Fresh content is a lot of bunk

1. 67

   lrohnerposted 15 years ago

   I've read a whole bunch on here about needing ever-changing and fresh content to keep blogs/hubs/sites on top of the search engines. I think it's a lot of bunk.
   
   I have a blog that gets approx. 50k pageviews per month with no marketing driving it. It's all organic searches and traffic from referring sites via backlinks (mostly organic searches). It's been in the #1 spot on Google for a couple of years for its primary keyword, and if you check the date of the last post, I haven't posted (or really done anything else) since August of 2008. I don't want to put the link here, but if you Google (in the US) 'make ahead meals', the #1 result should have the number 100 in it and it should be a blogger blog.
   
   So why have I been going crazy going back to my hubs and making changes and adding RSS feeds? Am I crazy? Anyone else have any input on fresh content?

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I think the point is, if you've got a good evergreen topic, you don't really need to keep adding fresh content.  Other stuff needs a boost.
      
      However, I don't think that means you keep having to go back and revise Hubs.  If you have a News capsule and eBay capsules, they're constantly refreshing with new content on their own, and the thinking is that that's enough.

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      Mishaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Nobody knows for sure, except a very few people inside BigG. Yet I think I agree to you.

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2. 71

   earnestshubposted 15 years ago

   irohner, I had a look at your blogspot blog. It provides excellent recipes for made ahead meals, with great layout and pictures of the food. I think it stays on top because that is where it deserves to be. Maybe Google algorithms work really well!

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3. 67

   relacheposted 15 years ago

   Two autumns ago, I had a Hub where the content was lifted and posted to someone's blog.  And from there, it got posted to dozens of blogs.  I was pretty upset, and the thought of having to send out so many NOIs was sort of overwhelming.
   
   So I decided to re-write my Hub.  It got a total content face-lift.  And then I suddenly had about 30,000 pageviews in one day on that fresh Hub.
   
   So, while really good, evergreen content doesn't necessarily need to be re-written and can hold its own very well, having freshened and relevant content when a topic is hot can be extremely beneficial.

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for sharing, Relache. It just demonstrates - you may be think a Hub's doing well and therefore "fresh content is a lot of bunk", but you don't know how much better it MIGHT do with fresh content, unless you try.

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   2. 67

      lrohnerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, Relache!!! Congrats, and thanks for validating that I don't need to keep going back and tweaking stuff. I was getting kind of tired of doing it already!

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      1. 87

         Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Funny, I read it the other way - after all, she tweaked it and it gained her a lot of traffic.  But if you're saying it's not necessary to tweak constantly, I'd certainly agree with that.

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4. 67

   relacheposted 15 years ago

   I don't tweak my Hubs all the time, just when it's relevant.  The example I gave happened to coincide with a surge of interest in that particular Hub, which is why the content got ripped off in the first place.

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5. 0

   Ghost32posted 15 years ago

   I've tried it both ways and have yet to see a benefit of tweaking my Hubs--the good ones stay on top, and the not so good ones don't do much better no matter how much facelift they get.  But I freely admit that NONE of mine are raking in the numbers of views y'all seem to take as a matter of course.  For one of mine, an average of 50 views a day is really,  really good.  So it's quite possible I'm just not playing in the same ball  park.  What does a Little Leaguer know about hitting a 100 mph fastball?

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6. 58

   greennicheposted 15 years ago

   Very new content is treated as news and given top billing for a short term..hence something like 30k views in a hot topic.
   
   Wouldnt work with "where to but used q-tips" or other not so hot topics..but maybe a hub about costumes around halloween.
   
   Has anybody seen any definitive proof that ebay and rss feeds are treated as new content? last I read the format in which its served isnt read by googlebots.
   
   You dont see any of that html in the page source

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7. 61

   Deborah-Lynnposted 15 years ago

   So does it take time for a good blog to catch on or do you now immediately it isn't going anywhere?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it definitely takes time.  For instance, most people earn almost nothing on HubPages in their first three months (although that's not blogging, but it is writing on the internet).

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8. 77

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   Its possible to great traffic when publishing from hubpages, immediately! because your hub can be  treated as news.
   
   But that spike is not something you can judge a hub/blog/article on, the hub will be reranked according to where it belongs in the scheme of things...itc ould disappera, it could move to page 2, it could stay right in position 1.
   
   marisa is right, give something at least 3 months to get a good handle of its traffic generating abilities...you could always help it gain traffic
   
   Look into
   
   Keyword selection
   keyword optimization
   search engine optimization
   evergreen content
   social bookmarking
   social media marketing
   backlinks
   
   Here at hubpages:
   
   Selecting tags
   Hub formatting
   Hub Score

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9. 39

   Dale Nelsonposted 15 years ago

   Hi Ironher,
   
   I got to agree with you there.Quality will always be quality.If something works well, why mess with it. The font for your blog just jumps out at you when you read and having the selection categories right there when you reading is perfect.Not surprised i gets 50k visits.

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10. 69

    ChrissyDeanposted 15 years ago

    I have seen a few blogs that have not been updated in a year or more and are still on the top of Google results pages.  From what I've seen, they are either really well laid out  with tons of information, or they are on a search so obscure that there is really no competition from them.  I search for odd things and take mental notes of what seems to work out there.
    
    Personally, I update my blogs because I like to and can't get enough on the subjects.  As for hubs, I am not very good at them right now.   So I revise them and add things here and there as I learn tips and tricks!

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    RedElfposted 15 years ago

    I just went through all my hubs over the last two days (and VERY long nights, LOL) and overhauled the tags/keywords and tweaked them for SEO. I also added some content where necessary.
    
    Just tweaking the keywords alone resulted in increased traffic in only one day - I haven't seen so many red triangles since some of that content was created. Also the Hub Metrics potential increased spectacularly.
    
    ...and I haven't even seriously addressed links, back-links, and lots of other stuff yet.
    
    Thank you Lisa for all your help and Relache for the great hubs and forum threads I am following.
    
    You are the best!
    
    I am still at a very beginner level here but expect to learn lots from the best here!
    
    Elle

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    1. 67

       lrohnerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       You are entirely welcome. Now get some sleep!

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