The Importance of Content Consolidation

Content consolidation is a key factor in improving search engine optimization and boosting your website’s visibility and search engine results page (SERP) rankability. The concept of content consolidation as a viable SEO strategy isn’t anything new—SEO experts have been employing this method to breathe new life into old and outdated content for a few years now.

But the approaches and best practices used for this lucrative and worthwhile content strategy have certainly evolved a great deal over the years. Let’s take a look at what content consolidation is, how it works, and how it can help improve your organic web traffic.

What Is Content Consolidation?

Content consolidation is the process of reviewing or auditing the full scope of your website content and combining articles, blog posts and any other pieces that touch on similar topics into one informative and updated long-form piece of content.

If it sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is—depending on how long you’ve had a functioning website, that is. Websites that have been around for a number of years likely have a lot of backlogged older content that’s taking up precious bandwidth. From time to time, this content needs to be reviewed and audited for relevancy, accuracy, and page traffic.

Statistics, trends, and best practices for any given topic change drastically over time, which means articles on your website from several years or even months ago can quickly become irrelevant and outdated. Reviewing this content allows you the opportunity to make necessary updates while also combining articles with similar premises into one piece rather than having multiple articles covering the same topic competing with each other for higher rankings. It also gives you the opportunity to improve the quality of the content by adhering to and applying new SEO standards.

Why Is Content Consolidation Good for SEO?

Content consolidation is very good for SEO because it can directly help to improve your online visibility and SERP ranking position. If your website contains multiple pages that cover topics that are similar or the same, this can actually decrease your chances of ranking in the zero position for a number of reasons.

First of all, these pages are in direct competition with one another, which means that they pretty much cancel each other out during the search process.

Secondly, if these pages were written at different times, then some of the information they contain can be conflicting. Opinions, facts, and circumstances change over time, which means they need regular updates to remain relevant and accurate.

For instance, a content piece about the effects of COVID-19 on small businesses that was written in March will contain vastly different information and economic forecasts than one that was written in November. That’s how quickly the data is changing. When it comes to certain time-sensitive topics like the pandemic, people want the absolute latest information, not something that was relevant in the beginning of the year.

This is where date stamps and update disclaimers are extremely helpful in improving your SEO rankings. Google gives users the ability to search for up-to-the-minute information on any given topic by providing the “Anytime” and “All Results” tools at the top of every search query. These settings can be adjusted based on the user’s specifications to present the desired data.

Content that’s date or time-stamped is more likely to appear given that the appropriate settings are chosen. Moreover, the “All Results” tool allows users to search for keywords verbatim or on a more general level, which amplifies the need for incorporating the all-important keywords in your content.

To summarize, content consolidation and regular website auditing is an important factor in boosting SEO for the following reasons.

• It strengthens your content strategy
• It allows you to make necessary revisions and edits for the sake of relevancy, accuracy, and clarity
• It allows you to optimize existing content based on current SEO best practices
• You can update your keyword usage based on current search volume trends
• Providing the latest and most up-to-date information establishes you as an industry authority on any given subject
• You can revive or freshen up existing content when you’re struggling to find new ideas to write about
• You can create more backlinking opportunities by linking to existing content pieces on your website
• You can identify and remove duplicate content that could lead to Google penalizing your website.

Content Consolidation Opportunities: How to Make the Most of Them

SEO tactics and content strategies have changed tremendously over the past few years and they will continue to evolve over time. Digital marketing trends can change seemingly at the speed of light. As an online marketer or e-commerce business owner, it’s important to keep up with these trends and continue applying them to your content as much as possible.

Google offers a number of tools like AdWords and Analytics that you can use to track your website’s progress, foot traffic, bounce rates, click-through rates, and even test out keyword search volumes. All of this data is important in helping your decide which content pieces need to be revised, edited, consolidated, or scrapped altogether.

Of course, the latter option is an absolute last resort. After all, you spend a lot of time researching various industry-related topics and creating content that was relevant at some point in time. If you can salvage even a few of those pieces by refreshing them with some new information or a few clever revisions rather than having to compose entirely new content, then it’s well worth the effort.

Content Consolidation and SEO Services in Toronto

If you need help refining your content marketing strategy through content consolidation, then you can count on the SEO experts at Numero Uno Web Solutions. We can map out a flexible and unique SEO content strategy that will help improve your website analytics and boost your SERP rankings. We cater to small- and medium-sized businesses across all sectors throughout North America and have helped them achieve greater online visibility, brand awareness, and better conversion rates. We can help you too. Contact us today to learn more.