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Did you know that 9 out of 10 marketers rely on blogs to meet their content goals? Blogs are the go-to choice for content creation! And get this—around 7.5 million new blogs hit the internet every day. That’s a lot of digital noise to compete with, right? But fear not, because the key to standing out lies in valuable content. How do you ensure your content stays valuable? Simple—through blog updates.
Out with the old, in with the new—that’s the essence of blog updates. You revisit your previous posts, make necessary tweaks, optimize them, and publish again. This not only gives your old content a fresh spin but also adds more value to your audience’s experience.
Want to dig deeper into this topic? Let’s explore blog updates and more right here.
Think of refreshing content as enhancing what you already have. If your blog posts have been around for a while, chances are newer, better ones have popped up. With a blog update, though, you get to have the following:
1. A Better User Experience
Change is constant, even in user experience. Refreshing your content ensures that your readers have the most current and accurate information. This establishes you as a reliable source for up-to-date insights.
Updating your blog also provides an opportunity to add features that enhance readability and navigation. For instance, if your content isn’t mobile-friendly yet, you could optimize it for mobile use to make it more navigable — a much-needed update considering that 68% of users aged 18 and 24 prefer web browsing with their mobile device.
2. Improved SEO Performance
Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies evolve continuously. What worked in the past may not be cut out today, as search engines like Google constantly tweak their algorithms to rank quality content.
Google prioritizes reader-friendly content over ranking tactics. So, any broken links or outdated content information must be fixed. More than that, having fresh content signals relevance to its system, and re-optimizing for keywords can boost your rankings.
But you might wonder, doesn’t SEO prioritize search engines considering its name? While SEO does help search engines find your content, it’s ultimate aim is still to provide readers content that answers search queries and meets the intent — your ranking ultimately depends on these!
3. Building Thought Leadership
Updating your blog shows that you’re always in the know and leading the pack in your field. It positions you as a leader shaping discussions rather than just following them.
Republishing your content also fosters reader engagement. When you create a space for meaningful interactions, either through comments, discussions, or social media, your website gets a good engagement rate.
Being a thought leader means being a trusted go-to for valuable info. Consistently provide that with updated blog posts and you build trust, get Google’s attention, and rank higher!
📝Related Resources:
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Image Source: Canva
Republishing content is about keeping it fresh, relevant, and engaging for your readers. But how do you decide which posts need a blog update?
📉Losing Position Rapidly
Notice that your blogs are making quite the tumble in rankings? Do a quick check-up!
Peek your website’s organic traffic performance in the past three to six months and spot any blog post that used to rank high on search results but now lags behind. These are your prime targets for blog updates. Dive into their metrics, check the reader’s engagement patterns, and see how you can add more relevant information or apply strategies that drive it higher on search rankings.
🔥 Within Striking Distance of Page One
Did you know that a whopping 75% of searchers never venture beyond Google’s first page? But here’s a kicker: even landing on the second or third page is a victory dance waiting to happen. It’s your ripe chance to bump an old blog post into the first page with a blog update.
Find any old posts ranking on pages two to four that could be one update away from appearing on the first page and refresh them with updated info. Make them relevant, enhance readability, improve navigation, and optimize for rankings to nudge them higher to the top.
🤷High-Quality but Low Performance
Even the best content loses its luster with changes in trends, information, or even reader preference. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of the tunnel!
Blog posts relevant to your audience but have low traffic still hold promise. Start by using Google Search Console and analyze a content’s performance metrics and index coverage. Check its rankings and consider re-optimizing for new target keywords. You can also review and compare content against your competitors.
These steps will help you create a strategy to boost your content’s performance and bring back its impact.
Sometimes, the best update is leaving a blog post alone. What do we mean by this?
Certain posts don’t require a blog update and are better left alone. Updating them can be more harmful than good, or even straight-up pointless.
Blog posts that you shouldn’t update are:
- Recently Published Content: Google takes time to assess your content’s relevance and value, so avoid updating posts that are less than a year old.
- Duplicate Content: Multiple posts covering similar topics or keywords can confuse search engines, leading to lower visibility. Address content cannibalization by focusing on unique, standout content.
- Zero Traffic Content: If a blog article isn’t resonating with your audience, consider redirecting efforts towards fresh, engaging topics rather than endlessly refreshing low-performing content.
- Low-Quality Content: Before updating poorly written posts, ensure they align with your content strategy. Sometimes, a strategic rewrite or new content creation is more effective than patching up low content quality.
📝Related Resources:
- –How To Get The Most Out Of Your Blog & Content Marketing Strategy.
- –A Guide To Content Pruning And Its Benefits
Still dipping your toes into refreshing content? Let’s dive into the best practices on how to update blog posts for SEO, all while keeping your readers front and center.
1. Start With a Content Audit
Kick off your refreshing content efforts with a content audit. You can use SEO tools like Surfer to go through your existing content and compare it against your competitors to pinpoint keyword optimization gaps. Make sure you filter competitors with the same search intent. Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on opportunities.
