Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
There are a lot of blogs out there that have years and years worth of content. As new optimization strategies unfold, there is a common question for many of those long-time bloggers: “Is it worth the effort to go back and fix some of those old posts?” Although I haven’t been writing nearly as long as many others, I have seen the impact first-hand for fixing older articles.
Why You Should Fix Old Blog Posts
Old blog posts don’t have to be ignored. They may still hold a great deal of value even if they are nearly a decade old. Not everything has to be created in the here-and-now in order to drive traffic. Some of your older pieces may be quite effective once they are restructured. How often have you searched for something in Google and found an article nearly 10-years old? It happens to me a lot. Evergreen content is some of the best things to go back and fix.
Higher Ranking in Search Engines
As I fix my older posts on this website, I’ve found that they are being displayed more often in search results. One of the pieces even experienced an increase of more than 800% in terms of visibility. Each month, the older pieces that I went back and fixed are being seen more often in Google. Some of them are even nearing the top page for their respected keywords.
Fixing the Errors
I proofread everything I write, but sometimes errors get by me. Going back and fixing the old blog posts gives me a chance to address any additional errors that were published through the first run. This also gives me a chance to fix any statistical information or add paragraphs that may be relevant. In essence, I give these older pieces more “umph” for my audience.
Increasing Traffic
Ranking higher in Google and Bing is only part of the process. The more visibility any particular post gets, the more likely visitors will click. Even fixing the meta descriptions on the pieces has made a difference in the number of visitors for those old blog posts. In fact, one in particular on my health site has grown more than 1,000% after I made it more SEO friendly.
Reusable in Social Media
Old blog posts don’t have to be ignored on the website. In fact, many experts believe you should re-share these pieces in order to spark new life and traffic. This can be done by taking the link to the article and putting it all of your social media accounts. I use Buffer.com to share my posts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for my health site. It only takes a few moments and may help boost the traffic.
Providing Inspiration for Future Articles
As I go back and fix the old blog posts, I found myself inspired to write new pieces based on the content I created before. It’s the driving force behind many of the pieces I create on this website as well as the health blog. Sometimes, things just jump out at me screaming, “write this!” Coincidentally, some of those posts wound up being some of the most popular content I’ve ever created.
Internal Linking
Internal linking may be just as important to a blog as external backlinks. Many experts refer to this as “link juice.” It’s essentially sharing the authority of one webpage with another. I do it simply to give visitors more information about any specific topic. I often go back and add links from those older posts to the newer ones. This is usually to help those who read past content to find new and relevant material. However, it doesn’t hurt to boost the authority of your pages internally when thinking about search engines.
You don’t have to completely rebuild a piece of content on your site. In my experience, it has been worth the time and effort to go back to some of my older works and revitalize them for today’s audience. It’s not always about what you write today when engaging your visitors. Spruce up the site and do some spring cleaning on pieces you long forgot about. They may just be the next favorite among your social media readers.
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