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Are You Chasing ‘Fresh Content’ for Nothing? What Local Service Websites Really Need

Last Updated: May 5, 2025

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You’ve probably heard the phrase “Google loves fresh content.” And while there’s some truth to that, there’s also a lot of confusion, especially for local service businesses like plumbers, electricians, contractors, etc.

Unfortunately, that confusion is being used to sell all kinds of unnecessary content updates and “SEO services” that don’t move the needle (and might even hurt your rankings.) If you’ve ever been told to keep rewriting your “Water Heater Installation” page just to stay “fresh,” this post is for you.

Let’s break down what Google really means by freshness, when it matters, and how you can use it strategically, without wasting your time or money.

Does Google Prioritize Freshness for Small Business Websites?

Yes, Google’s algorithm does consider freshness, especially for time-sensitive searches like news, sports scores, or celebrity gossip (thanks, Taylor Swift). This started with updates like the Caffeine Update (2010) and Freshness Update (2011). But here’s the thing: if someone’s searching “fix leaky faucet” or “plumber near me,” they’re not looking for the latest info. Instead they want relevant and reliable info.

That’s why your core service pages (like drain cleaning or water heater repair) don’t need to be updated constantly. Google is more interested in how helpful, trustworthy, and locally relevant your content is.

When Does Fresh Content Actually Matter?

While static service pages are fine as-is (as long as they’re solid), fresh content does help in the right places:

  1. Local SEO Boosts
    Regularly adding content that highlights recent jobs or local testimonials helps show Google (and your customers) that you’re active in your community. Think: “How We Fixed a Burst Pipe in [Your City] Last Week.”
  2. Helpful, Evergreen Blog Posts
    A monthly blog post like “5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Water Heater” or “Why Pipes Freeze in [Your State]” builds authority and ranks for long-tail searches. No need to post weekly fluff since Google prefers quality over quantity.
  3. Changes in Services or Codes
    If you add new services or there’s a change in plumbing regulations, then yes, update or add content. That shows you’re staying current and trustworthy (which ties into Google’s E-E-A-T framework: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
  4. Seasonal Trends
    Creating content around seasonal problems like frozen pipes in winter or sump pump tips during rainy months can pull in timely traffic.

Should You Keep Updating Your Service Pages?

No, not unless something actually changes. Tweaking them just to seem “fresh” won’t help and can actually hurt your rankings if it disrupts the user experience. Focus on making those core pages clear, informative, and SEO-friendly. Include things like:

  • What the service is
  • How it works
  • What it costs
  • Service areas
  • Customer reviews and trust signals

Once that’s dialed in, you’re golden.

Want Fresh, SEO-Friendly Content Without the Headache?

Most business owners have zero time for writing blog posts. It’s one of 200 items on your list that never see the light of day. That’s where our SocialStream comes in. We write a high-quality blog post for you every month, tailored to your services, your region, and the questions your customers are asking. That means your site stays fresh, relevant, and optimized for SEO, without you ever having to touch a keyboard. It’s helping tons of our clients stay off a screen but stay high in the rankings, especially for long-tail (more specific) search terms.

Final Takeaway

You don’t need to constantly rewrite every page on your website. Instead, make sure your core pages are strong, accurate, and user-focused. Then, sprinkle in fresh content where it adds value. Focus on things like answering customer questions, targeting seasonal searches, or showcasing recent work and awards.

And if you want someone to handle that for you? That’s exactly what SocialStream was built for. Reach out and we’ll tell you all about it…maybe it’s right for you too.

Fresh Content FAQs


Google’s algorithm considers freshness mainly for time-sensitive searches like news or sports scores, but for core service pages such as drain cleaning or water heater repair on small business websites, content relevance, trust signals, and local relevance are more important than constant updates.


Fresh content matters when you publish local SEO boosts like case studies highlighting recent jobs or local testimonials, create evergreen blog posts on topics like ‘5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Water Heater’, update content for new services or changes in industry codes, or produce seasonal articles that address specific customer needs.


Types of fresh content that boost local SEO include recent job spotlights such as ‘How We Fixed a Burst Pipe in [Your City] Last Week’, local customer testimonials, evergreen blog posts like ‘Why Pipes Freeze in [Your State]’, updates on new plumbing services or code changes, and seasonal tips like preventing frozen pipes in winter.


