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Reaching a stage where your local business has a well-established content publishing process is a commendable achievement. However, as time passes, the content that once served you efficiently might face the risk of becoming outdated or forgotten. To prevent the erosion of past hard work, implementing a strategic process can help aging content continue to work for your local business.

Step 1: Schedule Regular Content Audits:

Initiate regular content audits to assess the relevance and effectiveness of older pieces. Use your Content Management System (CMS) or a tool like a Google Sheet to track articles, ensuring you cover a spectrum of factors, including date, topic, and status. The frequency of these audits should align with the pace of change in your industry, business, and the balance between timely and evergreen content.

Step 2: Assess Older Content:

Examine older content through different lenses to determine its status:

Relevance and Outdated Information: Identify if the content is still relevant. If yes, but it contains outdated information, update it by addressing the obsolete details.

No Outdated Information: If the content remains relevant and doesn’t contain outdated information, consider refreshing it with new graphics or perspectives.

Content No Longer Relevant: If the content is no longer relevant, decide whether to fully revise it to restore relevance or retire it. If retiring, redirect the URL to something relevant.

Fictitious Blog Examples:

Let’s consider a fictitious plant nursery blog facing the content assessment task in 2024:

Post #1:

Relevance: Yes

Outdated Info: Yes

Action: Update by addressing discontinued product and removing references to 2019.

Post #2:

Relevance: Yes

Outdated Info: No

Action: Refresh with new photos showing butterfly growth over the past five years.

Post #3:

Relevance: No

Action: Revise to focus on general principles of drought-tolerant landscaping.

Post #4:

Relevance: No

Action: Retire the post, write a new one featuring the current owner, and redirect the URL.

Summing Up:

While the task may seem substantial initially, regular assessments of smaller content sets at manageable intervals can make the process more efficient. After reviewing and updating strong older pieces, you’ll have a valuable collection of refreshed assets to promote across your channels. Upholding the 80/20 rule becomes more effective when you prevent older content from slipping through the cracks.

Conclusion:

For local businesses, consistently evaluating and revitalizing aging content ensures a dynamic and relevant online presence. By following strategic content assessment practices, businesses can maintain the impact of their past efforts, engage audiences effectively, and promote a thriving online presence. Explore further insights in our blog for ongoing success in the evolving digital landscape.