Blogging is a great way to get your website more organic traffic and improve your search rankings. Businesses in every industry are regularly sharing new blog posts to connect with customers and outrank competitors online.
And with so much competition out there, it’s important to keep blog posts fresh and up to date.
What may have worked well for you 2 or 3 years ago could now be hurting your website. Search engines like Google have one job. They want to connect the user with the most helpful and accurate information related to their search. If you have older posts on your site that no longer serve as quality content, you may be sharing misinformation which is a big red flag for search engine algorithms.
So, where do you start? Not to worry, here are some helpful tips on how to update outdated blog content.
How To Update Outdated Blog Content
You might think that updating your old posts to drive more traffic to your website will take a lot of work, but it is often easier than writing entirely new content.
Sometimes it just takes updating some information, refreshing your visuals, or adding some new insights. You don’t have to completely overhaul your outdated content and write a new post on the topic. With some minor adjustments, you can breathe new life into your old content.
Update Your Facts And Stats
One of the easiest ways to update old blog content is to start with any facts or stats that you share. Remember that search engines want to show people the most accurate information.
As time goes on and things change, the stats you reference in your older content may no longer be accurate. Something accurate in 2018 could be completely untrue in 2021. That’s just how fast the world changes nowadays!
You may find a newer study that disproves things you referenced when you originally wrote the blog post. Perhaps trends have changed, and the stats you shared are no longer the case.
Regardless of what in your original post is no longer accurate, make corrections and make it relevant today. Not every post you write will be evergreen content.
By taking the time to make sure your blog posts are current and factual, you can keep readers informed and updated on the topic. Both of which are big pluses when it comes to user engagement and search engine rankings.
Share New Insights
Chances are, if you’ve written about a topic, others have probably done so as well.
If your blog post ranked well, odds are your competitors have read your post and tried to recreate a better version for their site. They may have even added some additional ideas and insights that your blog may be missing.
Taking the time to add new insights to your old blog posts can do wonders for you. This doesn’t mean adding 1000+ words to the post (it won’t hurt you, though). Something as simple as adding an extra paragraph is all you might need.
Just like facts can become dated, the ideas you shared can too. A quick update or new thought will keep your blog posts current and fill in the gaps you might have had in the previous content.
If you plan to add new thoughts, don’t just write for the sake of writing. Make sure that your edits improve on the post and make it more valuable to the reader. Remember, value is what makes great content! If you ramble on with some long-winded thoughts, you may end up causing the reader to lose interest and leave your website altogether.
Please keep it simple and make updates by adding new thoughts, stats, quotes, or tips that the reader will find helpful.
Refresh Your SEO
With so much competition online and new articles being written daily, your SEO might take a hit. If you’ve noticed your website traffic is starting to dip or posts aren’t performing as well as they used to, you may need to refresh your SEO a bit.
The easiest way to do this is by starting with your keyword research. You can use a tool like Google’s keyword planner or just search for the topic your blog is about. All you need to do is look at the top-performing articles and see what phrases and words they’re using that you aren’t.
Don’t just stick to primary keywords; there may be secondary words or phrases being used that you don’t. Remember, there are plenty of different ways to get to the same destination.
Remember, not everyone is going to search the same thing to find your blog posts. Top-performing posts might use a mix of secondary keywords. Including additional keywords naturally can boost your SEO efforts and put the content in front of more users searching for that topic.
Look at the featured snippet on the search engine results page as well. When you do a Google search for your topic, what’s in that snippet? It might be a list, a table, a paragraph, or a video. Whatever it is, try to format your content similarly. You may replace that article with the featured snippet, which means plenty of more eyeballs on your website and information.
Improve Your Visuals
Don’t forget about the photos, videos, or infographics you share in your content. If you have existing visuals layered throughout the post, it might be time to update them. These pieces of website content are just like your written words and can become dated. If your blog post is missing visuals, it’s probably time to add some in.
Don’t forget about the alt tags. When a search engine crawls your website, it won’t know what your photo or video is about without alt tags. These are kind of like the signs above the aisles in the grocery store. They make it easier for the search engine to understand what’s on the page. If you have helpful visuals that will get the user engaged, including an alt tag with a primary keyword or secondary keyword can help give your SEO a boost, improving your Google search result.
Link To New Content and Update Broken Links
Internal linking should be an ongoing best practice that you follow. As you publish new posts related to a topic, make sure to include internal links. This should be done on the fresh content you’re writing and the existing content on your site.
By including internal links, you can make it easier for search engines to crawl your site. Better yet, linking can help your thought leadership efforts by getting the reader to check out one of your other articles for even more information. Both of which are very good things for you and your website.
Don’t forget to check existing links and make sure they still work. Links that go to a page that no longer exists on a website or has dated information can hurt your efforts. Again, the search engine wants to present users with the most helpful and accurate information. Having links that will take someone to another site that is out of date (or gone completely) doesn’t help anyone.
*Bonus Tip—Don’t Forget To Reindex Your Updated Post
Last but not least, make sure to reindex your website with Google. If you don’t do this, you’ll have to wait for the search engine to get around to crawling your website again and notice the updates on its own. You don’t want to wait for that.
Instead, you can request to have the site reindexed by submitting an indexing request in the Google Search Console.
To do this, follow these three simple steps.
- Open Google Search Console
- Type the URL of your updated blog post into the search bar
- Click “Request Indexing”
Once that’s complete, Google will add the page to its queue and recrawl the page much sooner than if you wait for it to happen naturally.
Need Help Updating Old Blog Posts?
If you’re looking to give your blog an overhaul and need some help—we’re here for you with our unique Content Marketing Managed Services.
If you need help with your content marketing strategy and want to drive more organic traffic to your website—we’d love to help you out.
