If you are publishing new articles on your company’s website or owned media, but are having problems with the number of accesses not increasing, the problem may be with your existing content.
In such cases, rewriting is one way to add more value to your content and increase the number of accesses.
Google’s philosophy is to always display high-quality information at the top, so rewriting to improve the quality of content is essential. Therefore, in this article, we will comprehensively explain “rewriting” to increase the search ranking and CTR (click-through rate) of existing content.
Please refer to the content to get higher rankings in search results.
What is rewrite?
Rewriting means improving content that has already been published. By rewriting the content, you can incorporate the latest information and make it more responsive to user needs. Rewriting involves not only changing the content, but also changing the title and meta description to make it more appealing to users.
・SEO basics! Thorough explanation of page title optimization
・What is a description? The amount of characters and writing style required for SEO measures
Rewriting can be said to be an important measure for
SEO
to increase traffic to your site. This can be said to be an essential task for people involved in SEO, such as media personnel.
Points to note when rewriting
Rewriting is important for SEO, but it should not be done indiscriminately. It is important to determine which articles to rewrite and the timing.
Here, we will introduce the four most important points to keep in mind when rewriting.
Data will be collected for 3 months after the content is published.
One guideline for rewriting is 3 to 6 months after the content is published. It’s hard to generalize, but it takes time after publishing new content for it to be evaluated by Google and produce results.
You cannot rewrite effectively until you are evaluated by Google and collect accurate data. Please keep an eye on the situation and collect data for at least 3 months, including the period until it is evaluated by Google. However, if the amount of content is small, the overall evaluation of the site will be low, so you should focus on increasing new content.
Narrow down to articles with search ranking within 50th place
Narrow down the content you want to rewrite to articles with search rankings within the top 50. Content ranked below 50 tends to be difficult to produce results even if rewritten due to factors such as excessive competition.
Among the top 50 articles, give priority to rewriting content that ranks 10th to 20th. By rewriting content that ranks 10th to 20th, you can expect to increase the number of inflows by improving the click rate and raising the ranking.
How much content does your company publish? In order to figure it out, in addition to actually searching on Google, there is a way to use a search ranking check tool that can be used for free.
Do not rewrite articles that are already ranked high in search results.
Content that is already ranked high in search results is content that is highly rated by Google. Articles that are displayed at the top of the rankings are at high risk of being lowered in ranking due to rewriting. As a general rule, do not rewrite content that ranks high in search results, and prioritize content that ranks 10th to 20th as mentioned above.
Ensure data is stored after rewriting
There is no point in being satisfied with just rewriting. Be sure to verify the effect after rewriting. If you use Google Search Console, you can check whether there has been a numerical improvement before or after rewriting.
If you are not getting sufficient results, try again to analyze your competitors and improve your content. It is important to accurately understand the areas where rewriting has been effective and where it has not.
Please also allow some time for effectiveness verification. It will take about 2 weeks to 1 month at the earliest for the rewritten content to be evaluated again and the results reflected. Please check the effect approximately one month after rewriting.
Flow of rewriting
Up to this point, we have explained the points to keep in mind when rewriting. When rewriting, verification such as competitive analysis and analysis of the current content is important. Here, we will explain the specific flow when actually rewriting.
Selection of rewrite articles
First, select the article to rewrite from among the many pieces of content. In that case, choose articles that are likely to be highly effective by rewriting as much as possible. As mentioned above, articles in 10th to 20th place may be displayed higher by adding content after examining the difference in content from competing articles or by adding content that meets user needs.
Consider rewriting articles that have a low CTR despite having a high number of impressions. Articles with low CTR can be improved by changing the title and meta description.
Identifying problems with current content
Once you have decided on an article to rewrite, check the current status of that article. By using Google Search Console, you can perform numerical analysis in four main areas: number of clicks, CTR, number of impressions, and search ranking.
By conducting an analysis, you can see the direction of rewriting, such as changing the title or description if the CTR is low, or rewriting the article with the latest information if the search ranking is on the decline.
