To Update or Make New?

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   Jeremy Gillposted 4 years ago

   Hello all, many of my articles review items from games that are still ongoing. For instance, trading card games periodically release new cards, while many video games are updated with additional content.
   
   Which makes me wonder whether it's better to periodically remake older countdowns to reflect newer items, or if I should keep the old countdowns and make entirely new ones in separate articles. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I would definitely update, adding fresh material seems to keep Google happy and it's a motivator to keep up with or stay ahead of the competition. But it also depends on length of article, and what your readers will accept - only you know that. Perhaps you could try both approaches and monitor results.

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         Jeremy Gillposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the thoughts. Ultimately, updating might be the way to go, although here's a few potential drawbacks:
         
         1. Current poll votes would be lost since polls would be updated (I'm not sure if poll engagement has a bearing on traffic results, would be curious if anyone knows).
         2. Total views might actually be lower.
         3. Comments/questions related to entries that are removed in the update would become confusing.
         
         But I definitely see advantages as well and appreciate everyone's input.

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            lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            You can delete any comments/questions that are not valid anymore.
            Polls do not affect traffic from search engines, but if someone sees that a poll has a lot of people they may want to share it on social media.
            Total views might actually be lower? What do you mean?

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               Jeremy Gillposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Just that having two articles theoretically increases traffic because there are two chances for readers to come to you. But that said, one of them would have outdated information. It could still be of use, but is probably less engaging to most viewers.

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                  lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  If these two articles are related to the same search terms, then having two will be worse than having one that is not updated.

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            samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            If you're doing a general "Top __ article," it's probably better to update. For example, "The Top 50 Pokémon" is probably searched for more often than "The Top 10 Pokémon of Generation 7."
            
            In regards to the poll issue, you could always add an additional poll to go with the updates with something along the lines of, "What do you think of the Pokémon of gen 7?"
            
            That being said, very specific topics are often searchable, too. For example,  there are a few hits for the search of "The Top 10 Alola Pokémon." It may just draw a different crowd that is more up to date and not looking for generic information.
            
            It is ultimately up to you, but maybe experimenting and seeing which gets more traffic is a good idea. And as Beth Eaglescliffe said, you can also do both. Add a couple of Pokémon from gen 7 to your general "Top __" article, and a more concrete list in a standalone article.

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               Jeremy Gillposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks everyone, I definitely appreciate the advice!

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      Ryan Corneliusposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, updating your articles is a great idea.

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   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   I'd update old articles.

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 4 years ago

   Why not do both?

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