Top 8 Tips for How to Keep Content Relevant
With trending topics continually changing, how to keep content relevant should be at the forefront of every marketing campaign. However, developing fresh and engaging content on a consistent basis can be challenging for anyone. According to Keyoka Kinzy at Online Optimism, “The best way to keep content relevant is to make it interactive. Content should not only be enticing, but engaging enough to encourage action from the reader.”
Luckily, there are actionable steps you can take to keep your content relevant and traffic up! While it may seem daunting at first, there are particular content strategies you can use that will prove beneficial in the long run.
How to Keep Content Relevant
For ways to keep content relevant, read our guide with tips from industry leaders:
1. Thoroughly Research Your Topics
When preparing to write a post, make sure to thoroughly research your topics to ensure you include all relevant information and that the topic is relevant. The research process is where you discover other areas to expand your information to increase your post’s overall relevancy. Saucey CEO Chris Vaughn advises “always being on top of trends to avoid producing outdated or uninteresting topics.”
2. Diversify Content Style
Rather than always writing in the same style, it is vital to diversify the type of content that will keep your page fresh and appealing to different audiences. The key to keeping content relevant is to write content that readers feel can benefit them. Better Proposals Chief Marketing Officer, Petra Odak, stresses the importance of writing stories that readers feel they can learn from and begin using immediately. “The content that gets the most shares is the type of content that explains how something is done with actionable steps,” Odak stated.
According to Zety PR Specialist, Nina Krol, another way to keep content relevant is to “make space for reactive content that your followers can relate to or that brings them value, advice, comfort, or inspiration.” By focusing on relevant content, users will feel that your page is up to date, which will improve its authority and benefit its overall page ranking on Google.
3. Write Evergreen Content
An easy way to keep content relevant, even if they are months old, is to focus on evergreen content, which is content pieces that are not specific to a particular time or event, but rather continues to be relevant long past its publication date. “Instead of always jumping on the latest conversation, try to mix it up with evergreen content that is useful to your readers throughout the year,” Fantastic Kayaks Owner, David De Hann, suggests.
Evergreen content will also drive regular organic traffic since it ranks high with search engines and is found to attract organic traffic at a consistent rate over a long-term period without a decline. Additionally, evergreen content keeps readers on your website longer, which tells search engines your content is valuable and fulfills the search request which lowers website bounce rates. When it comes to how to keep content relevant, evergreen content is a necessity.
4. Update Previous Blog Posts
A great way to keep content relevant is by consistently updating previous blog posts. This actionable step can also increase the number of backlinks you receive, build reader loyalty, and keep you updated with the latest SEO strategies. When deciding what posts to edit, look at pages with lots of high-quality links or ones that bring in the most traffic. As a rule of thumb, prioritize pages with many keyword impressions but low rankings.
My Pet Child Founder, John Cho, advises companies to “do monthly audits of your content that is under-performing and either upcycle it by updating links and giving it an edit for SEO, adding a video or other visual content to support the text content, or delete the post entirely.” Conducting monthly checks on your posts will allow you to stay on top of which content is doing well and which areas you could improve.
Another method for updating your posts is to “give old content to new experts,” says Designer Sheds Founder, Chris Laan. This method will bring in new eyes and a new voice to the content, which increases the likelihood it will read as an original and engaging post.
5. Conduct Research
A vital part of keeping content relevant is keyword research. The process of searching for keywords and evaluating them is incredibly helpful in keeping content relevant. Analyzing search volumes and keyword difficulties is a way to ensure that your content is being searched and will work. Edelwyn Co-Founder Jeanine Duval stresses regularly checking Google Analytics and conducting audience research because “even for a business where content is niche-specific, there are constant movements in trends and keyword search.”
DoctomDollar Founder Allan Borch stresses “keeping an eye on content marketing analytics” to ensure the content will be valuable and relevant to your readers and for ranking algorithms.
6. Avoid Text Heavy Posts
A quick way to lose a reader’s attention is to publish a post that is too text-heavy. By breaking up the text, the content is more likely to succeed in the digital age. OnlineDegree.com Founder and & CEO, Grant Aldrich, advises content creators to “insert infographics and videos to make the post more shareable.”
7. Pay Attention to Social Media
Being well versed in social media is crucial for getting your post shared and keeping content relevant. It is important to understand how each platform works in addition to the different social media trends. Festoon House Director, Alex Thompson, stresses “watching what topics influencers in your niche are publishing and looking at the engagement” to gauge if a topic is worth writing about and see the successful and unsuccessful marketing efforts your competitors are making.
8. Listen to Your Readers
A surefire way to keep content relevant is to make your readers feel heard and appreciated. This can be done by creating content tailored to them to increase loyalty to your publication. Swift Salary Founder, Dylan Houlihan, suggests listening to the feedback from readers, “whether through email responses or comments on particular articles” to see what they do and don’t like, as well as additional ways to engage with them and make your site feel like a community rather than just a publication. 
Wrap Up
Creating content and updating old content to remain relevant isn’t as tricky as you might think. Take some time to see what your readers like, dive into social media trends, brainstorm evergreen stories, and set aside time to go through previous posts.
These methods are sure to improve the experience of your readers and improve your website’s SEO.
