Speaker 1: The best social media platforms Hmm? Friendster? MySpace? Google Plus? What's this? I'm gonna bing. Yup, if I'm Google, I wouldn't like that. I'll definitely keep my search results up to date, accurate and relevant. Putting yourself in the shoes of Google, you definitely have a different perspective. So if your site traffic is coming down, the rankings of your once popular articles are coming down, do the thing that will help Google, update your content. We are not saying just go to your older articles and oh there's an update button, press it and that's it. We are saying that you need to take some time to go through and make sure that the information on your older articles are relevant and up to date. Do not just focus on writing new content. I'm pretty sure you know that Google rewards websites that focus on quality over quantity, so any articles that are more than a year old, you wanna make it a habit to visit it once a year to fact check the information. I know, it's easier said than done. If you have a huge team of content writers, it'll be easy for you to update all your content, but if you are a one man show, it's gonna be challenging. So this video is dedicated to you if you are a one man show or you have a small team to update a ton of content on your website. Let's go. Hey, it's Jack from RankMath. The one WordPress SEO plugin that constantly strives to provide you with the fastest and the most cutting edge SEO tools. And on this channel, we strive to provide you with the most accurate and up to date SEO information and knowledge. So if this is your first time on our channel, consider subscribing. Truth be told, we all have limited resources and if we don't put them to good use, we'll just be wasting time and money. Let me ask you a question. If one of your articles were ranking for a very popular search term and it has generated a ton of traffic for you, but now it has lost all its traffic because the search term has lost its fame and nobody is searching for it, would you still spend time updating the content? No, right? So the first thing we have to do in this process is to identify the right articles to update. Now, if your article is new, you've published it probably three to four months ago and it hasn't performed well, be patient. Give it time. Don't do any major updates to it yet. But once it passes the 12 month mark, it's time to look at it. And that's the first qualification. Then the next thing you want to do is to identify articles that have lost traffic but are still important to your business goals. Like if your business is around selling dog products and you have important articles that fetch a number of sales for you in the past, but now it is not performing well, you want to take note of them. If you are using RankMath Pro, you want to go to your analytics module and select the SEO performance tab. From there, you want to expand the data to the maximum. And as you scroll down, you'll see a list of all your contents. The column that you'll be most interested in is the position. Take note of the graphs. If you see a nosedive in the position like this article, Best Bamboo Sheet, you see we were on the first page, but the position has plunged to the third page. If this article is important to your business, and if this article was published more than a year ago, we want to update that article. Now, you can use the Google Search Console as well. On the search results or page performance, you want to select Pages, and you want to change the date range. Select Compare, and choose to compare the data of the last 28 days year over year. Click Apply, and from here, you want to sort by the clicks difference, and you want to see articles that have negative clicks, meaning the data from the past 28 days as compared to the data a year ago. And wow, this site seriously needs an update. But seriously, if you are a one-man show or a small team, you want to pick those articles that are more important to your business. You want to grab those articles that are underperforming, and you want to consolidate them into a list where you will sort them by the importance to your blog or business. But before we go any further, we want to make sure that those articles that are at the top of the list are not ranking at the top three positions of your main targeted keyphrase. You don't want to waste resources on articles that are already ranking. So for example, just for the sake of explanation, let's say that I used to rank highly for this keyword, Friendster Marketing. And this is the article from my site. The article used to generate quite a number of clients who are interested in Friendster Marketing, but it is no longer the case. The traffic is down, and the sales are down too. What gives? I'm ranking at the top, but nothing is happening. Now, you and I both know that Friendster is dead. So there is definitely nobody searching for Friendster Marketing right now. And if you are spending time updating this article, it is just not worth your time and resources. I hope this makes sense to you. So to recap this section on selecting articles to update, you want to use RankMaps Analytics Module or the Google Search Console to identify articles that are beaten down in position and traffic. And then you want to consolidate all the poor performing articles in a list, for example, in a spreadsheet. Then you want to sort the articles by importance to your website or business. Next, you want to do a search on Google to make sure that the beaten down articles are not ranking at the top 3 positions on the main targeted keyphrases. If they are, take them out of the list, and you'll be left with a list of articles to update in sequence. Now that we have decided on what articles to update, let's now talk about how to actually update the content. I think it is best if I walk you through the entire process. Imagine, I own a guitar school and I have a website, and I used to rank highly for the keyphrase, Do you need talent to play guitar? But now, I realize the article is losing traffic. So I went to Google and searched for the keyword, and this website has gotten the rich snippet. Let's click through it. And now I want to visit my article. And let's say that this is my article, and it is ranking at the 10th position. Now before we go any further, can you tell me the search intent of the keyphrase? What is the searcher thinking, and