Content Refresher

This skill helps identify and revitalize outdated content to reclaim lost rankings and traffic. It analyzes content freshness, identifies update opportunities, and guides the refresh process for maximum SEO and GEO impact.

What This Skill Does

Identifies outdated content, scores freshness and performance decay, prioritizes refresh candidates, delivers specific update guidance with GEO enhancement, and advises on republishing strategy.

Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a short handoff summary using the repository format in Skill Contract.

Identify Content to Refresh

Find content on [domain] that needs refreshing

Which of my blog posts have lost the most traffic?

Refresh Specific Content

Refresh this article for [current year]: [URL/content]

Update this content to outrank [competitor URL]: [your URL]

Content Refresh Strategy

Create a content refresh strategy for [domain/topic]

Skill Contract

Expected output: a scored diagnosis, prioritized repair plan, and a short handoff summary ready for memory/audits/.

• Reads: the current page or site state, symptoms, prior audits, and current priorities from CLAUDE.md and the shared State Model when available.
• Writes: a user-facing audit or optimization plan plus a reusable summary that can be stored under memory/audits/.
• Promotes: blocking defects, repeated weaknesses, and fix priorities to memory/open-loops.md and memory/decisions.md.
• Next handoff: use the Next Best Skill below when the repair path is clear.

Handoff Summary

Emit the standard shape from skill-contract.md §Handoff Summary Format.

Data Sources

Uses ~~analytics, ~~search console, and ~~SEO tool when connected; otherwise asks user for traffic data, ranking history, publish dates, and candidate pages. See CONNECTORS.md.

Instructions

When a user requests content refresh help:

1. CORE-EEAT Quick Score — Identify Weak Dimensions

   Before refreshing, run a quick CORE-EEAT assessment to focus effort on the weakest areas. Reference: CORE-EEAT Benchmark

   ### CORE-EEAT Quick Assessment
   
   **Content**: [title or URL]
   **Content Type**: [type]
   
   Rapidly score each dimension (estimate 0-100):
   
   | Dimension | Quick Score | Key Weakness | Refresh Priority |
   |-----------|-----------|--------------|-----------------|
   | C — Contextual Clarity | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | O — Organization | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | R — Referenceability | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | E — Exclusivity | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | Exp — Experience | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | Ept — Expertise | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | A — Authority | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   | T — Trust | [X]/100 | [main issue] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 |
   
   **Weakest Dimensions** (focus refresh here):
   1. [Dimension] — [what needs fixing]
   2. [Dimension] — [what needs fixing]
   
   **Refresh Strategy**: Focus on 🔴 dimensions first, then 🟡.
   
   _For full 80-item audit, use [content-quality-auditor](https://github.com/aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills/blob/main/cross-cutting/content-quality-auditor/SKILL.md)_
   

2. Identify Content Refresh Candidates — Build candidate list with criteria (age, dated info, declining traffic, lost rankings, broken links, missing topics), content audit results table, and prioritization matrix

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the refresh candidate identification template (Step 2).

3. Analyze Individual Content for Refresh — Per-URL deep analysis: performance metrics 6-mo-ago vs current, keyword position deltas, why-refresh rationale

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the individual content analysis template (Step 3).

4. Identify Specific Updates Needed — Outdated elements table, missing information (topics competitors cover), SEO and GEO update checklists

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the refresh requirements template (Step 4).

5. Create Refresh Plan — Structural changes, content additions, statistics/links/images to update

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the full refresh plan template (Step 5).

6. Write Refresh Content — Updated introduction, new sections, refreshed statistics, new FAQ section

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the refresh content writing template (Step 6).

7. Optimize for GEO During Refresh — Clear definitions, quotable statements, Q&A sections, updated citations

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the GEO enhancement template (Step 7).

8. Generate Republishing Strategy — Date strategy (update/add "last updated"/keep original), technical implementation, promotion plan

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the republishing strategy template (Step 8).

9. Create Refresh Report — Summary of changes, updates completed, expected outcomes, next review date

   Reference: See references/refresh-templates.md for the refresh report template (Step 9).

Example

User: "Refresh my blog post about 'best cloud hosting providers'"

Output (abbreviated): CORE-EEAT quick score flags Referenceability 35, Experience 30, Trust 60 — recommends pricing refresh for Q1 2023 data, broken-link fixes (3 affiliate links dead), author credential additions, and affiliate disclosure. Delivers a Changes Made block ready for republish.

Reference: See references/refresh-example.md for the full worked example (cloud hosting refresh) and the comprehensive content refresh checklist.

Tips for Success

1. Prioritize by ROI - Refresh high-potential content first
2. Don't just add dates - Make substantial improvements
3. Beat competitors - Add what they have and more
4. Track results - Monitor ranking changes post-refresh
5. Schedule regular audits - Check content health quarterly
6. Optimize for GEO - Every refresh is a GEO opportunity

Reference data: For content decay signal taxonomy, lifecycle stages, refresh vs. rewrite decision framework, and update strategy by content type, see references/content-decay-signals.md.

Save Results

Ask to save results; if yes, write a dated summary to memory/audits/content-refresher/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md. Append veto-level issues to memory/hot-cache.md automatically.

Gate check recommended: Run content-quality-auditor on refreshed content before republishing.

Reference Materials

• Content Decay Signals — Decay indicators, lifecycle stages, and refresh triggers by content type
• Refresh Templates — Detailed output templates for steps 2-9 (candidate identification, individual analysis, refresh requirements, refresh plan, content writing, GEO enhancement, republishing, report)
• Refresh Example & Checklist — Full worked example and pre/post-refresh checklist

Next Best Skill

Primary: content-quality-auditor -- re-score the refreshed content before shipping.