The internet is overrun with content. Even with 8.5 billion searches a day, it can still be difficult for your content to stand out.

Producing more blog posts and web pages isn’t the answer. Today’s algorithms — and audiences — favor quality over quantity. A more effective strategy is to update your existing, high-performing content to better address readers’ needs.

Through search engine optimization (SEO) data, you can deliver the content your audience wants while also meeting your organizational goals. Here, we explore the features of effective content and outline how you can determine what content is worth updating for the best return on your time investment.

 What Makes Content Effective?

Effective content fulfills a need within your audience and helps you reach organizational goals. It solves various challenges, such as helping people find things on your site and explaining your mission in words your constituents use.

Before you create content, step back and consider its purpose. For instance, will readers find it informative and be moved to join your newsletter? Will it explain your mission and inspire donations? Doing so will ensure effective content on pages with calls to action.

This will also help you avoid the “curse of knowledge” psychological principle. When you work on something daily, you assume knowledge or understand things so intuitively that you no longer explain them. Knowing the purpose of your content will help you break through this curse and explain how your mission connects to the different topics you’re discussing.

How Content Strategies Have Changed

In the early days of content marketing, most took a “spray and pray” approach. The goal was short articles and more of them — three to five blog posts a week at 300–500 words each. While this approach kept things short and sweet, it created mountains of content that left readers jumping from one article to the next to learn about a topic.

People still don’t want to read too much; they want the best answer to their questions in one place. The best content today is comprehensive and authoritative.

There’s also been a shift from keyword optimization to topic optimization. For example, rather than optimizing an article for the keyword “community health programs,” your content should cover everything related to that topic: mental health support, free health screenings, preventative care, etc. 

Topic optimization makes your content more likely to be cited by artificial intelligence (AI) in the AI overviews search engines have started using. It also establishes you as a subject matter expert on an entire area, not just part of it.

Hallmarks of Effective Content

Creating more content won’t boost your visibility in search engines; having the best content will. Use the following tips to develop content that meets your audience’s needs and shows up in search results:

• Start with a concise introduction that captures the main points of the article. This will help the reader find answers quickly, especially on mobile.
• Provide a comprehensive answer to a question and use subsections to anticipate and answer related questions.
• Use headings and a table of contents to organize the content into bite-sized chunks. The article should be easy to skim.
• Have subject matter experts at your organization serve as writers or editors to ensure the content is credible.
• Include links to relevant content to encourage further action and learning.
• Ensure the content fulfills the audience’s search intent. It should address and answer the “why” behind their search.

Don’t Rely on AI

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT make it easy to create content. While this can be a good place to start brainstorming, AI-generated copy won’t help you stand out.

AI tools pull information from a massive body of content on the internet and then regurgitate it to meet your parameters. It won’t help you develop new and fresh content on a specific topic.

In addition, AI-generated copy is known to have credibility questions. AI can’t fact-check the information it pulls, so you need subject matter experts to verify its claims.

Why Updating Existing Content Is a Better Strategy for SEO

It can take time for search engines to pick up your content. Updating existing content can be a better SEO strategy if you have a small team with limited resources.

Your current content likely already has some traction and authority online. Build on this by updating it with the latest findings. For instance, an older blog post about anxiety coping strategies may still attract traffic. Rather than creating another piece with new research, update the blog to include new coping techniques and recent stats. This will ensure the content remains accurate and useful.

You can also add more keywords and related terms to older posts to keep them relevant. Include two dates on your content — “published on” and “updated on” — to show readers and search engines that it’s timely.

How to Update Content

It’s important to note that not all content on your site is worth updating. Performing a content audit can help you identify which pieces to focus on.

Use online tools to determine how your content is performing. For instance, Google Analytics (GA 4) tracks specific conversions and engagement data. It also shows how users move through your site so you can see which pages get the most traffic. Search Console is another tool that tracks how content performs in searches. You can see which keywords drive organic traffic and uncover opportunities to improve your rankings.

Once you’ve measured content performance, you can determine the next steps.

• Trim and archive low-performing content. See if it will fit into a high-performing piece to cover the topic more comprehensively.
• Content that falls in the middle of the range can be left alone. Check it again in a few years.
• Focus on high-performing content. Enhance it with the latest research and update the keywords.

Identify the goals and audiences for each page. Then, update content so it aligns with audience search intent. Analyze search queries, user behavior, engagement metrics, and SEO data to learn what your constituents want to know. Search engine sections like “people also ask” and “related search” can also reveal new angles and questions to cover.

Finally, check all content for readability through tools like Screaming Frog or the Gunning Fog Index. General content should be at a seventh- or eighth-grade reading level, while more technical content can aim for 11^th or 12^th grade.

When to Create New Content

There are some instances where creating new content makes sense, such as when trends shift or audience behavior changes. You might also develop new articles or web pages when you launch a new initiative or campaign or when a new cause related to your mission gains momentum.

In these cases, creating new content helps you capitalize on timely and urgent topics. Addressing current interests and concerns directly gives your organization a competitive edge in search rankings and can boost donor engagement.

Achieve Your Goals with Quality Content

Updating your content to make it more effective will strengthen your SEO strategy. It keeps your website relevant and valuable, which improves your chances of ranking higher in search results. It also enhances the user experience by delivering information and resources your audience wants.

Start with your constituents in mind. What are they looking for? How can you deliver it in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand, and user-friendly way?

Our Allegiance Group + Pursuant team can help you audit your content to identify the articles and web pages that can maximize your organization’s impact. We’ll uncover audience search intent so you can update content that meets their needs and your goals. Contact us today.

This blog post is based on Maximizing SEO for Nonprofits: Why Less Content, Done Right, Drives Bigger Results, an episode of the Go Beyond Fundraising podcast.