The Content Refresh Formula

Most sites keep publishing new content while their existing content decays. This is backwards.

A refreshed page with existing authority beats a new page starting from zero. Here's the system.

Step 1: Find Refresh Candidates

The ideal refresh candidate has these characteristics:

• Already gets some traffic - Google has validated relevance
• Rankings have declined - Was doing better before
• Content is dated - Old stats, outdated advice, stale examples
• Topic still matters - People still search for this

In Search Console, compare the last 3 months to the previous 3 months. Find pages with declining clicks but still-decent impressions. These are your targets. This is essentially finding your striking distance opportunities but for existing content decay.

Step 2: Analyze the Gap

Before changing anything, understand why the page is underperforming.

Search the target keyword. Open the top 3 results. Compare to your page:

• What topics do they cover that you don't?
• What questions do they answer that you skip?
• Is their content more recent?
• Is their formatting better (tables, lists, visuals)?
• Do they have better depth on key subtopics?

The gap analysis tells you exactly what to fix. Don't guess.

Step 3: The Refresh Checklist

Not all changes matter equally. Here's what actually moves rankings:

High Impact:

• Add missing subtopics that competitors cover
• Update outdated statistics and examples
• Expand thin sections that lack depth
• Add original insights competitors don't have

Medium Impact:

• Improve formatting (add lists, tables, headers)
• Add relevant images with proper alt text
• Update internal links to newer content
• Fix broken external links

Low Impact:

• Changing the title (unless it's bad)
• Updating the publish date alone
• Minor wording changes
• Adding schema markup

Step 4: The Substantive Change Rule

Google needs to see that the page is meaningfully different.

Changing a few words and updating the date doesn't work. Google has seen this trick a million times.

A real refresh changes at least 30% of the content. Adds new sections. Removes outdated ones. Makes the page substantively better, not cosmetically different.

Step 5: Track Results

After refreshing:

• Note the date of the update
• Monitor Search Console for that specific page
• Give it 2-4 weeks to see movement
• Compare positions before and after

Most refreshes show results within 2-4 weeks. If nothing changes after 6 weeks, the refresh wasn't substantive enough or the page has deeper problems.

Stop the content treadmill. Refresh what's already working. That's where the leverage is.