How much does fresh content matter in SEO?

That’s the question asked by Darren Rowse at Pro Blogger.

The idea that Google and other search engines feed on fresh content is one that I’ve heard talked about on many occasions. However it doesn’t always seem to be so. I was just doing a Google search for digital photography and noticed one of Weblogs Inc’s blogs still ranking 3rd for the term – despite having retired 9 months ago and having no fresh content added (although there are continual changes to other elements of the page via it’s footer). The same blog ranks 3rd in Yahoo.

I guess it goes to show that frequently updated content isn’t quite as important a factor as other elements of SEO (particularly all the other WIN properties linking to it).

New content itself does not take one to the top of the search engines. Content updates do help though. The reason is that by adding posts you are adding more keywords/key phrases that Internet users are looking for. Posts with those keywords/key phrases will come up on searches.

When a blog is well architected and the blogger knows what they are doing in putting keywords in titles and in links, a blog is going to do very, very well on the search engines.

Plus it doesn’t hurt that blogs by their nature are link magnets. And links from relevant blogs/websites are the holy grail of SEO.

For a law blog that dominates SEO without adding content, do a Google search for IP litigation or IP litigation lawyer. You’ll see Phil Mann’s IP Litigation Blog as number one. No posts in 6 months.

Phil, if that doesn’t shame you into doing a post I don’t know what will. I know you don’t like posting as it draws more work than you need, but help me out here. ;)

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