You should only update core service pages such as drain cleaning or water heater repair descriptions when there are actual changes—like updated pricing, added service areas, or new procedures; tweaking core service pages solely to appear ‘fresh’ can disrupt user experience and harm your rankings.


Seasonal content—like guides for preventing frozen pipes in winter or sump pump maintenance during rainy seasons—attracts timely traffic, demonstrates that your plumbing business is active in the community, and signals relevance to both Google and potential customers.


An evergreen blog post covers topics that remain relevant over time, such as ‘5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Water Heater’ or ‘Why Pipes Freeze in [Your State]’, helping your site build authority and rank for long-tail keywords without the need for constant rewrites.


Focusing on Google’s E-E-A-T framework—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—by showcasing real plumbing expertise, sharing credentials, and providing accurate service information is more effective for SEO than superficial content tweaks made solely to appear fresh.


SocialStream delivers monthly professional blog posts tailored to your plumbing or local service business, ensuring your website stays fresh, relevant, and optimized for SEO without requiring you to write content or manage updates yourself.

Why Social Media for Small Businesses Is Essential

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

For businesses large and small, social media isn’t optional anymore. It’s essential. Does your business have a social media presence? If not, then you’re missing out on a staggering number of benefits—benefits your competitors are probably enjoying as you read this.
So, what are the benefits of social media for small businesses? How can you make the most of them? Keep reading to find out.

Social Media Fosters Connection

One of the biggest reasons for social media’s rise has to do with how easily and quickly it connects people. In your case, social media will enable you to connect with your target customers (and vice versa). By sharing, commenting, and generally interacting with current and potential customers, you’ll strengthen your relationship with them.
In fact, social media platforms like Facebook have become another channel customers are using to directly contact businesses. Whether it’s through public wall posts or private messages, customers may rely on social media to inquire about your products or services, send you valuable feedback, or to even ask for a price quote. Contacting you via social media is even easier than sending an e-mail (never mind making a telephone call), so the frequency of this method of contact is expected to rise.
As Lauren Friedman explains, 

Your customers are on Facebook throughout the day—especially those that work with the internet, so it’s only natural they would much rather stay on the same website rather than switch or pick up the phone to call you. Many of them use Facebook Messenger now like text message, chatting with their friends and family throughout the day.

However, if you aren’t on Facebook, then that’s one fewer way customers are able to contact you. And don’t you want to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch with you?

Social Media Makes You Feel Real to Customers

When you’re active and engaged on social media, you’ll also be showing off your personality and the real people behind your company. This will build a relationship between you and your customers. They’ll begin to see you as a group of living, breathing individuals. Eventually, this will lead to more business. As Internet entrepreneur Evan Carmichael says, “People buy from people, not companies.”
At the same time, a professional social media presence will also give you the appearance of a cohesive, legitimate company. Prospective customers will see your regular updates and posts on Facebook or Twitter and feel you’re genuinely invested in your business.

How to Make Social Media More Effective

Social media for small businesses doesn’t have to be complicated. It may feel like a daunting project at first, but once you get into the swing of things, you’ll barely even think about it. Heck, you might even enjoy it!
Here’s how to make your social media presence as effective as possible:

  • Be active. Don’t just create a Facebook page and forget about it. Regular activity is key.
  • Share status updates, photos, helpful articles and videos, and any other content that will give your audience a peak behind the curtain. Make yourself and your team seem as real as possible.
  • Regularly check your message inbox, as well as your page, and reply to anyone who has reached out to you about doing business with your company. You can’t reap the benefits of a direct line of contact if you aren’t there to respond!

How Prospect Genius Can Help

Feel like there’s not enough time in your day? Can’t figure out how to get started? Fear not! Prospect Genius is here to help.
Our selection of social media packages offers assistance at all levels. Whether you’re just starting out or you want a more advanced, fleshed-out campaign, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what we offer:

  • SocialStart: For clients who are just getting started on social media, we’ll create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Then, we’ll write several blog posts for you that we’ll share on your accounts so you have a handful of posts right out of the gate.
  • SocialStream: For clients who are established on social media and want to share content regularly, we write a set number (determined by you) of blog posts each month and share them on your accounts.
  • SocialBuzz: For clients who want to be engaged on social media but don’t have the time to share updates on their own, we create and share weekly status updates on your behalf.
  • Paid Facebook Advertising: For advanced clients looking to expand their reach, increase visibility, and drive more traffic to their website, we create and manage targeted Facebook ad campaigns.

