There’s a lot of talk about in the same way that true believers love they keep their Apples new (I’m speaking of iPhones); Google likes its content to be up-to-date. It’s true in a small way, however, not in the ways you’d imagine!
Google isn’t the only one that favors “fresh” information. Specific search queries are entitled to newness, but others may not as much. But, fresh content may affect SEO through indirect “freshness” aspects.
To fully comprehend the concept, it is first necessary to define some of the meanings behind “fresh content” really means.
What does “fresh content” actually Signify?
What exactly do you mean by new content? Content that was published in the last few days? Content that is frequently updated?
The term “fresh content” represents content that is dynamic in nature (especially in meaning).
Thus, it’s not as much “new” content concerning when and how it was produced and published. It’s relatively new in terms of what it means, and the data is revealing.
A lot of people think that fresh content is material that was recently published. Sometimes, they mix Freshness and the frequency of publication.
Let’s start with content that was published recently. If I publish an article on “The English History,” Would you consider this content fresh?
Perhaps not, since people have been writing about the past of England for many centuries. This isn’t something new.
The article is brand new on my website. Naturally, however, common sense suggests that content with any backlinks or amplification will need help to rank remarkably in highly subject areas, like the history field (where Wikipedia probably dominates). We must put in substantial link-building efforts to top the rankings by launching a new site, and we’re all aware of the risks involved! (it typically is a result of the issuance of a penalty).
Frequency and Freshness
It’s true that frequency is related to Freshness and often coincides. However, this is only sometimes the scenario. I could publish something new every week or write something fresh each day.
It means search engines use more resources on websites that publish more often since they need them.
Frequency will ensure that your site gets crawled more often (thanks to Caffeine).
If you’ve published once every month over the last year, then why should Google be checking your website every day? It’s an inefficient use of resources.
Suppose your website has a daily publication of 25 articles, and you publish 25 articles daily. In that case, Google will need to ensure it visits your website multiple times throughout the day to index these results as soon as possible (thanks Caffeine) Caffeine) and also be ready to display them to users when they ask for they want to see them (thanks to the update of 2011).
One common misconception is that stale websites will be negatively impacted. That’s been proven wrong.
Brian Dean made this pretty evident through his blog. He doesn’t often publish, so his site is primarily unpublished. However, his content consistently is ranked among the top. There is also an online blog in Romanian that I last published over six months ago. 9/10 of the articles are ranked at the top of the page, and 6/10 are in the top three places.
If something has changed in the past is that the ranking has risen.
Indeed, you don’t have to update your website every day when you can log into Google Search Console. Google Search Console and ask Google to instantly index your pages by pressing one button.
How the Google Freshness update was All About
It all began back in 2009, but as many other incidents have taken place, this has turned into a big conspiracy over time.
It’s the First Google Update (Caffeine)
If you worked in the business in 2009, you’d be aware of that Google Caffeine update and how it was big a thing it was. The update is commonly called”the Freshness Update because Google utilized the phrase “fresher result.”
While the update was first made public at the beginning of 2009, it took one year before it was released.
The problem is many got the whole thing wrong.
The Google caffeine update has nothing to do with rankings. It’s main focus is indexing. Rankings and indexing are two very different things.
Indexing occurs in the process where Google examines a first glance at your website and then adds it to its index. It is a possibility to be considered to be ranked.
The ranking system, however, is quite different, with a complex algorithm to back it. The method that was revamped in 2011 was older than you thought.
A Second Google Update (Freshness)
The ranking of “fresh content” at the top happened before that. 2007 was the first time Amit Singhal developed an algorithm that prioritized the Freshness of specific subjects and inquiries.
Notice how I use the phrase “some specific questions.” Let me expand it.
Google favors fresh content only for some specific queries that deserve freshness, widely known as QDF.
QDF is a shorthand for what QDF stands for. If a specific search term is classified as a QDF and is a QDF, then Google will display the latest results. This is common in certain regions, such as Matt Cutts explains in the following video:
In its official announcement about this update, Google states precisely the types of queries it will affect:
- Hot topics or recent events, such as news about celebrities or natural catastrophes (kind or identical)
- Events that are regularly scheduled Events like Conferences, for example, Brand Minds
- Regular updates: Anything constantly getting new content added to, for example, reviews of products or other items related to technology.
