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Content consolidation is the process of performing comprehensive and detailed website audits to determine which content should be saved, which content should be removed, and which content can be merged together to create a more cohesive story.
This is an effective solution that can not only ensure that your content is working effectively to attract more users to your website but to also improve their experience once they get there.
Consolidating your content gives you the opportunity to review existing pieces of content and determine what’s worth keeping, updating, and removing. You may think that having an overabundance of content on your website is helping you rank better, but it could actually be hurting your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) as a result of the sheer quantity of similar or duplicate content on your website.
Search engines don’t look too kindly on websites that attempt to trick their algorithms (even if you’re not doing so intentionally) and you could be penalized for presenting false information on your website.
Keep reading for some great tips on how to effectively consolidate your website content to make it work better in your favour.
Modern content creation abides by the notion that less is more. Many SEO experts who have been in the industry for a number of years were taught that the more content a website has, the better their rankings will be. But, as search engines keep changing their criteria and algorithms to make for better user experiences, we’ve figured out that this simply isn’t true.
It’s not necessarily the quantity, but the quality of your content that matters. Google has become increasingly intuitive when it comes to search intent over the years. If you have multiple web pages or pieces of content on your website that are competing for the same intent signals, then they could cancel each other out. It’s better to consolidate these pieces of content so that they can work together rather than against each other in search engine rankings.
Golden opportunities to consolidate content include the following:
Thin or light content pages are pages on your website that consist of minimal information, usually in the form of text. These can be static pages, service pages, or contact pages that usually only have a few sentences explaining what you do and how to contact you.
Since keywords are the primary factors that attract people to these pages, search engines view them as lacking in value. That means these pages don’t directly contribute to your search engine ranking capabilities.
It’s best to remove or combine these pages with one another as much as possible.
Duplicate content is content that appears multiple times on several different pages throughout your website. While Google doesn’t necessarily penalize websites that contain duplicate content as this is often an oversight on the part of the web design and content creation team, it can certainly work against you by creating negative user experiences and limiting your search engine rankability.
Outdated content can also lower your ranking power, but unlike duplicate content, search engines will penalize you for it, especially if you’re misrepresenting your credentials and authority in certain regards with the intent of spreading false information.
To prevent this from happening, it’s important to continuously update the existing content on your website and make sure it’s always aligned with the most accurate and current information that’s available.
Sometimes, it’s important to know when it’s time to nip something in the bud if it’s not working in your favour. Content that isn’t attracting enough web traffic or is ranking poorly is just taking up valuable real estate on your website. What’s worse is that having this type of content on your website could actually lower your rankability on search engines.
Search analytics tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics can give you great insight into which pages are actually adding value to your website and which pages are contributing to high bounce rates, low conversion rates, and lack of user engagement.
The key to effective content marketing and consolidation is to recognize when a piece of content simply isn’t accomplishing what you wanted it to do. There’s no shame in admitting that a certain content piece is a dud. But you should definitely try to correct this situation as quickly as possible so that it doesn’t continue to distort your rankability, conversion rates, and brand reputation.
Here are some tips on how to effectively consolidate your content to yield the most positive results.
Google has provided web developers and marketers with insightful, intuitive, and informative tools to track website analytics. Make sure you use them to your advantage regularly. Google Analytics showcases which content pieces are performing well and which ones are underperforming.
From there, it’s up to you to determine what the best course of action is.
If you have two or more similar content pieces that are in direct competition with one another and have the potential to rank well, then consider combining them.
Content that’s not ranking well will only eat away at your crawl budget while cannibalizing your keywords. This type of content is mutually unbeneficial to you and your users because neither one of you are getting anything out of it.
As mentioned, it doesn’t make sense to have similar content pieces on your website that are competing against each other. Combining similar content enriches user experience by providing all related or similar information on one page rather than forcing users to navigate through your website when they inevitably have follow-up questions regarding the same topic.
Just make sure to update these pages with new information from time to time.
Numero Uno Web Solutions is a leading content marketing, creation, consolidation, and SEO agency in Toronto. We have worked with numerous companies across the globe to help them build and maintain strong online presences through effective digital marketing practices and online reputation management. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
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