Christopher We’re checking in with Louisa Frahm at News Reach Con’s Expert Day in Dortmund. Louisa, your name sounds kinda German—where does it originate?

Louisa I’m actually extremely German. My entire family on both sides is German. It’s very exciting to be here!

Christopher As are we! So good to have you!

We listened to your great presentation on utility content a while ago. Attendees asked a lot of interesting questions, a few of which I would like to discuss here with you. One of the questions was: When do you create a new article versus updating an existing piece of content? What elements do you evaluate in making that judgement call?

To kick things off, I’m going to use the classic SEO phrase of “it depends.” In those scenarios, the specific call will depend on the scope of the topic that you’re dealing with. This thought process is something that I cover from the start in SEO training sessions, because you’re going to run into this constantly working in newsrooms.

You won’t always have the bandwidth to do new articles, so you really want to know how to toe that line properly. I’ll start with when to refresh a previously published article. First and foremost, if an article is performing really well on search, it’s always nice to carry on that momentum. If something is cranking on search and requires a small update that won’t overhaul the whole piece, you may want to refresh the same article and update the timestamp.

Christopher On that note, let’s cover the scope of small updates. Are you changing the headlines? Are you updating photos? Or are you just adding some information in the body of the article?

Louisa It can go in a few different directions. We have evergreen pieces where I’m not going to do an entirely new article, even if we have an update that I might tweak the headline off of. As an example, we have a rolling list that covers WNBA jersey retirements. Every time a new one comes up, I may add that player’s name to the headlines and update the list, but I won’t make a new roundup. We tweak those elements and refresh the timestamp, with the goal of reconnecting with Google and popping up in the related AI Overview.

“We’ve found that Google responds positively to those types of updates in AI Overviews.” — Louisa Frahm

It works in a similar way for roundups around seasonal events to manage bandwidth. We don’t need to do a new World Series history and records roundup every year. Refreshing the content and updating the timestamp in the World Series event window is sufficient, since a lot of the content will remain the same year to year. We’ve found that Google responds positively to those types of updates in AI Overviews.

That being said, if search performance falls flat or an article has failed to connect with search platforms altogether, that could be an indicator to do a fresh piece of content. Google tends to favor fresh content, especially in newsworthy windows. If you’re dealing with a breakout angle that’s highly competitive, you want to have all circuits firing at Google that this is an up-to-date piece of content. In those scenarios, that momentum is ideally going to come from a new post.

As an example from my presentation, let’s imagine that we created a mainbar-style FAQ on some sort of news that we anticipated happening within a short window. You publish that first roundup in the morning and run with it all day, in the hopes of providing background to readers in advance of the newsworthy event happening that night. If the event happens, you wouldn’t want to just add that breakthrough moment to the existing mainbar. You would want to do a new piece of content to send the freshest signal to Google and stay as competitive as possible. You’ll also want to link those two pieces back to one another to enhance your E-E-A-T and amplify your reach further.

Christopher On another note, you said that you’ve previously worked with the Google Trends team on projects. What I found of particular interest is that you can follow the news and how topics are developing on their platform. How would you follow a news topic within Google Trends?

Louisa If you’re analyzing a rapidly evolving topic in Google Trends, a valuable element of your tool kit is the real-time trends feed: “Trending now”. I check that feed multiple times a day for a general sweep of news across all categories. You can also keep your eye on the development of a specific topic. You can see how old the trend is, what related keywords have popped up over time, and how the general trajectory of audience interest is evolving. If the original topic has captured enough widespread attention, it will hold onto a slot in the “Trending now” feed that can offer fresh insights on a timely basis.

You can also expand on the “Trending now” feed with individual keyword searches. If you’re dealing with an emergency scenario like a wildfire, you’ll want to keep that keyword search open and check in regularly on rising queries of interest, especially if they hit on utility questions that serve urgent needs. You can easily break those trending themes out into search-friendly articles. For example, if people are searching for evacuation zones or what to put in an emergency preparedness kit, you’re going to see those angles pop up and provide inspiration for service journalism in timely windows.