Blogs should be analyzed against other blogs to get accurate comparisons. The same goes for location pages, service pages, and even homepages. You also need to toggle the location to ensure the audit focuses on that location’s search trends.
2. Keep URLs and Important Keywords
Consistency is key, especially when it comes to your URL structure. It creates a clear map of your website for easy navigation, helping both visitors and search engines understand its layout and index it efficiently. Plus, keeping your URLs intact isn’t just a favour to Google’s crawlers; it’s a win-win for everyone browsing your content.
As for the keywords, focus on adding rather than changing. Keep your target keyword and dive into keyword research to uncover related terms and phrases that enhance your primary keywords.
Using variations of your main keyword opens doors to a larger audience and ensures your content is relevant across a wide range of search queries. It’s all about casting a strategic net to reel in the right visitors.
3. Refine Your On-Page SEO Elements
39% of marketers agree that optimizing on-page content based on keywords is a top SEO strategy. As you update your blog, you should also optimize your on-page SEO elements as they contribute to your blog’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Increase the chances of your readers finding and clicking your page with this checklist:
4. Add High-Quality Internal and External Links
Links play a crucial role in enriching and making your content valuable, making them a must in republishing content.
When updating old blog posts, aim to add at least four external links coming from credible sources. And no, Wikipedia is not one of them.
For internal links, you can include as many as possible, but make sure that you’re not just linking to your homepage. Direct your readers to your service pages and other relevant landing pages.
Maintain content integrity by conducting thorough research and avoiding link stuffing. If you chance upon information older than two years, seek out newer, more relevant sources to keep your content current and engaging.
5. Polish the Writing and Formatting
Refining your writing and enhancing your formatting is high on the priority list when knowing how to update old blog posts for SEO. But when we say “polish your writing,” we mean more than fixing your grammar and clearing awkward sentences — we mean enhancing readability in a couple of ways.
Break down long, chunky paragraphs into simple and smaller ones. If you can list info down in bullet form, do so. You can also add tables, charts, and your brand colours to make it easier to view for your readers.
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Image Source: Canva
📈 Traffic Data and Metrics
Here’s how you can know your updated blog post made positive changes: use Google Analytics to track any changes in your traffic before and after republishing content. Check changes in website visits, session duration, pages per session, and even your page’s bounce rate.
You should also keep a close watch on your inbound links. Assess their quality and impact on generating traffic to your republished content. Most importantly, see if your content is driving conversion rates through any of the actions you’re aiming for, such as sign-ups, downloads, or purchases.
🔎 Search Engine Performance
One crucial aspect of knowing how to update old blog posts for SEO is monitoring your ranking for your target keywords before and after your content refreshing efforts. This will give you an idea of whether how you updated your old blog posts is paying off.
Look for shifts in keyword rankings and assess organic traffic changes. You can also keep an eye out for potential feature snippet opportunities, which will help boost your visibility and click-through rates.
📳Organic User Engagement
Are you seeing more engagement from your readers? Monitor comments you are gaining on your blog posts and engage with your audience for a discussion. Any positive, meaningful comments mean that you are getting high engagement levels.
Your social media shares on platforms like Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and others can also give you insights on how readers are receiving your content. Should you gain quality backlinks from other reputable websites, then congratulations! This means you’re republishing content right, creating content that is valuable enough to spend time on.
📝 Related Resources:
At The Influence Agency, we believe that blog updates are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building a better and more hardworking content strategy. Our comprehensive blogging services cover every aspect you need, from crafting persuasive content to executing seamless blog updates.
With our team of expert writers, strategists, and analysts, your blog won’t just get a refresh; it will be optimized for exceptional results. We handle everything from strategic planning and keyword research to content creation and audience targeting, ensuring your content is not only engaging but also impactful enough to inspire actions.
Are you ready to take your content strategy to the next level? Let the TIA team guide you. Connect with us to start the conversation.
FAQs
How Do I Refresh My Blog?
You can begin by reviewing your old blog posts through a content audit. Check for outdated information and update them with new insights. You should also update any statistics that are older than two years old to ensure your content’s accuracy and relevance.
As you go on, you should make sure to improve your content readability by making it easier to read. Break up long paragraphs or sentences, use bullet points, and add cool visuals to keep your readers engaged. You can also add more relevant internal and external links to enhance your content’s credibility and provide value to your audience.
Why Should You Update Old Blog Posts?
Refreshing your content adds value to your blog strategy. Blog updates are done to provide a better user experience to your readers, improve your content’s SEO performance, and build yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
How Often Should You Update Old Blogs?
Some experts update their blogs every quarter, but you can do so as often as you need as long as it’s not recently published content, duplicate content, zero traffic content, or low-quality content.
To make sure that it’s something that requires updating, you can check its traffic data and metrics to determine if that content is worth republishing.
Should You Keep Old Blogs on Your Website?
There are times when old blogs can harm your SEO. That’s why, if it doesn’t align with your content strategy, we suggest content pruning. How do you know if you should prune it out? If its content is not getting traffic or conversions or is competing with other similar content in your blog.