Content survey of competing articles
Now that you have investigated the current content, it is time to investigate the content of competing articles. Articles that are already ranked high in search results are content that is highly rated by Google.
Compare the content of the top articles and the current content and identify the missing parts. In particular, check the completeness of the information and the keywords included.
Survey of users who have already visited
Also check the attributes of the users visiting the article you want to rewrite. Once you know age, gender, attributes, etc., it becomes clear who you should write content for. Since you can narrow down your target, you can rewrite according to user needs.
Deciding which part to rewrite
Decide which parts to rewrite after researching the content of competing articles and the demographics of current users. Be careful not to rewrite the entire article at once. If you rewrite the entire page, you will end up rewriting parts that already have high ratings, which may actually lower the page’s rating.
Even if you rewrite the whole thing and your ranking improves, it will be difficult to accumulate data on which parts and how you changed them to get the results. Be sure to narrow down the parts to be rewritten based on the results of your investigation.
Create a configuration proposal
Once we have decided on the parts to be rewritten, we will actually create a composition plan. It is best to create a rewritten article by adding and modifying it to the composition plan you created when creating a new article. Delete outdated information and add new information.
If you find that the coverage is insufficient during the research stage, you may consider creating a structure plan to improve the volume of articles by referring to competing articles.
actually rewrite
Once you have finished creating the composition plan, you can start the actual writing process. When writing, try to put the user first and write sentences that are easy to read.
In some cases, it is recommended to use images and charts. On top of that, by incorporating SEO techniques, you can gain high ratings from both users and search engines, making it easier to rank higher.
Measure data after rewriting
After completing the rewrite, be sure to measure the data. After rewriting, it will take at least two weeks for Google to re-evaluate and reflect the results. Therefore, it is a good idea to check it about a month after the rewrite is completed.
Regardless of the results, it is important to accumulate data. After measuring the data, if further improvements are necessary, start rewriting by identifying the problems in the content again.
Points to keep in mind when rewriting
So far, we have explained the points to note when rewriting and the overall flow. However, there are five points to keep in mind when actually rewriting.
The above five points are very important points from an SEO perspective, so be sure to keep them in mind when rewriting.
Include EAT information
EAT information refers to the following three things.
By including information that satisfies these three criteria, you will be more likely to be evaluated by Google, so be sure to rewrite your content consciously. When it comes to YMYL content related to money and life, it is ideal to have it rewritten by a professional.
Create content that makes it easy to get backlinks
When rewriting, be sure to make the content easy to get backlinks. In addition to including a lot of the EAT information mentioned above, adding actual examples, surveys, etc. to your content will make it easier to acquire backlinks.
Text is not the only way to make it easier to acquire backlinks. By including an easy-to-understand infographic that makes people want to quote it, you may be able to get backlinks for quoting the image.
Clarify the points of differentiation between your company and other companies
By clarifying the points of differentiation between your company and others, you increase your chances of meeting user needs. Responding to user needs is not only related to SEO effectiveness, but also to
, so proactively clarify your points of differentiation.
Responding to latent needs
You can create user-first content by making the content responsive to latent needs. Tools such as Google Trends and Keyword Planner are useful for researching potential needs. Use Google Trends or Keyword Planner to check the keywords in your content during the rewrite stage.
Place internal links to relevant pages
By setting up internal links to highly relevant pages, users can easily navigate your site. Since you can get multiple PVs from one user, it is very important to encourage people to move around the site. When you create new content to rewrite, check to see if there are any pages where you can paste internal links, including unpublished articles.
Summary: Improve your search rankings with rewrites
Rewriting is an essential task for running the PDCA cycle in SEO. By selecting and rewriting articles appropriately, you can not only improve search rankings, but also provide users with the information they are looking for. As a result, there is a higher possibility that it will lead to actual conversions other than PV. Why not start by selecting articles to rewrite, using this article as a reference?