Going back to the “Trending now” feed, competitor analysis will be important too. When you’re examining trending themes of interest for your brand, if you’re not in the featured story carousel, you should examine which competitors are appearing and assess if there are any content gaps to jump on. You want to constantly take those temperature checks to make sure you’re covering the right content and maximizing your search potential when readers need your expertise the most.

Additionally, if you’re dealing with something on a more local scale, getting more granular with searches in specific regions can be helpful. You can start with the search first in your country, then break it down by state and county for more unique and targeted rising queries. This individualized approach can help different segments of your audience feel acknowledged and cared for with specialized content.

“You can find nuggets in localized searches that you can’t see in more broad views.” — Louisa Frahm

I saw this recently for a hurricane that happened in Florida. I started my search for related queries of interest in the United States and Florida but broke it down by county afterwards. I found that specific needs varied quite a bit depending on the region. When those variations pop up, you want to diversify your content strategy appropriately to serve different audience groups efficiently. You can find nuggets in localized searches that you can’t see in more broad views.

Finally, if a news cycle sticks around long enough to permeate the culture, the Google Trends team may create a curated page dedicated to related queries and trend patterns. Those pages can help cut down research time by flagging utility angles right out the gate and expediting the content creation process.

Christopher Thank you for that breakdown. You’ve also covered reusing and updating older content in appropriate windows. At SMX, I did a presentation about how clicks are currently working in Google Search.

Let’s create the following scenario: There is a topic X, and that you’ve covered in similar ways in multiple years. Let’s say you have 5 pieces of content that cover this topic with the same information. If you would like to prune your content and help a new article perform, what would you do in terms of next steps? Are you deleting old articles? Are you looking into impressions and clicks? Are you redirecting older content to a fresh post?

Louisa It’s a really good question. I think it’s another scenario where it’s going to depend on the publisher, the amount of bandwidth that you have, and how many resources you can put towards your goals. Square one starts with an audit to assess what you already have and avoid duplicating editorial efforts. I don’t think that requires a massive investment. With the explainer initiative that we run, we always like to do a site search before greenlighting a new topic, to properly assess our content library. You don’t want to be surprised later by finding out that you already have a piece of content that serves the same purpose. Frequent duplicate content can confuse readers and Google crawlers in regards to user experience and rankings.

With the content audit, you can assess how old existing articles are and evaluate if there is enough potential to refresh existing content. When I conduct related searches, I want to see if an article is still surfacing and serving the audience like it’s intended to do, or if it’s missing the mark and sliding off the scale of discoverability.

If something older is still surfacing, I’ll explore the possibility of refreshing the content. I’ve run into certain pieces of content that may not have originally been written with SEO in mind, but the general topics fit within certain search-friendly areas of interest. In that case, you can go back and revise headlines, refresh content, add in new photos, spotlight links to new content, and update the timestamp to give the post a chance for enhanced visibility. I see these types of articles as fun opportunities, to make the most of what we already have and honor legacy content.

Ideally, you don’t want to repeat work that’s already been done. When you can find those gems, it’s great to give old posts fresh opportunities to shine. It’s trickier to resonate with Google after an extended period of time, but it is possible. Getting older posts recirculated on alternative platforms, such as an app (in addition to the first page of Google), can help reboot audience interest further.

You’ll run into other scenarios with older pieces of content where you have to make tricky judgement calls. If an older piece of content belongs to a writer that no longer works for the company, you need to decide if you can rework their words or honor their original take and go in a different direction. Journalistic integrity is always important.

Redirects also play an important role. If we have an older piece of content that we choose not to update, we may redirect the older post to a new article on a similar theme to target that same audience through a fresh lens. Our primary objective is to serve readers in the most accurate way possible that connects with the present-day news cycle.

Quite often, after conducting site searches, we’ll find that we don’t have anything on a specific topic. That’s an easy green flag to create something new.

If we run into scenarios where another team did a piece of evergreen content, we want to respect their original vision and attempt to find a new way to cover the same theme. Sometimes, we find new nuggets to latch onto. Other times, there isn’t an obvious alternative angle, and we move on from that theme. As we explore the possibilities, transparency and respect are paramount in newsroom discussions to establish the most engaging editorial experience for readers.

