After how much time I should update my article?

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   bhattucposted 4 years ago

   I seek advice of senior hubbers about this issue. What should be the time frame after which we should update our articles - 6 months, 1 year or more. Any suggestions?

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      OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Google favors articles that have been published or updated during the current year.  Older content is usually pushed to the second or third page of search results.

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   Millionaire Tipsposted 4 years ago

   It depends on the article. Some topics stand the test of time and can go longer than articles that need updating. Also the articles that don't get a lot of reads could use an update, but I wouldn't spend a lot of time in regularly updating them when my time is better spent writing new articles.

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 4 years ago

   It all depends on the weather. If it's dismal and rainy outside then I do a lot of updating. If the weather is warm and sunny, then I'd rather spend time in the garden.

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      DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Me too! I get a lot of HP work done on rainy days or when it is too hot to be outside. (If I need an umbrella, I will edit.)

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   Eurofileposted 4 years ago

   I'm sure I saw somewhere recently that an editor advised the 80/20 ratio approach. Most time reviewing and updating and less on writing, which I found very strange for a relatively new hubber with few articles. Maybe this was aimed at those with a big portfolio?
   Somewhere else I read that we should review an article every 12 months so that it gets pushed up the Google list.
   Someone with a little more experience on HP please advise.

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      Jean Bakulaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I've been told a lot of my articles are old. But they are instructional articles in many cases and are evergreen. The info doesn't change. So I don't see the point in updating them.

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      DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I am not sure who made up that 80/20 ratio but it is very incorrect for newer writers like yourself. It is a good idea to keep your articles current but certainly NOT a good idea to spend 80% of your time on them. New articles will be a much better use of your time.
      Even for someone with a lot of articles, I think spending more than half of your time on editing an old article, instead of producing something that can move up in the search rankings and get good traffic, is really a waste of time.

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         PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         If you have hundreds of hubs and editing raises your overall views/earnings by 10 or 15%, it's not waste of time.

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            DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I agree that it is not a waste of time but I think spending too much time doing so is. Does editing really raise overall views by 10%? If I was sure of that, it might be worthwhile.
            Last year Pethelpful went through and edited, more or less, everything on the entire site. I have not seen views on that site go up--in fact they are down 10 or 15%.

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            OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I agree!  Last year HP updated all of the articles on Dengarden where most of my work resides.  My traffic leapt 20%.
            
            I updated all of my articles (200+) again in January and my traffic is now almost 30% ahead of where it was at this time last year. 
            
            Needless to say, I am a big believer in updating articles.

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               robhamptonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I'm glad I read this. Was about to ask this question. I haven't updated articles in a long time (some of them, years). Google rank definitely dropping. Guess I should get to work on some of these.

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                  DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  I have read several of your articles over the years. There is probably not factual information that needs updated, but you can always go in and make some changes to the grammar. Also, make sure the images are as helpful as possible to the reader.

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      chef-de-jourposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      There might be some confusion over the 80/20 ratio which as far as I can gather was initially applied to: number of hubs / income earned, that is, 80% of income was earned by the top 20% of hubs. This is roughly accurate I think.
      
      Now it seems that the 80/20 ratio is so popular it's also used for updating /new created! But I'm not so sure about this. Newbies especially need to create - evergreen articles - more than anything. Once they've built up a stock of articles, say 50 or more, the need to update becomes more of an issue.
      
      Generally speaking as a writer I think it's better to update articles every so often just to keep them 'fresh' and competitive. I do this on average twice a year (say each January and July/August) but I don't do a complete re-write, I perhaps add bits of new info here and there. A dozen words, a dozen lines, a trim, a capsule shift. Tidy things up, that sort of thing.
      
      HP recommend updating for the top earning hubs, which kind of makes sense as these are the ones that can really make your name and bring in the dosh, if you're lucky.

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5. 84

   bhattucposted 4 years ago

   Thanks fellow hubbers for suggestions and ideas.

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