Link building techniques and keyword planning, Panda algorithm, Penguin algorithm, and … are some topics our ears are used to hearing, but among these missing pieces, some are much harder to find! Unfortunately, Google’s Freshness algorithm is one of the missing pieces of the SEO puzzle few people are looking for.

It is interesting to know that the impact of this algorithm, at the time of its final introduction in November 2011, was such that Google officially announced that; Content freshness algorithm had changed about 35% of search results. Google’s announcement sounded like a bomb, so many SEO and content production experts decided to pay more attention to Google’s content freshness algorithm.

In the article “An Ultimate Guide to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)” we introduce the Content Freshness algorithm. In this article from the Smart Strategy blog we will dive deep into Google’s Freshness Algorithm and its influencing factors.

 

What is the Freshness Algorithm?

If you are planning to buy a car online, one of the most critical points is the price of the vehicle. Then open your browser and search the cost of the car you want in Google to get more detailed information before buying. You will now see a series of sites on the results page, each with a different number in its title:

  • A place that shows you the latest car prices of the day
  • A website that priced the car a few weeks ago
  • The place was last updated a few months ago

Which site are you clicking on? Surely your choice will be a site that has more up-to-date content. This choice expresses the concept of the Freshness algorithm.

It can be concluded that Google considers the date of publication and content updates as a key criterion in determining the site’s position through its content freshness algorithm.

 

Why did Google Introduce Content Freshness Algorithm?

The former director of Google Search says about the reason for designing the content freshness algorithm:

“In the first place, content such as news, politics, and trending topics that are most searched on the Internet needed to be ranked higher based on newness.”

In one sentence, it can be said that Google loves up-to-date and new content and introduced the Freshness algorithm to satisfy users looking for new content.

In addition, one of the main reasons for releasing the Content Freshness Algorithm was that web admins updated their articles so that new users would not have to use the old site content over time.

On the other hand, introducing this algorithm created new ambiguities for bloggers. For example, one crucial question was whether producing new content alone could increase the site ranking. Just as writing a good article alone can not improve your site ranking, producing up-to-date content does not guarantee any site improvement.

“What drives Google to keep your site up-to-date is the signals it receives from the user.”

 

What factors affect the ranking in the content Freshness algorithm?

When Google enters your site, it travels like a spider to different parts of the site to analyze positive signals and use them to rank the site. With implementing the Freshness algorithm, the metrics that Google takes from your site become more critical. But what are these criteria?

 

Increasing the user’s presence on the site over time is better.

The user’s presence on the site is that Google cares not only about the user’s first entry; the subsequent visitors’ visits also affect the site’s ranking. So, for example, if users spend an average of 2 minutes on your place in the first week after the content is published, this amount should increase over time, i.e., after three months, this number should be closer to 3 minutes.

“Gradually increasing the time a user spends on the site signals to Google that the content on the site is still fresh.”

One of the practical ways to increase the time spent by users is to update the content of the page constantly. In this method, in short intervals, sections are added to the main article, or with the addition of user comments, the volume of content and the time of user’s presence on the page increase.

 

Get links from sites that have new content.

You have often heard that every link given to your content is a positive point. But it’s interesting to know that Google even looks at the source that gave you the link; This means that if the site you are linking to does not have up-to-date content at all, the content freshness algorithm will also reduce your site’s Freshness score.

In general, getting links to older pages on your site will not diminish the standard of content freshness in them because there are still pages that link to your content. Now, if these links are from sites and pages that are new and useful, they will be much more valuable.

 

Continuous and targeted link building is valuable.

The best strategy for building a backlink is to link to an endless number of different sites. For example, if you receive high-volume backlinks for a week but are not given any links for a month, you have adopted an inappropriate method of obtaining backlinks. In this case, Google may identify your links as spam.

The best solution is to update your site’s old content too! To do this, you can share your previous articles on social networks to refresh the old content of your site with newer links.

 

How to use a content freshness algorithm for SEO?

Now that you have some helpful information about the basics of the Content Freshness Algorithm and how to increase Content Freshness Algorithm rankings, it’s time to use this algorithm to improve your SEO. We suggest you use the following four methods:

 

Update the site’s rated content

Prioritize those articles that have a high number of impressions and inputs and are ranked on the results page. Then, try to update these articles with new stats, quotes, pictures, and valuable changes.

 

Take the lead in content production.

Sites operating in the news, cinema, music, and current events should always try to provide users with up-to-date information more quickly than their competitors. If your site is the first daily news source, you will send more users to it.

 

Get positive social signals.

One of the criteria to which Google’s content algorithm is susceptible is the positive signals from social networks. So try to share your articles or content on social networks related to your business and link to your site from them. If the content you publish on these networks has become ubiquitous, wait for your SEO to grow.

 

Do not delete the publication date of the articles

Clearing the date of themes is associated with high risk. Case studies have shown that the date of publication of the content is one of the things that Google pays a lot of attention to. If looking for the best results from the Google results page, it is better to keep the page’s content updated instead of changing or deleting the date.

 

Conclusion

Perhaps the first thing we can tell you as a conclusion is to try to keep your site content up to date; But while Google is always looking for fresh and up-to-date content, this advice may not work in some cases!

A conclusion can be helpful when it helps you with everything. So it is better to consider the following essential points:

  • In the first step, get to know your user well.
  • Then create content based on their needs and behavior.
  • Next, keep your content updated if your target audience is more interested in reading the latest trends and news of the day.

Evergreen content can be your site’s winning card if you have users looking to increase their information level.
To ensure your site’s performance, balance new and evergreen content to make a broader range of different users happy.

 

Conclusion

To ensure the correctness of your website performance, you can contact us or send your request from the smart strategy SEO services. 

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