The New Age Of Content Spam

Refresh is the new spam

You might be raising an eyebrow at this one, and that's okay. It's not something that's being widely discussed yet, or perhaps it is better to say that you haven't seen information about this topic in a less than positive light before.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be talking about refresh spam today.

What is refresh spam?

There are two kinds of refresh spam: The "Update", and the "Total Refresh."

The Update

You've probably seen an example of an "Update" before and didn't think much of it. This is because this is a technique that has been used responsibly and legitimately for a long time by reputable news websites and long-time bloggers - If a story or article still offers valuable information, but is a little out of date, a paragraph of new text updating the information and possibly linking to a newer article with more recent input can be added for reference.

This enables older articles to keep bringing in traffic and providing value to readers at the same time. Sounds pretty good right? The trouble with this is that people have begun to abuse the nature of updating older content, turning it into a kind of refresh content spam. There's nothing wrong with updating your older stories and posts this way as long as your intentions are clearly those that will most benefit readers who visit your site.

The Total Refresh

The "Total Refresh" is a bit more insidious and easier to spot. It really doesn't have any roots in positive practices and can really cause your website some problems if you get in too deep. When you are engaging in this type of refresh content spam you are essentially taking an older article and republishing it, dated info, warts, and all.

Image via shutterstock.com

No new information, no new links; instead you are pretty much duplicating your own content and doing so entirely for your benefit. What good is it going to do your readers to read something that you wrote two years ago on an issue that has grown, or even passed into obscurity since then?

This might be where a lot of misinformation has been coming from regarding all sorts of internet marketing and SEO practices. Some advice that has been surfacing lately has been several years old, but has a time stamp of being written last Tuesday!

You can also find a lot of news websites working with a version of this kind of refresh spam; they won't publish the same content more than once, but they will rewrite the same story and headline a few times and publish this information throughout the day, hoping that no one notices and realizes what is going on.

Competing on this new playing field

It might seem like refresh spam is a rising tide against which we cannot hope to stay our course, and the ultimate decision regarding your content marketing strategy is going to rest with you.

 

Will you:

• Go with the flow and start creating refresh spam of your own?
• Try to publish enough new content to keep up with all of the refresh spam that is out there?
• Do nothing more than you are already doing and hope that you have chosen the right path?

The solution?

RankPop visibility boost focuses on the 3 main factors of successful content promotion.

• Quality content
• Social outreach
• Brand awareness

Kris Dietz

About the Author:

I love creating something amazing then spreading the word about it!  My mission is to develop and mold SEO into an amazing outlet of sharing valuable resources.   I enjoy networking and meeting like minded individuals.