Christopher For the sake of appreciation of your work, how many articles have you and your team created with your explainer initiative?

“My personal search mantra is ‘simple is not stupid’.” — Louisa Frahm

Louisa I can’t give specific stats, but between the how-to-watch component and the general explainer approach, we’ve covered substantial ground across a wide variety of sports and tentpole events. It’s a labor of love that I’m very proud of. We’ve been pleased with how they’ve performed considering their simple and straightforward nature. My personal search mantra is “simple is not stupid.” We run with that ideology in these posts to offer readers quick-hit information that can connect with breaking news and evergreen search patterns.

Christopher Thank you for that. To wrap it up, what three basic tips regarding Google Trends do you have that people often neglect?

Louisa It’s a good question. I would start with emphasizing rising queries and staying hyper aware of targeted questions in that section, versus only the general queries. I’m always actively seeking questions, because they directly sync up with typical search behavior and streamline the utility content creation process. One way you can hack into that with Google Trends is to add question words like “who,” “what,” “why,” “when,” and “how” alongside keyword searches in the main bar. Compared to searching for keywords alone, that technique can help uncover specific questions that can elevate service journalism.

Another fun feature is the regional capability we were talking about. It’s really helpful in breaking news scenarios, but you can also use it with more evergreen projects and trend forecasting. When I was on the Google Trends team, I covered a lot of lifestyle trends. At the time, butterfly hair clips had come back into fashion because everything that’s old becomes new again. I was able to do a “butterfly hair clips” search over the past 12 months to see which states had been searching for them the most. That’s an interesting stat line to lead a headline with or feature within the body of an article,to catch reader attention.

I also enjoy the “all-time” view, which dates back to 2004, when Google Trends data started. That’s where you can especially pick up on seasonality and dig into recurring patterns in user behavior. When editors come to you and want to know optimal publishing windows ahead of tentpole events, you can utilize that view to your advantage. It’s nice when certain themes are predictable, and you can share those optimal year-over-year windows of search interest with editorial sections for content planning purposes. The “all-time” view can also provide fun stats to throw into an article for additional emphasis. With butterfly hair clips as an example, I can pinpoint when “all-time” search interest spiked to provide long-term context to readers.

“Google Trends works like a muscle, where the more you flex it and play with it, the more comfortable you get with its system.” — Louisa Frahm

Google Trends works like a muscle, where the more you flex it and play with it, the more comfortable you get with its system. With more practice over time, you pick up different hacks that work with your individual brand and target audience to surface the most helpful and actionable results. I encourage anyone in SEO, especially news SEO, to invest time in experimenting with the platform to hone their individualized tool kit.

Don’t sleep on the Google Trends newsletter either! You can get curated search insights on the biggest themes of the day in your inbox Monday through Friday. These emails can eliminate the busy work with research by providing individual stats, infographics, and other helpful insights that can promote search trends in your editorial strategy. Take advantage of that expertise and create corresponding content that syncs with your editorial objectives.

Christopher Final question for you: Regarding seasonality, when do you start publishing and refreshing content during the time frame until events happen?

Louisa This is an important theme that I cover in my SEO best practices deck. Working in sports, I’ll provide a brief explanation through the sphere of championships. Through Google Trends, you can see when people start searching for the Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA Finals, and Super Bowl content every year. When editors ask about when to publish preview content, you can give date ranges that match up year after year with prime windows of search interest. You don’t want to publish content so early that it’s going to get swamped out or forgotten about, but it’s also nice to have a search foothold established prior to the event. You can look at the data and activate your publishing workflow when things start percolating in a notable enough direction. It’s also important to refrain from publishing all of your preview content at the same time, to avoid competing with yourself in search results.

You want to be able to tap into initial interest but also refresh content to stay relevant throughout the event window. Every time you add timely updates to an article throughout an extended event window, you send a fresh signal to Google. You can get the foothold ahead of time but also serve evolving user needs until the end of the event. That will always be a bit of a subjective process, but Google Trends data can help validate your instincts. Because of that X factor of personal interpretation, everyone will look at the data and interpret it in their own way. The more you experiment and get comfortable with the platform, the more you can hone your own analytical process for optimal results.