No matter where your business falls on the social media spectrum, Prospect Genius has a solution for you.
Social media for small businesses is critical, but that doesn’t mean you should lose sleep over it. Have fun with it! Sharing details about your company and interacting with your customers can be rewarding and even eye opening.
If you’re having trouble keeping up with Facebook or Twitter, simply give us a call and we’ll see how we can help. There’s no excuse for abandoning your social media presence!

Facebook Is the New Google

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Facebook isn’t just for stalking your old classmates anymore. In the past few years, Facebook has evolved into a hub for exchanging information—everything from political opinions to diet tips to breaking news—among friends, coworkers, and relatives. People even outsource their own questions, asking trusted friends who they recommend for local doctors, dentists, hair dressers, repairmen, contractors, and so on. That means local businesses and service providers have a unique opportunity on Facebook: They can take advantage of this crowdsourcing trend and promote themselves right on Facebook, where people are already looking for info about them.
In fact, Facebook is slowly replacing Google as the go-to resource for local search. People used to turn to Google to find local appliance repairmen, plumbers, landscapers, and the like, but there was no way to know whether these professionals were actually reliable or not. Hence the uptick in crowdsourcing on Facebook. Now, people realize it’s much more easy and effective to ask the people they know and trust for their personal recommendations—instead of taking a gamble on the business that happened to have the best ranking on Google.
How Bob Found His Plumber

Optimize Your Facebook

To take advantage of this new opportunity, you must make your Facebook presence as appealing as possible to prospective customers. Here’s what you need:

  • Page “Likes.” A Facebook Page without fans is like a restaurant without patrons. People passing by will not go in because the restaurant is empty, implying that it’s unpopular. In other words, more “Likes” on your Page will give your business more credibility.
  • Reviews. Customer reviews used to just be nice to have. Then, they became integral in attracting new customers. Now, they’re a vital part of your local search rankings on Google. You simply must get your customers to leave reviews on your company’s Facebook Page.
  • Page activity. Your Page is a showcase for your company’s personality and expertise. You should be posting status updates, uploading photos, and sharing helpful articles on a consistent basis (at least a few times a week), otherwise your audience will see no value in following your Page.
  • An attractive profile. Your company’s description should be well written and captivating. Your profile picture and header should be unique, high-quality images that are relevant to your business—not grainy snapshots of your own face. You want Page visitors to see how professional your team really is.
  • Regular engagement. To show your audience that you care, you should be interacting with them regularly. When they comment on one of your posts, respond. When they leave a review, good or bad, thank them for their feedback. This is your chance to hear what your customers and prospects are thinking and to let them know that you’re listening.

What You Can Do Yourself

There are many aspects of social media marketing that you can take care of yourself. Maintaining a presence on Facebook is something that’s entirely within your abilities if you have the time and energy. Here are some of the Facebook tasks that are pretty DIY friendly:

  • Sharing status updates. It only takes a minute to share what your company has been up to for the past few days.
  • Uploading photos and/or videos of your work. Smartphones make it super easy to take photos and videos, and the Facebook app makes it even easier to upload them straight to your timeline.
  • Sharing links to relevant articles and/or blog posts. If you come across an item online that you think your audience would appreciate, it takes almost no time at all to copy and paste the link on Facebook.
  • Interacting with your audience (e.g. posing questions, replying to comments, etc.). As soon as you get a notification that someone has commented on a post or left you a review, take a quick moment to read it and respond. It’s also easy to engage with your fans simply by asking them about their plans for the weekend or an upcoming holiday.

What You Should Leave to Us

Of course, having some extra time on your hands isn’t always enough to make an impressive Facebook presence. If you really want to promote your brand and put yourself in front of local prospects, then you’ll need to consider some more advanced strategies. However, advanced strategies call for advanced expertise. The below tasks require the kind of experience you can only find at Prospect Genius:

