In the early days of digital marketing, “more” was the only metric that mattered. If you published 20 articles a month, you were winning. But as we move through 2026, that “content machine” approach can be a liability rather than an asset. That’s because Google has gradually moved the goalposts, with algorithm updates including the Helpful Content Update, the rise of E.E.A.T. and more recently, AI overviews and AI mode. The landscape has shifted; simply publishing content no longer works, quality is key.
If you’re measuring digital marketing success based on the number of articles published, success may no longer be guaranteed. In this post, we’ll explore why you need to shift your focus from raw output to strategic relevance and existing asset maintenance.
The Goodhart’s Law Trap: Why Volume Is a Failing Metric
Many teams fall into the trap of setting a target for a specific number of blog posts per month. However, according to Goodhart’s Law, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”.
When your KPI is “X articles per month,” the focus inevitably shifts to volume over quality and relevancy. Pumping out high volumes of content does not necessarily yield results. In fact, it can lead to “gaming the system”—creating thin, unhelpful content just to hit a deadline, which eventually dilutes your site’s authority and erodes search visibility, followed by organic leads and revenue.
The Informational Content Crisis in the Age of AI
What is the cost of chasing a certain number of blog posts each month? Often, it can mean neglecting the bigger picture behind your SEO strategy.
Blogging is a tactic, not a strategy. Relying solely on informational blog posts is increasingly risky in 2026 because of the rise of AI Overviews and LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Zero-Click Reality: AI Overviews now appear for approximately 21% of queries, often providing complete answers directly on the search results page.
- Declining Clicks: Research indicates that when AI Overviews launched, organic clicks decreased between 18-64% for informational queries.
If you only focus on one page type (the blog), you fail to provide the varied user experience, such as interactive tools or videos, product or service pages, needed to win in modern search.
You may also have missed other strategic SEO opportunities, such as the rise of product-centric search results over the last couple of years. Have your competitors shifted to streamlined sales processes using eCommerce while you’ve still focused on capturing leads with blogging?
This is a trend I’ve seen in B2B, even for industrial machinery costing $10-100K per unit. It may well be that the most expensive of these units don’t end up selling directly via an eCommerce checkout, but an eCommerce product page could still be a great way to get your product into Google Shopping results where it wasn’t before, and a chance to start a live chat with prospects via your website.
The “5-Year Rule”: Why Nurturing Wins Over Publishing
A startling reality of SEO in 2026 is that the average age of a page ranking in the top position is 5 years. Furthermore, over 72% of top 10 pages are older than three years, according to a study by AHREFS.
Publishing low-value new pages is often a distraction from your most important task: updating existing content, especially pages that convert into leads, and already have some success in search.
- Efficiency: Refreshing old content can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%.
- Trust: Older pages have accumulated backlinks and authority; they are “established answers” in Google’s eyes.
- The 80/20 Rule: HubSpot found that 76% of their blog views and 92% of their leads came from old posts.
Building Your SEO Machine: A Strategic Action Plan
What should you do instead of chasing a monthly word count? Build a system that prioritises value preservation and trend adaptation.
Monitor for Value Erosion
Stop looking at “total pages published” and start monitoring for pages that are eroding in value. Use tools like SEO Stack or Google Search Console to track declining query counts and impressions for your top-performing assets.
Use AlsoAsked for Intent Shifts
Search trends change. Use tools like AlsoAsked to monitor how related queries evolve over time. By identifying new “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions, you can weave answers into existing content to maintain topical authority without creating a brand-new page and adapt to changes in the market, instead of writing an entirely new page that could simply cannibalise the old one.
Maintain Technical Basics
- Evergreen URLs: Use clean URLs without dates (e.g., /best-isas/ instead of /best-isas-2025/).
- Annualised Content: Instead of publishing a “2026 version” as a new page, update the existing URL to maintain the page’s historical authority and backlinks, compounding its effectiveness over the long term
Identify Industry Triggers
Your update cadence should depend on your industry’s pace.
- Finance Example: If you write about ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts), your trigger to update is every April, when searches spike for users looking to beat the deadline, as well as the earlybirds investing in the new financial year.
- Tech Example: A software review page should be triggered for an update whenever a major feature release occurs.
The “Library First” Rule
Before committing to a new page, refer to your existing library. Ask: “Should this new topic be an update to an existing page instead of a brand new one?”. Consolidating similar topics into one comprehensive “pillar page” is often more effective than having five thin pages competing against each other.
Escaping the Volume Trap
Transitioning from a content machine to an SEO machine requires a fundamental mindset shift: moving away from the “more is better” philosophy. By focusing on maintaining existing assets, updating evergreen URLs, and monitoring for value erosion, you ensure that your SEO strategy is built on long-term performance rather than arbitrary output targets. Stop measuring how much you publish and start measuring how much you preserve.
If you’re looking to move beyond raw output and need help connecting your organic visibility to commercial results, get in touch with Atkinson Smith Digital for tailored SEO strategy support and revenue-driven roadmaps.