Is your location marketing team creating too much content?

The world could do with a lot less content these days. Even before generative AI made creating mediocre “stuff” easier to push out, there was plenty of low-quality noise all around the metaverse.

So do we really need to keep creating more of it over and over? Yes and no.

Creating new content is valuable for SEO, as it opens up new organic audiences if done correctly. However, doing so endlessly without giving attention to the great work you’ve already generated is an easy trap to fall into. Updating those old gems can lead to more benefits (especially with the recency bias of AI chat tools) and takes less time. We explain below.

6 reasons to increase attention on existing content

Pumping out a barrage of new blogs, videos and infographics is time consuming, especially for resource-tight government agencies and non-profit place marketers.

It also isn’t the most efficient way to attract more investors, buyers or international talents to your organisation’s website. We’ve already shared that it is fine to be on fewer social channels. Below we argue why less new content could potentially drive more traffic for your organisation. Here is a summary as to why:

1. Boost organic traffic faster

2. AI chatbots love fresh content

3. Algorithms evolve, so must your content

4. Maximise user engagement with increased relevance

5. Maximise internal resources

6. Maximising social reach

Boost organic traffic faster

With a simple tune-up, a content refresh of something you have already produced can bump traditional organic traffic more quickly, as HubSpot found out on its way to increasing organic search views by 106%. Another example from Content Marketing Institute showed a 50% boost in traffic within one week for an article that was updated five years after it was first created.

This is because Google loves fresh content just like AI, so they will give it preference over something that is older and stale (or newer with no credibility). It is ultimately what their customers want when they type in queries day after day.

And traditional search still matters. While AI is stealing headlines, it still only accounts for a small percentage of search-related queries. So good, old SEO remains a powerful tool in your marketing kit.

AI chatbots love fresh content

Because AI chatbots lean on search engines as well as chat forums (which are frequently gathering new content), freshness isn’t just a way to gain more organic traffic. It is also a way to gain AI citations.

As people increasingly look to AI tools for real time insights and information, the companies behind them are able to capture the context of such queries and priortise results that are more recent, especially around news-driven updates (like policies effecting companies or talent) and industry reports.

This is only going to increase over time, suggesting that more time from place brand teams be allocated to existing content rather than always something new.

Algorithms evolve; so must your content

Another technical justification for paying more attention to existing or old content is the need to adapt to the ever-evolving algorithms, which are updated more than trips to the grocery store.

These updates provide an improved user experience and higher quality search results, but can make your content out of date in a hurry.

While maintaining this isn’t a daily exercise, evaluating cornerstone content every 6-12 months at minimum is good practice to keep pace with changes and ensure content remains visible and relevant.

Maximise user engagement with increased relevance

Let’s face it: no one enjoys stumbling upon a great stat or insight only to find that it is 5 years old and not relevant anymore. The customer experience is ruined and credibility is lost.

For place marketing organisations, an updated digital ecosystem means delivering accurate, compelling information that resonates with your target audience's current needs and interests, from talent and buyers to potential investors.

As we like to say, to win a buying decision, you have to win the journey first. And a successful journey starts with keeping data, facts and success stories current. A website littered with old rankings, references and reports is doing no favours in positioning your region or organisation as an expert.

Maximise internal resources

Our team loves the analogy of SEO and tending to a garden. Keeping a well-nourished patch going strong is much easier than planting it anew or bringing it back from near death.

Updating existing content works much the same way, requiring markedly less resources than creating new material all the time. This can mean reducing the load on an overstretched team, reconsidering that next hire or reallocating resources toward other projects without sacrificing digital performance.

We are not exactly advocating for a 100% reallocation to updating existing content, but some level of balance between new and existing is advised. In general for location marketing teams, a 60/40 or 70/30 split of new and old content, respectively, is a good place to start.

Maximising social media reach

You pour hours into a new blog or video; write a whimsical social post you can’t wait to share; and hit “submit” after capturing all the right hashtags to maximise its reach.

One week later, it’s on to the next masterpiece, with the previous one seen by only a fraction of your followers. And that’s it; it’ll never be seen or heard of again on social media. That’s a shame.

A pivotal yet often overlooked strategy in content marketing is reposting on social media. Many marketers underutilise their creations by only sharing them once, missing out on the opportunity to reach a broader audience. Did you know only about 2% of your business page followers on LinkedIn see your posts? On Instagram, the estimate is 1 in 10. That’s humbling.

Reposting is obviously a stronger fit for evergreen content rather than event-based or other time-sensitive posts, so it is not a one-size-fits-all method. But when updating content for the reasons above, consider reposting it as fresh social media fodder as well. You’ll have new followers by then and will reach those who missed it the first time around.

Guidance for shifting focus toward existing content

From a practical standpoint, where should you start? We recommend these next steps when incorporating more updated content into your place marketing plan.

1. Identify your top pages driving organic traffic that speak to your core mission and are still relevant today (aka “evergreen content”). These can be blogs or core content pages in your navigation menu.

2. Schedule an update of the page for this year, then plan to update it again in the future (every 6-12 months depending on the type of page). Remember the 60/40 or 70/30 guidance of new-to-old content, so consider rethinking that “three new blogs per week” goal. Perhaps direct at least one of those to existing page updates instead. Your organic web traffic KPIs will thank you later.

3. Don’t forget to pay attention to the strategic keywords that the page is built around. If you change those, this exercise can lead you backwards, not forward. Don’t have a keyword strategy? C Studios can help. Our SEO specialists are in tune with nuances across investment promotion, trade promotion and talent attraction that can make a big difference.

4. Build this into your new workflows going forward by making sure to incorporate reposting of updated pages into your social media schedule. Your core evergreen content should be posted semi-regularly, just with a fresh twist.