E959: When traffic dips or stalls, should you refresh old content or publish something new?

The answer isn't simple - and the SEO community is divided. I walk through real discussions, controversial takes, and practical examples from my own sites, including a case where republishing nearly identical content led to a number one ranking in under two weeks.

We cover:
- How to use Google Search Console to find keywords already ranking in positions 3-20
- Why optimizing existing content can drive faster gains than publishing new posts
- The argument that "freshness" is often misunderstood in SEO
- How topical authority affects pages that never ranked
- When republishing under a new URL makes sense
- Why internal linking structure matters more than total page count
- How authority flows through a site
- What pogo-sticking is and how it impacts rankings
- How to reduce pogo-sticking by satisfying search intent faster
- How to improve headings and keyword placement
- How to add missing sections based on ranking data
- How to improve click-through rate from the SERP
- How to strengthen internal links to priority pages
- How to improve readability and page experience

I also share:
- A real example of improving a competitive page over time until it ranked number one
- A framework for deciding when to refresh versus when to create new content
- How to think about ranking durability over years instead of short-term spikes

If you've been publishing consistently but not seeing growth - or if you're unsure whether to update old posts or build new content - this episode gives you a structured way to decide based on data, authority, and search intent.

⭐️ Content refresh vs new content? - https://www.reddit.com/r/bigseo/comments/1qov6gy/content_refresh_vs_new_content/
⭐️ Please STOP publishing new blog posts. - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO_Digital_Marketing/comments/1i38rcm/please_stop_publishing_new_blog_posts/
⭐️ Content Refreshes in SEO: How to Double Your Traffic Fast
 - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/content-refreshes-seo-double-traffic-fast/
⭐️ Edward Sturm on Grokipedia - https://grokipedia.com/page/Edward_Sturm

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Refresh vs New Content
00:32 Publish Consistently + Audit Underperformers
00:58 Quick Wins via Search Console
02:34 Query Deserves Freshness
04:01 Republish with a New Slug
05:46 Low-Authority Site Playbook
07:31 Is There a Ranking Ceiling?
09:05 Pogo-Sticking & CTR
10:33 Content Refresh Checklist
11:35 My Rule of Thumb
12:12 Wrap-Up

The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #contentrefresh #blogseo #seo