what does he or she want out of this search? Is the searcher looking for easier ways to play a guitar? Or is the searcher doubting themselves and need validation? Is it A or B? Leave a comment down below. I'll wait. Okay, if your answer is A, then my question to you is, why wouldn't the person just search for, how to play guitar easily, or simple tricks to play a guitar? Wouldn't that be more appropriate? So the answer is B, and Google already said it. It has awarded this website with the rich snippet. So comparing the top results with the article in question, can you see that the top result answered the question on the first line of the article? Now if you look at the other article, it feels like the writer is writing a storybook. You can really see the difference between articles written in the past and right now, because the standard of writing an article in the past, at least the way I was taught, was to make a connection with the reader through stories. That way, we as writers can build trust and rapport, and that was the acceptable norm, and searchers are okay with it. But nowadays, just assess your behaviour when searching for information. Do you care for those stories? Me personally, no. I feel more connected with the writer when I'm fed important information first, instead of a story. I want information fast, and I won't tolerate fluff. So the first tip I have for you is to go through your content and see if your articles have any fluff, any stories, or anything that is preventing your readers from getting the information they want within the first three seconds of visiting your article. I'm not saying you can't add any personal stories to your article. What I'm saying is that you need to first build rapport with your readers through immediate information before sharing your experiences. So identify the search intent and provide information that satisfies the search intent right at the top. Remember, put all the important information right at the top. That's the first audit point. Now let's say that you have written a review article about a software, and let's say that the article is about RankMath. We had this feature where one of the SEO checks was the Flash e-score, but after Google's BERT update, it is no longer important and RankMath has since removed it. The question is, if you have an entire paragraph talking about how RankMath is awesome because of the Flash e-check, what should you do with it? Should you add strikethroughs just to keep the content there and signal that the information is outdated? That is not a good idea. Should you cut this section and paste it at the bottom of the article and blend it with the background thinking that Google will see value in the paragraph? That's not a good idea either. Should you remove it entirely? Yes, but in case people are searching for RankMath Flash e-score because its competitors have that check, you will want to add a line at the top that blends in with the introduction or wherever you deem is appropriate. I would write a sentence saying that one great thing about RankMath is that they are always on their toes with SEO. A great example is that after the Google BERT update, the Flash e-score seemed irrelevant to SEO and may seem counterproductive. Hence, they have removed it. That way, when somebody is searching for RankMath Flash e-score, why is there no Flash score in RankMath or any keyphrases that are related to RankMath and Flash e-score, you still have a chance of ranking for it instead of completely deleting the paragraph. So this audit point is to remove whatever that is outdated or irrelevant and when possible, replace it with something that could be evergreen for your article. Anyway, are you already getting value from this? If you find this information helpful, don't forget to smash that thumbs up button. Now, let's go to something even more valuable. The next audit point we have for you is to identify secondary search intents and optimize your article for them. But the question is, how do you find secondary search intents? The key is to find queries that your article is ranking for other than the main focus keyword. And then again, how do you find them? There are two methods. The first method is to use the Google Search Console. On the search results, select the queries tab instead of the pages we have used just now and then you want to add another attribute. Let's select page. Under the filter, you want to select either URLs containing or exact URL. Let's say that the article we are updating is this that targets the main keyphrase Zero Waste Makeup Brands. And from there, you will see a list of keywords this article is ranking for. There may be not a lot of clicks but it is getting impressions which means Google is trying to rank your articles on these keyphrases but it is not up to par yet. One thing that could be helpful is if you have knowledge of how far down your article is ranking for these keywords. But anyway, this is good enough. Let's talk about the other method for RankMath Pro users before we dive into optimizing the article. On the analytics module, remember we were on the SEO performance tab? Go to the article you are updating, scroll down, and you will see a list of keywords this article is ranking for. It is similar to what you get from Google Search Console but we have the position history. Let's put the keyphrases side by side with the article. You see we have the intro and then a table. Not the most helpful table honestly and it seems like we are trying to squeeze people to buy products through the buttons. So how should we optimize the contents to match the secondary search terms? People are searching for vegan, non-toxic, plastic-free, chemical-free, etc. In my opinion, to optimize this table, I would do something like this. I would add more columns, a column for vegan, non-toxic, cruelty-free, plastic-free, and whatever the categories people are searching for. And then matching it with the brand, I would take or cross out those that are relevant to the brand. Don't you think this is so much better than the table above? I personally think so. And then if we go down further, this is where the writer describes the makeup brand. If I were to optimize this, instead of the wordy text, I would put them in point forms, either in a list or I'll put them into a table. So, is Ecosirt a vegan makeup brand? We will give a direct