People wonder if it could be helpful for SEO to create
multiple pieces of content rather than creating a single piece; and then
developing a mechanism to run a swap in order to show a different version after
every 30 days. Would this approach be helpful in keeping the freshness index of
the page up?
The simple question to ask in this regard is that if it
could be helpful for SEO to create a fresh piece of content for a web page and
replacing it with the older version.
As far as the first question is concerned, there is no real
benefit of developing multiple pieces of content and run a program to show
different version after a specific period of time. It is just a waste of time
because this is not what we can call freshness.
Google actively tends to understand the content you have on
your web pages. And if you change the content without any real purpose, you are
not going to get any benefit.
So, what is the freshness all about?
Query Deserves Freshness (QDF)
Google’s Caffeine Update was released back in 2011. This
update allowed Google to index the web pages more quickly. This update also
enabled Google to favor, in some cases, the fresh content on web pages instead
of evergreen content.
This is called Query Deserves Freshness or QDF. It states:
“Different searches have different freshness needs. This
algorithmic improvement is designed to better understand how to differentiate
between these kinds of searches and the level of freshness you need, and make
sure you get the most up to the minute answers.”
And it is unfortunate that QDF has become one of the most
misunderstood concepts.
Even some of the SEOs suggest replacing the older content
with fresh content on periodic basis because Google, according to their
opinion, always prefers fresh content.
It is not true.
The requirement of fresh content for a page to be indexed
well against specific queries is entirely case-specific.
And QDF doesn’t always matter in every case.
Scenarios in which the QDF matters
When QDF was rolled out, it affected only 30% of all the
searches.
If you have a recipe site in which you have a spaghetti
recipe from your grandmother, you certainly do not need to change the content
of this recipe if it is already providing required details. Similarly, you do
not need to change the content which explains Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
But of course, there are some forms of content that need to
be replaced or refreshed in order to keep the users informed. For instance, you
are going to have to keep your viewers informed well about the recent events or
hot topics by either replacing the content or simply adding the follow up
content.
Moreover, you will also need to change content on the pages
which are meant to provide information about regularly recurring events. For
instance, if you are writing about the election campaigns which are run on
yearly basis, you are going to need to change the content according to the
current scenario. The same queries, which were used by the users last year,
would lead them to the updated content.
Furthermore, there are also searches for the content which
doesn’t fall under the category of hot topics or regularly recurring events.
For instance, any new release of a hardware or software would require you to
update the content in order to provide users information about new releases.
