What you’ll learn
When you master how to update website copy, you sharpen your competitive edge, boost your rankings, and communicate your brand’s updated vision. All of this keeps your site fresh and on point in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Drawing a blank on where to start? We hit up Lyon Content founder and CEO Christina Lyon, as well as SEO partner Kim Fischer to bring you expert insights on how to update website copy like the pros.
Why and When to Give Your Content a Refresh
Both search engines and audiences crave fresh content, underscoring the importance of regular updates. Search engines favor up-to-date information, boosting site rankings for brands that conduct frequent refreshes, while your visitors appreciate new, insightful material.
Think of each update as an opportunity to enhance your brand voice, polish your messaging, and speak more directly to your customers’ needs and desires.
But crafting all that content once was no small feat; now you have to continuously update it, too? Remember, a strong content strategy requires ongoing attention and optimization.
As for how often to update website copy? According to Christina, once a year is best practice. However, if your business is in a more fast-paced or dynamic industry (like marketing or beauty), quarterly audits are the way to go.
“That’s because trends and search terms are rapidly changing which means you want to ensure your copy is as relevant as possible,” says Christina.
Alright, ready for your content glow-up and learn how to update website copy?
How to Update Website Copy Like a Boss: 9 Steps
- Audit existing content
- Peep your competitors’ latest moves
- Hit reset on your content goals
- Polish up your SEO
- Refresh your product or service pages
- Revamp your blog posts
- Double-check content for accuracy and consistency
- Keep tabs on performance
- Streamline website copy updates
When navigating how to update your website copy, where should you start? With your existing material, of course.
1. Audit existing content
First, check if your content still aligns with your audience’s search intent (why people visit your site). Are they looking for information, making a purchase, or seeking a service? People’s interests and pain points evolve, and what resonated a year ago might not strike the same chord today.
Say you’re a skincare brand that’s always targeted millennials, but you’ve noticed growing engagement from Gen Z on your socials. It might be time for your content to reflect this shift.
A thorough search engine optimization (SEO) check is another must. Analyze your keywords — are they still driving traffic? Does your metadata entice clicks? Make sure all elements are optimized to meet current best practices, and if they’re not? It’s time to pivot (we’ll come back to this later).
Next step for how to update website copy?
2. Peep your competitors’ latest moves
Monitoring competitors’ strategies keeps you aware of industry trends and lets you spot opportunities and threats early on. Start by identifying your main competitors, and any new players who may have flown under your radar.
Have they shifted their approach to marketing, product development, or customer engagement? Are they using new tech that’s bolstering their performance?
For example, if a rival beauty brand suddenly increases its market share with augmented reality (AR) features, it’s worth considering how AR could beef up your strategy, too.
Don’t forget to check performance metrics like traffic, engagement, and market share. Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs provide insights into their SEO strategies, keyword effectiveness, and backlinks, which tells you a lot about why they might outperform you.
3. Hit reset on your content goals
Markets shift, new trends emerge, and your business grows, and your marketing objectives must keep pace. Revisit your goals to see which aspects of your content still vibe with your audience and which need recalibrating.
Start by defining what you want your content update to achieve. Do you want higher rankings? Better audience engagement? Clear objectives will guide your strategy and help you craft a well-thought-out plan.
For instance, Christina rewrote all the web copy for alternative hair solution client Daniel Alain’s new website in 2020.
“Prior to the update, the copy was stale and very brand-focused. It didn’t speak to their target audience’s pain points. So we reframed their audience personas and crafted copy that reflected their language and values,” she explains. “This made the website more approachable and engaging, and they saw a big uptick in conversions by sending the right message.”
Inspired by the success of their web copy revamp, they later shifted their goals to include a similar upgrade for their blog posts (which, of course, we slayed).
Create a content plan to outline themes and messages that matter most to your audience, timelines for edits, publishing, updates, and which SEO strategies will drive results. Getting organized ensures every piece of content you publish serves a strategic purpose.
Looking for results like Daniel Alain’s when mastering how to update website copy? Hit us up to sharpen your SEO game and define crystal-clear goals.
4. Polish up your SEO
SEO is essential for your content to reach its target audience and snag top positions in search engine rankings. Keywords are a critical part of the process.
It’s important to weave relevant keywords naturally into headlines, meta titles, and product descriptions, as well as throughout the body of your text. Understanding keyword difficulty will also help you pinpoint which terms are most attainable and beneficial for your SEO efforts.
But don’t undercut what’s already working, either. Kim highlights a common oversight:
“Not looking at what the site is already ranking for. You don’t want to lose the keywords that are already performing well. So, noting those keywords and keeping them in your copy is a way not to lose them,” advises Kim.
Then there’s off-page and technical SEO — off-page SEO refers to strategies outside of your website (like backlinks and social media marketing), while technical SEO refers to the technical aspects of site optimization (like fast load times and mobile-friendliness).
All these elements need to align with your on-page tactics to strengthen your site’s authority and rankings.
Pro-tip: Use our SEO checklist to cover all your bases. ✅
5. Refresh your product or service pages
Got a whole new set of goods you want to add to your site; or maybe your product descriptions need a little TLC? Refreshing your product or service pages keeps your offerings in tune with current trends and customer expectations.