answer. You see, this looks so much better than before and it allows the reader to get direct answers instead of reading through paragraphs, trying to figure things out themselves. If you make your reader's life easier, they will stay to consume your content longer and that gives a positive signal to Google and other search engines. As a result, your article may rank highly on these secondary search terms. I personally love this audit point. What do you think? Leave a comment down below. Now, the next audit point is subjective and it is about trimming the fat. If you have 2 to 3 paragraphs that describe one thing but you can trim it down to 1 to 2 sentences while keeping the information intact, then you got a winner. For example, this. You see, the writer describes why you should focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses and he has named 3 guitar legends. BB King, Dave Matthews, and Tom Petty. So, if I were to trim the fat, I would write something like this. The pros avoid their weaknesses and focus on their strengths. You think the pros are good at everything? Wrong. I'll add a table to list the strengths and weaknesses of each guitar legends and end it with So, don't try to be some other guitarist to look cool. Learn to adapt and keep to your strengths. That's what makes you a better guitarist. See? The content is more organized than this. And I've trimmed down quite a number of words while keeping the information intact. Of course, this is subjective. You may think that your content is lean, I may think you need to trim the fat, but what's important is if your content gives your audience the information they want in the quickest way possible. So, have that thought in mind when going through your content. As you read your content, you should be reading it from the point of view of your readers instead of from the writer's perspective. It takes some practice, but the more you do it, the better you'll be in the long run. Now, if you have a large site with hundreds of thousands of articles, I'm pretty sure there'll be some articles that are repetitive. You may have written one article, for example, how to make money online from Amazon a couple of years back. And maybe you have written another article, ways to make money on Amazon two years ago. And another article, how to boost sales on Amazon. Quite frankly, they are different keywords with different search volume and competitors, but they can all be merged into one large article that covers best ways to make money on Amazon. And you will share all the tips, tricks, methods, and how beginners can get started. You can either improve on one of the existing articles, or you can consolidate all the information into a new article. And all you need to do is to do a 301 redirect from all the older articles to the new or updated article so that all the SEO juices that were gathered in the past from those older articles will be retained on the new or updated article. To do 301 redirects, you can use our Redirections module, add a new redirect, select the 301 Permanent Move option, place your old article links on the source. As you can see, you can paste multiple URLs at the same time, add the new or updated article URL in the destination, hit the Add Redirection button, and you are all set to go. For more information on how to use redirections, the link is in the description. It's that easy. RankMath is simply the one-stop shop for SEO tools. We have a whole list of modules and features to suit every SEO need. So consider activating RankMath on your site. Finally, once you have updated your content and you have hit the Update button, that is just one last step. Now, if you are using RankMath, you don't actually need to do anything after you hit the Update button from your article because we do everything for you behind the scenes. But you just have to make sure that the right settings are turned on. First thing first, when you update your content, RankMath will automatically update the last mod column of the article you have just updated. So the settings you have to make sure that it's on is the Sitemap module. Next, there are two ways RankMath will automatically submit your sitemap to Google. The first way is you need to go to the Sitemap settings, scroll down, and you will see these pink search engines. This setting will do the heavy lifting for you. Another method which is super helpful to beginners who have troubles verifying their site with the Google Search Console is to connect your site to Google using RankMath. Go to the RankMath's dashboard, hit the Setup Wizard, go through the steps, and you should be able to connect your site to the Google Search Console. If you want more details about connecting your site to Google and everything about Sitemap, you can check out this video right here. The link is in the description. So aren't you glad you're using RankMath? We spoil you too much. And if you're not using RankMath but you want to switch to us and you're worried that you might lose traffic, check out the links in the description to properly migrate to us. A lot of our users actually claim that their traffic improved after migrating to RankMath. But well, I'll leave it to you to decide. Anyway, you can submit your article for recrawling on Google Search Console as well. On your Search Console, right at the top, you want to paste the URL of your updated article and hit Enter or Return. Then all you need to do is to click on Request Indexing and Google will recrawl your page. If you don't use RankMath and you didn't request for recrawling on Search Console, that's totally fine as well because Google will visit your site periodically to crawl for updates. But if you want Google to notice your updated content faster, use either of the methods I've shared. So we hope that with this strategy updating your older content will help increase your site traffic and sales significantly. If you find value in this video, can you do us a favour and smash that thumbs up button. More people need to watch this video and with your thumbs up, you're making it happen. So, thank you. Anyway, we're constantly on the lookout for SEO insights, updates and everything. So if you want the most accurate and up-to-date information, do subscribe to us and we'll bring that value to you. This is Jack for RankMath, I'll see you in the next video. Microsoft Mechanics www.microsoft.com