Content refreshes

What a content refresh is

A content refresh is the update of an existing page that once earned search visits and has slowly stopped, done so that the page answers its search better than the newer pages that displaced it. The address stays the same, most of the words stay the same, and the facts, structure and first paragraph change.

It is not a page rewrite. A rewrite is for a page that was never right: wrong audience, wrong offer, wrong tone. A refresh is for a page that was right and has gone stale. It is also not a SEO content audit, which decides which pages deserve a refresh; this is the treatment, not the diagnosis.

When you need one

You need a refresh when a page's search visits have fallen over a year or more with no change on your side, and the page is still about something you sell. The usual causes are visible on the page itself: a price from three years ago, a reference to a programme that has closed, a comparison that omits the option everyone now asks about, or an answer buried under six paragraphs of introduction.

You do not need one for a page that never earned anything. That page has no position to recover, and its subject may be wrong; check it against the keyword and topic research before spending on it. You also do not need one if the page is a duplicate of another page on your site; that is a merge, handled under pruning and de-indexing.

What gets looked at

The search it won, and what wins it now. I look up which searches brought the page its visits when it was earning, then look at what is shown for those searches today. The pages that replaced yours tell you what a searcher now expects: a table, a price, a date, a shorter answer, a video, a local detail.

Every fact on the page. Each figure, date, name, price and claim is checked against a current source. Anything that cannot be checked is removed or reworded. The date the page was checked goes into the text, not just the code.

The first hundred words. Most decaying pages take four paragraphs to reach the point. The refresh moves the plain answer to the first two sentences and the reasoning after it.

The structure. Headings are rewritten to describe what is under them, the order is changed to match the order searchers ask, and sections nobody needs are cut.

The links. Broken outbound links are fixed, links to pages you have since removed are redirected, and the page is linked from the two or three pages on your site that should have pointed at it all along.

The title tag and meta description. Rewritten to match what the page now says and what the results page now shows.

What you get

The refreshed page. One editable document, with every change visible against the original, and the internal links marked. Entered on the site by you, or by me as CMS content entry.

The change log. One page per refreshed page: the search it targets, what was wrong, what was changed and why, and the date each fact was checked. This is what makes the next refresh a one-hour job instead of a new project.

The recommendation. Where a page turns out to be beyond refreshing, a short note saying so and what to do instead, rather than a refresh that will not work.

A worked example

An illustration. A mortgage broker has a page from four years ago, "How much deposit do you need for a house in BC", that once brought steady inquiries and now brings almost none. The page still quotes a minimum deposit rule that has since changed, gives worked examples at house prices from that year, and does not mention the first-time buyer programme every caller now asks about. The answer arrives in paragraph five.

The refresh keeps the address and about two thirds of the text. The first paragraph now states the current rule in two sentences, with the date it was checked. The three worked examples are recalculated at current prices for three named regions. A new section covers the programme callers ask about, with its dates and its limits. Two dead links to a lender's site are replaced, and the page is linked from the broker's pre-approval page and home page. The change log runs to one page. The broker's assistant can repeat the exercise next year from it without help.

How it runs

1. A half-hour call. Which pages you suspect, what they used to do for you, and what has changed in your trade since they were written. No charge.
2. A fixed price in writing. Per page or per batch, agreed before anything starts.
3. Access. Read-only access to your search and analytics data, so the search each page won can be identified rather than guessed.
4. The refresh. Three to five working days for one page; a batch of five runs over two to three weeks. You check the facts about your own business before anything is published.
5. Delivery. The refreshed page, the change log and the links to add, with a short call if the batch needs one.

What it costs

Quoted as a fixed price in CAD after the half-hour call. The price depends on the length of the page, how much of it is factual material that must be checked against sources, and how many pages are done in one batch, since the search work overlaps. Regular refreshes across a site are usually cheaper as part of the monthly Content Engine, whose band is published on the pricing page.

What happens next

A refresh is one treatment among three, and most sites need all of them. The SEO content audit tells you which pages to refresh, which to prune or de-index, and which gap needs a new page. Once the earning pages are current, the next gain is usually the internal linking pass that points the rest of the site at them.