Should you change the publish date when refreshing content?

Yes, update both the published date and a lastUpdated field when you make substantial changes. Search engines use freshness signals when ranking content, and an updated date signals that the information is current. However, only update the date when you have made meaningful changes - not for cosmetic edits like fixing a typo.

Is it better to refresh old content or write new content?

For pages that already rank and have backlinks, refreshing is almost always more effective than writing something new. An existing page has accumulated domain authority, backlinks, and ranking history that a new page starts without. HubSpot found that refreshing old posts increased organic views by an average of 106%, which is faster and cheaper than building traffic to a new page from scratch.

What Is a Content Refresh?

Q: How often should you refresh content?

Review your highest-traffic content every 6 months and your broader content library annually. Pages with time-sensitive information like statistics, tool comparisons, or trend analysis need more frequent updates. Set up Google Search Console alerts or quarterly reviews to catch declining pages before they lose significant traffic.

A content refresh is the process of updating an existing piece of content - typically a blog post, article, or landing page - to improve its accuracy, relevance, comprehensiveness, and search performance. Instead of writing something entirely new, you take a page that already exists, update the information it contains, and republish it with a current date.

Why Is Refreshing Content So Effective?

Content refreshing works because it combines the advantages of existing pages with the benefits of fresh content. When you refresh an old page, you keep everything that page has already earned - its URL authority, backlinks, ranking history, and indexation status - while giving search engines and readers updated information that better matches current search intent.

The data on content refreshing is compelling. HubSpot found that old blog posts they optimized through historical content updates saw organic search views increase by an average of 106%. They also doubled the number of monthly leads generated from those same posts. That is a 2x improvement in traffic and leads without publishing a single new page.

Orbit Media's annual blogger survey reinforces this finding - bloggers who regularly update older posts are 2.5x more likely to report strong results from their content efforts compared to those who only publish new content.

When Should You Refresh Content vs Write New?

Not all content deserves a refresh. Here is how to decide:

Refresh When:

The page already ranks (positions 5 to 20) and has potential to climb higher with updated content
Traffic is declining from a page that used to perform well - this is a sign of content decay
The information is outdated - old statistics, discontinued tools, or deprecated practices
Competitors have published stronger content on the same topic and are now outranking you
The page has earned backlinks that you would lose by creating a new URL

Write New When:

No existing page covers the topic - there is nothing to refresh
The existing page is fundamentally wrong in approach - the angle, format, or depth is so far off that rewriting from scratch is faster than patching
You are targeting a different keyword that deserves its own dedicated page rather than being shoehorned into existing content

How Do You Refresh Content Effectively?

Step 1: Identify Candidates

Look for pages that match one or more of these criteria:

Declining organic traffic over the past 3 to 6 months
Rankings in positions 4 to 15 where small improvements could push you onto page one or into the top 3
High impressions but low click-through rate in Google Search Console, suggesting your title or meta description needs updating
Pages with outdated dates in the title or content (e.g., "Best Tools for 2024" when it is now 2026)

Step 2: Analyze What Needs Changing

Before editing, study what currently ranks above you. Look at:

Content depth - Do competitors cover subtopics you missed?
Freshness - Do they have more current statistics and examples?
Format - Have they added tables, comparisons, or visual elements that improve readability?
Search intent alignment - Has the intent behind the keyword shifted since you originally published?

Step 3: Make the Updates

The most impactful refresh actions, in rough order of impact:

Update statistics and data. Replace old numbers with current research. Link to authoritative sources. Few things signal outdated content more clearly than referencing statistics from three years ago.

Add missing sections. If competitors cover important subtopics your page skips, add them. Comprehensiveness is a strong ranking signal. The Semrush 2024 Ranking Factors Study found that text relevance - how well your content matches search intent - has the highest correlation with rankings at 0.47.

Improve the introduction. Your first paragraph determines whether readers stay or bounce. Rewrite it to be clearer, more direct, and immediately useful. Definition-first openings work well for informational queries.

Strengthen internal links. Add links to content you have published since the original piece. This improves the page's context signals and helps distribute topical authority across your site. Connecting to your content pillars strengthens the entire cluster.

Refresh the title and meta description. Update these to be more compelling and current. Include the current year if relevant. A better title improves click-through rate, which sends positive signals to search engines.

Remove outdated content. Delete sections about tools that no longer exist, practices that have changed, or information that is no longer accurate. Shorter, accurate content outperforms longer, partially outdated content.

Step 4: Republish and Monitor

Update the publish date to today's date. Submit the URL for re-indexing in Google Search Console. Then monitor rankings and traffic over the following 2 to 4 weeks to see if the refresh had the desired effect.

How Often Should You Refresh Content?

Build content refreshes into your regular content velocity workflow rather than treating them as a separate project. A practical cadence:

Monthly: Review your top 10 traffic-driving pages. Update anything time-sensitive.
Quarterly: Audit all pages that rank on page 1. Look for early signs of content decay and refresh proactively.
Annually: Review your entire content library. Identify pages to refresh, consolidate, or retire.

A rule of thumb we use at Conbersa: allocate about 20% of your content production time to refreshing existing content and 80% to creating new content. As your content library grows beyond 100 published pages, that ratio should shift toward 30 to 40% refresh work because you have more existing assets to maintain.

Content refreshing is not glamorous work, but it is one of the highest-ROI activities in content marketing. A refreshed page that already has backlinks and ranking history will almost always outperform a brand-new page on the same topic - and it takes a fraction of the time to produce.