Introduction to SEO Content Strategy
The question of whether to publish high volumes of content or invest in fewer, higher-authority evergreen pieces is a common dilemma. The answer lies in understanding the goals of your website and the type of traffic you want to attract. If your goal is quick traffic and a churn-and-burn model, high volume might seem like the way to go. However, for sustainable SEO traffic, providing a proper user experience is key, which includes making sure the other topics on your site are helpful to users.
Why High Volumes Of Content Don’t Work Long Term
The strategy of creating high volumes of content to get traffic is outdated. With the launch of Google’s BERT and MUM, this approach became even less effective. These updates focused on the associations between words, hierarchy of the page, and the website to figure out the user experience of the page versus the specific words on the page. SEO has moved away from keywords to what the user will learn from the experience on the page, emphasizing vectors and entities.
The Rise and Fall of Content Spinning
In the mid-2000s, article spinners generated hundreds of keyword-focused pages quickly and easily. However, Google’s Panda update did a great job of finding and devaluing these pages. Similarly, using PHP with merchant data feeds to create shopping pages for specific products and product groups, although unique, often held little to no value. The core algorithms detect "thin pages" from content spinning, leading to penalties and devaluation.
The Emergence of AI Content
Now, AI content created by tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity is technically unique and "original" but follows the same pattern as article spinning. It may work for fast traffic gains but ultimately gets caught, leading to loss of traffic. The focus should be on providing a unique solution, not a unique keyword, allowing a page to show up for multiple different phrases.
Evergreen And Non-Evergreen High-Quality Content
Focusing on quality content that provides value to an end user is better for long-term success. This type of content is trustworthy, gets backlinks naturally from high-authority sites, and each page has a clear intent. Not all content needs to be evergreen; timely information mixed with evergreen topics can be beneficial. Refreshing evergreen content by updating software features, adding new examples, or reflecting changes in regulations can improve its value.
Refreshing Evergreen Content
There are several ways to refresh evergreen content:
- Look for unanswered customer service questions.
- Add updated software features or new colors.
- Improve examples or clarity.
- Update for new regulations.
- Delete outdated content or label it as no longer relevant.
- Remove irrelevant sections to strengthen the content.
Conclusion
Creating mass amounts of content is a strategy for those who want to make money fast without planning to keep the domain long-term. For building a sustainable business, high-authority content that provides value is the way to go. Focus on the user experience, and most channels, including email/SMS, social media, PR, branding, and SEO, can grow. The key to successful SEO is in providing quality, trustworthy content that solves users’ problems, rather than chasing quick traffic with high volumes of low-quality content.