Here’s what you want to focus on:
- Showcase new products or services
- Highlight new features or improvements
- Revise your calls to action (CTAs) to compel visitors to act
- Add high-quality visuals that show your product in action
- Update social proof, reviews, or testimonials
- Sprinkle in updated keywords and alt tags
- Suggest related products that customers might want to buy
Together, these tweaks ensure your offerings pages remain dynamic and effective, and are crucial in learning how to update website copy. Oh, and your blog posts should follow suit.
6. Revamp your blog posts
Did you know brands with active, up-to-date blogs are 13x more likely to see a positive return on their investments than those that don’t? 🤯
This is for a few reasons. First, it keeps your content fresh and relevant to audiences and search engines — an overarching goal of all your content updates. Additionally, you’ll update outdated information, which is essential for maintaining credibility and authority.
You also have the opportunity to revisit your strategic keywords and adapt to changing search trends and audience interests. Plus, consistently updated blog articles help you repurpose content across your other marketing channels.
So, what parts of your blog content should you target?
- Evaluate articles for accuracy and relevancy
- Remove unnecessary or outdated information
- Enhance readability with bullets and accessible language
- Replace or remove broken links
- Update your visuals and keywords
- Refresh title tags and meta descriptions
- Incorporate current examples or case studies
- Remove dates to make articles more evergreen
- Update publication dates
- Look for opportunities to repurpose content
And you better believe every page on your site should step up, too, including your home page, service pages, and about page.
7. Double-check content for accuracy and consistency
Publishing inaccurate, low-quality content with keyword stuffing, broken links, or unhelpful information is a surefire way to lose credibility and trust.
Give every webpage the same meticulous care as your blog articles and product pages, then kick it up a notch.
Is your brand voice still hitting the mark with target customers? How about your site design?
Overhauling your site’s architecture and aesthetics could bump conversions by 33%. If you’ve got more wiggle room in your budget, this could be the perfect time to create the website you’ve always dreamed of.
Once you’ve wrapped up your updates, proofread your content thoroughly and edit to ensure it’s free of inaccuracies, clickbait, or any other SEO faux pas that could slip through the cracks.
Then, track how your content performs to steer your next move.
8. Keep tabs on performance
Crisp, current content officially live? Sweet. Time to kick back and monitor the impact.
Once you learn how to update website copy and refresh your site’s content, how do you measure its performance? Kim typically watches overall metrics, like:
- Keyword rankings
- Organic search traffic
- Bounce rates
- Conversions from organic traffic
- Engagement rates
“The whole goal of a site refresh (in terms of SEO) is to increase a site’s overall searchability, so we’re typically looking at the big metrics here,” says Kim.
Another effective way to gauge performance? Collect feedback from your audience with surveys or social media interactions, then adjust your strategy accordingly.
9. Streamline website copy updates
Like we mentioned earlier, content marketing never really stops. Want to make it feel less tedious? Create a content calendar and use it to schedule your updates regularly.
The right tools can also make a world of difference. Here are a few of our favorites:
- For content management: Asana, Wordpress, Shopify
- For SEO: Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Search Console
- For ideation and brainstorming: ChatGPT, Gemini
- For edits and proofreading: Grammarly, Hemingway
- For team communications: Slack, Zoom, Gmail
- For visuals and graphics: Canva, Unsplash, DaVinci
Just remember that while tools like AI are great for conceptualizing and data mining, the human touch is irreplaceable:
“You should always fact-check and do your own digging, but it can help you get general markers for what to include. It’s helpful for brainstorming and prospecting information, but it’s very limiting for actually creating content,” emphasizes Christina.
Rather put your content on autopilot? Hire seasoned copywriters to do the heavy lifting for you and demystify how to update website copy. 😉
Website Copy Beyond 2024: What’s Next?
When it comes to what’s on the horizon for the content game, Kim remains hopeful:
“As people learn that AI content isn’t typically the best, we’ll see that the brands that stand out are those with unique voices, unique opinions, and generally good content,” she says.
Simply put, authentic, true-to-life human narratives will likely keep the crown. She also points to how search engines are shifting the tides.
“Google has also said it will start featuring “hidden gems” instead of always displaying the big websites with high authority. I’m not sure if this is their way of trying to get small businesses to focus on SEO and Google Ads or their way of really finding the best content, not just the biggest businesses.”
Time will tell.
This shift suggests an opportunity for less-established sites. By prioritizing unique, quality content, Google aims to level the playing field, giving smaller players a chance to shine in the SERP.
Know what else it means? Investing wisely in SEO and quality content creation might be your ticket to catching Google’s eye. 😉
Reignite your copy and fuel results with Lyon Content?
Updating your content is necessary to keep your business dynamic and competitive in a swiftly evolving market.
But let’s face it — learning how to update website copy demands time, creativity, strategy, and a keen eye for shifts in marketing and your industry.
That’s exactly where the expertise of copywriters shines. We blend market insight with storytelling prowess to take your content to the next level.
By optimizing for SEO, giving your brand’s voice wings, and crafting messages that connect deeply with audiences, we make your words roar louder than ever. 🦁
05/28/2024
Natalie is a beauty and lifestyle writer at Lyon Content, born and raised in sunny Miami, Florida. She’s passionate about crafting personality-driven copy that helps brands build a ride-or-die following with their audiences! Like a true Cuban, she runs on XL cafe-con-leches and loves horror movies, houseplants, exploring new places, and snuggling up with her SO and fur babies.
