content can also help you build a stronger backlink profile. Backlinks are incoming links from other websites to yours. If your content is recent and relevant, people will share it with others.

For instance, you may get backlinks from authoritative sources like Forbes, Entrepreneur, or Reader’s Digest. These links tell search engines that your content is valuable and worth reading.

What’s more, the websites that link to yours have an established audience, meaning you could reach people who may not have otherwise discovered your blog.

Best Practices to Keep Your Content Fresh and Relevant

Keeping your blog fresh can be time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort. The key is to plan things out and get into a writing habit.

However, this doesn’t mean you must publish a brand-new post every few days. If you’re short on time, refresh your content with quizzes, case studies, or snippets of information.

Here are three strategies you can implement today.

Update Old Content

For starters, review and update the content you already have. Use resources like Reddit, Quora, People Also Ask, and Google&’s Autocomplete function to see what readers want to know about the topics covered on your blog.

Next, add new pieces of information or eye-catching visuals to breathe new life into your content. Below are some options to consider:

• Polls and quizzes
• In-house studies
• Research data
• Practical use cases
• Updated statistics
• Consumer surveys
• New images or videos
• FAQs

For example, you can run a poll on social media and then embed the results into an existing blog post. Or add a new section to address emerging questions, share recent data, or discuss a trend.

If you sell products or services online, update your blog posts with customer reviews or testimonials. Another option is to share new use cases or research findings on the topic you covered.

Create New Content

Publish fresh content related to your industry, products, or services. If, say, you sell fitness equipment, create how-to guides on how to build lean mass, recover faster from training, or build a home gym.

Depending on your niche, you could also publish product reviews, video tutorials, listicles, checklists, or interviews with industry experts.

For instance, listicles, checklists, and content roundups are fairly simple to write. The latter are list-style posts that aggregate content from other bloggers or industry experts.

A good example is this recipe roundup published by The Kitchn. Its author shared six pancake recipes by popular chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Martha Stewart, and Ina Garten. He wrote about and rated each recipe, linking back to their creators.

Content roundups help you build relationships with other experts and grow your reach. The people you mention will likely share your content with their readers, leading to more traffic and backlinks to your blog.

Repurpose Existing Content

Repurpose existing pieces of content to save time and expand your reach. This strategy works best for evergreen posts, as it allows you to use them over and over again while keeping them fresh and relevant.
Let’s assume you have an older blog post about the differences between espresso and coffee.

Consider repurposing it into:

• Videos
• Infographics
• PDF guides
• Slideshows
• Podcasts

Next, post these pieces of content on your website or blog. For example, you can create and share an infographic highlighting the differences in flavor, caffeine content, and brewing methods between espresso and coffee. Or a short video tutorial featuring a brewing demonstration.

If you use one of the best website builders, you can add new content and update existing content with just a few clicks. This aspect alone will save you hours of work, making it easier to keep your blog current and SEO-friendly.