  • Promoting sponsored ads. We have years of experience working with paid ads. We use those countless data points to identify trends and help your ads get the most visibility and highest conversion rates possible. Plus, since Facebook uses a CPM model instead of CPC (in other words, you pay for ad impressions instead of clicks), you’ll need a team that knows how to set up your campaign so you aren’t hemorrhaging money.
  • Implementing a “Like” campaign. Again, since we’re able to draw on our wealth of experience with paid ads, we know how to test and rotate ads so they drive the most “Likes” to your page.
  • Continuously sharing content. Even if you have the time to post on Facebook, you may not know exactly what to say. That’s where our SocialStream package comes in handy. Our professional writers will add a certain number of blog posts each month to your LeadTrax™ site, and our production specialists will share them on all of your social media accounts. It’s the best way to share useful, high-quality content with your audience on a consistent basis.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Social media is a lifestyle. It’s not a one-and-done campaign. Maintaining a solid Facebook presence requires lots of repetition. You need to be continuously active on your account. Your activity can’t just last for one month and then taper off, or else you’ll miss out on countless potential fans. If you don’t think you’ll be able to maintain consistent activity on Facebook, then you should seriously consider calling for reinforcements. Our professionals will give you plenty of valuable content to share and can even promote your brand through sponsored ads. You can’t afford to ignore such a vital (and mostly free) advertising platform… Give us a call and start coordinating with our team today!

What Can You Do Now to Up the Ante of Your Campaign in 2015?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Around this time every year, we hear from a lot of clients asking us how they can add more oomph to their campaigns. They want to start off the next year strong. This year, of course, has been no different. We’ve already had several proactive business owners ask us what they can do to put themselves in a position where they will see even more leads than before. With that, we decided to dedicate this post to the numerous ways in which you, our clients, can improve and build upon your existing campaigns. If you’d like to maximize your online advertising success, read on!

For Our Starters

First and foremost, if you’re currently enrolled in our Directory Dominator or Starter program, you can upgrade to the Core program. Core is lead generation, instead of basic web presence management, so upgrading is a good way to get more calls and e-mails.

For Core Customers

If you’re already a member of our Core program, there are plenty of things you can do to make your SEO campaign even more effective.

  • Make sure your LeadTrax™ site has a page for every service you offer so you don’t miss out on valuable leads.
  • Make sure your LeadTrax site is not promoting any service(s) you no longer offer so you don’t have to turn down jobs.
  • Make sure you notify us if your contact information has changed. That way, you won’t miss leads because they went to an old e-mail address or phone number.
  • Update your phone package if you need to add more lines or route your calls to a different number. You can change the forwarding number yourself in the Client Portal if you have only one line.
  • Add brand pages to your LeadTrax site (e.g. “Maytag Appliance Repair,” “Trane Furnace Repair,” and so on). This will help you capture traffic from more specific searches.
  • Let us disclose your hidden addresses. If you’ve requested to have your business address hidden, let us display it, at least on some directories. Most directories require a physical location these days, so a hidden address means your business can’t be listed in those directories.
  • Add a second LeadTrax site if you’re expanding your business to cover a new service area. (This only works if you’re actually opening up a second physical location.)
  • Add SocialStream™ to your campaign and have our team create blog posts for you and share them on your social media accounts as many times per month as you’d like.

If you want to make a more drastic change, you can always upgrade to our Premium package and enjoy all the immediate benefits of pay-per-click when it’s combined with your existing SEO.

For Premium Customers

If you participate in our Premium program, then you’ve already done a great job setting yourself up for optimal lead generation. While Premium combines the best of SEO and PPC, there are still a few adjustments and additions you can make to maximize your campaign’s success.
As a Premium customer, you can make any of the changes in the list above. In addition, you can also kick up your PPC efforts by adding a remarketing campaign. Powered by Google AdWords, a remarketing campaign targets your ads at people who have recently checked out your website. This keeps your business at the top of their minds, building familiarity and trust in your brand.
(Note: Remarketing campaigns are also available for customers who use our PPC service exclusively.)

Climb the Mountain

The steps involved in search engine ranking depicted as a path up a mountainAs we’ve said before, you can compare online advertising to the slow ascent up a mountain, with the top-ranked position on Google acting as the peak. But, just like climbing a mountain, you have to start at the foothills—which, in this analogy, are local directories and Google Maps. Then, as you climb higher, you’ll reach optimized website content, social media, and PPC. The higher you climb, the more competitors you will outrank.

At the end of the day, your goal should be to get closer and closer to the peak of this mountain. If you feel like you’ve been hanging out at the same altitude for too long, then it’s time to get out your grappling hooks and start climbing again. Prospect Genius has a wide variety of services designed to hoist you all the way up to the summit, so why delay? Call your account manager today to see what you can do to make sure you climb even further in 2015.

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