I’m aware of some theories that by changing the dates on the article, you could make it appear fresh, and then you can use the algorithm to help Google maintain your position. But, these are just only speculations (speculations) which are why I can assure you that for every instance you provide me with an example that you think is “fresh” content that is ranked at the top, I will discover at least one model that shows “old” content that is ranking at the top.
I’ll show you a few examples now from within the SEO field. It’s a frequently changing field; you must keep up-to-date to remain relevant.
It’s not possible that a manual from 2010 or 2015 would still be helpful. But… Google thinks differently:
Another illustration:
It is possible to claim you’re right that “fresher” results are more valuable than older ones. You’re correct, but it doesn’t mean anything since one could declare that “fresher results are also lower and are from big sites like Hubspot.”
However…
There are factors that might influence rankings in this situation and we’ll talk about them soon, so keep reading!
However, thinking that you’ll be ranked higher simply because of having the latest publication date is a ludicrous idea. I’ll smash it sooner.
Who is the Freshness Update going to Affect?
The two Caffeine, the Caffeine, and the Freshness Algorithm Update, mainly affect news websites. This is the broad area, which could include celebrity sites and general news technologies, politics You name it.
I’ll provide you with an example:
What’s the difference between the previous SEO examples I provided previously? There’s no article from 2009 or 2010. Are you sure? These are all from 2019 and were posted barely one month before I created this blog article. The second article doesn’t mention the date but the number of days since it was published. It’s sometimes hours instead of days.
What is the reason you believe this is the scenario?
This situation is a case of 2009 posts, which could be a terrible search result. People are looking for the most recent phones, not the old ones from 2009. Google is aware of the user’s intention and tries to make the results meet the needs of its users.
Does new content affect SEO?
Are we getting any official answers? A little. And it’s relatively recent:
I’m going to admit that I’m not entirely satisfied with the response, as John is known for being extremely vague. I’m talking about… The answer I’m getting is demonstrated that Google prefers new content in certain situations.
Yes, we have to know the context behind the answer. The question of Freshness was raised after John tweeted:
“As an individual user, I must realize that old content is being rebranded as new eliminates any authority I thought the author/site had. Quality content is not just a lazy piece of content. SEO techniques are one of many ways to make your site better. Your content and your visitors deserve the respect they deserve.”
I’ll admit it. I need those times when Google was far more specific and clear in its answers. Why?
As we’ve discussed, Google favors fresh content, but only in certain areas! John’s response should have reflected this fact, which includes QDF.
Queries that Need Freshness (QDF)
Questions that Deserve the best are a fact! Matt Cutts talked about this in the past. Some search phrases are relevant, like “best Android phones,” as mentioned in the above post, as an example that requires a newness. People want to read the most recent content, so you may have an upper edge if you keep your content current.
Does that mean you’ll always be at the top of the list by continuously changing the date on your posts? No.
So, basically, John Mueller, Google’s representative, is trying to tell you that updating the post date every day is a bad digital marketing strategy and it won’t help you rank better.
Does this mean that some articles will be more popular than others due to their published date? Yes.
There are plenty of indicators that indicate Freshness. This is not only the date. Are the topics becoming more in popularity on social media sites? Do the articles receive new backlinks? Also, is this something happening right currently?
Are these statements contradicting each other? It’s not my opinion. The truth is that Google’s not entirely perfect. It’s an algorithm. Can a human person determine more precisely what the most effective outcome for the general public is? I don’t believe it.
Refreshing old content (Keeping it up-to-date)
Do updating blog posts from the past aid in the ranking? Probably. However, not only altering the date. Google is aware of these modifications and accounts for “hacks” like this.
One of the factors that determine freshness is the time when Google first crawled the page.
The article in question, Search Engine Land, stated that Google provided them with information about one of the elements determining the website’s Freshness. It’s not just the date!
