Content creation is a lot of work, and you want to make sure that, no matter what you’re putting online, it reaps the rewards for a long time. But for most websites and blogs, that isn’t how it works. You’ll have specific posts and pages that get a lot of traffic, and then you’ll have fantastic content that gets a ton of traffic but then it tapers off after a while.
This is what we call dead content. However, what you might not realize is that it’s entirely possible to resurrect your dead content. By breathing new life into it, you can ensure the effort you initially put in doesn’t simply fade into the background of your digital footprint.
How to Know a Page is Dead
A “dead” page isn’t necessarily one with zero traffic but often, it’s one that used to perform well but now under-delivers. There are several clear signs to watch for: if the page’s organic traffic has steadily declined over the past six to twelve months (via Google Analytics or Search Console); if keyword rankings have dropped significantly or disappeared; if its click-through rate (CTR) or impressions in search have shrunk; if bounce rate has increased or average time on page has dropped; or if the content has become outdated (broken links, obsolete data, stale examples). We'd also recommend considering the conversion rate. If fewer visitors are taking intended actions (downloads, sign ups, purchases) from that page than before, it may be “dead” in ROI terms even if people are still arriving.
Why Bring Dead Pages Back
There are a few good reasons to audit content and reinvigorate your dead pages. The first (and most pressing) is that it will help you improve your search engine optimization (SEO). The second (and possibly equally important) is that this is a simple way to repurpose that content, so it’s still useful and relevant, rather than writing a whole new blog from scratch.
We’ve talked before about signs that your website needs an update. While that post mostly covered the website as a whole, there are also ways to determine which dead pages can help your website flourish if you breathe some new life into them.
Tips to Bring Your Dead Pages Back
It’s all well and good to say that bringing dead pages back to life will improve your website. But it can be a whole lot of work when you have a long history of posting regularly. Auditing that much content is extremely time-consuming, and there might be a ton of pages to go through.
For websites with a great deal of content, develop a strategy to break up the work. You might want to work with a set time frame or create a year by year schedule, starting with your oldest content first. Another option is to go topic by topic and pick what’s still relevant and of value. Whichever strategy you pick, make sure you develop a good cadence to follow through with the entire project.
So how do you determine which pages and posts to resuscitate?
Let’s get into the basics:
Step One:
There are some key ways to determine which pages will benefit from a content refresh. You don’t want just to update pages that never performed well, so it’s important to have a game plan. Start with your analytics. Highlight pages that performed well in conversion, time-on-page, and bounce rates. These are some of the markers that showcase that the original content did its job.
Step Two:
Time to spruce up your internal linking. Bringing old pages back to life gives you a second opportunity to find ways to link newer posts into the old ones. You can also internally link back to those old pages through posts and pages that are currently performing well.
Step Three:
Can you combine pages? If you find two pages that have a similar topic and content, analyze how well they each performed. If one performed better than the other, combining these pages might be a good idea to get one longer and more comprehensive page. It gives your audience the option to take a deep dive into the topic and gives you better value for the content that wasn’t performing well in the first place.
Step Four:
As an important aspect of any audit, you need to update old information. This can include news and events that are outdated or older statistics and facts. If, for instance, you had an old post that referenced an upcoming event, the mention is no longer timely. You could either edit out the original, update it with information about how the event went, or put a new one in.
More importantly, updates should eliminate information that’s no longer relevant. For example, you might have best practices that have since changed or statistics that have more up-to-date findings. This can often happen in fast-moving industries, like technology or marketing. And don’t forget about promotional links or CTAs – if they are no longer relevant, you should replace them with evergreen links or newer offerings.
Need Help Bringing Back Your Dead Content?
Wondering whether you have content you can bring back from the dead? Let Zero Gravity Marketing help you assess your content and develop strategies to make your current and past pages work for you. Contact us today to get started!
Daniel Hamilton
