While creating fresh, innovative content is undoubtedly important for any successful content marketing strategy, the true value often lies in your existing library of blog posts.
That’s the strength of evergreen content. It stays relevant long after you’ve published it. A few edits or sometimes some rewrites make these blog posts as good as new.
These articles represent a goldmine of potentially high-performing content you’ve already invested time, energy, and resources into developing.
Backlinko found that updating old blog posts can lead to an average of 260.7% increase in organic traffic.
260.7%!!!
They conducted this case study after reading Hubspot’s original study, which showed a 106% increase in traffic after updating old content.
More than a hundred percent. Definitely worth trying, isn’t it?
Here are the key reasons why updating old blog posts should be a strategic priority:
1. Boost search engine rankings
2. Increase engagement and conversions
3. Maximize your content investment
4. Establish your authority
Let’s see how you can revamp old content as new.
The AtoZ of Updating Old Blog Posts
It’s a 5-step process from picking the right blog posts to updating and promoting them after republishing.
1. Choose which posts to update
2. Conduct a fresh keyword research
3. Ensure the content is informational
4. Rewrite the content
5. Promoting and Resubmitting Your Updated Content
1. Choose Which Posts to Update
Before starting the content refresh, you need to check which content is worth updating. Not all of your old blog posts are created equal, and it’s important to be strategic about which ones you choose to revive.
Eventually, you want to dedicate your time and money to the material with the best chance of yielding a significant return.
Here’s how to identify the best candidates for an update:
Analyze Your Google Search Console Data
1. Find The Poor-Performing Posts
One of the most valuable tools in an SEO writer’s arsenal is Google Search Console.
It’s a testament to how your website is performing in organic search and ranking.
First, you’d want to work on the posts that already rank in the top 10 results. Getting a blog post from position #10 to the top three is easier than getting a post from page two to the first page.
For that, apply a filter to get the blog posts with a ranking of more than 5. Then, sift through the impressions and clicks to find the blog posts performing poorly for their target keyword.
2. Consider The Business Value
After you find the posts, plot them down to check if they target keywords that have business potential.
It’s possible that you created content in the past that is no longer relevant to your business goal or that the keyword’s business value is less than that of other keywords.
You only want to select the keywords that will boost your business goals after getting ranked.
For example, if you have an online store selling outdoor gear, equipment, and apparel, these would be some of your existing blog posts.
- “The Best Hiking Backpacks of 2023”
- “10 Must-Have Camping Essentials for Your Next Trip”
- “Outdoor Photography Tips for Breathtaking Nature Shots”
- “Biking vs. Hiking: Which is the Better Workout?”
The first two blog posts target keywords best hiking backpacks and camping essentials. These hold a high business value as they lead to direct sales.
The last one has the least value as it’s an informational post without a high chance of bringing sales.
In this way, sort the keywords in different business values and prioritize high values.
3. Find an opportunity for ranking multiple keywords
Once you’ve shortlisted the keywords, view the performance of the individual post. Look at the keywords that have high impressions. It shows a chance to optimize for these keywords and rank multiple keywords.
💡 Note: Make sure it’s not a newly published post. You should target blog posts published 6-12 months ago. Give the new content some time to find its place in search engines.
74% of bloggers update their blog posts every couple of years, as readers click out of their blogs if they find posts that are more than a couple of years old.
2. Conduct Fresh Keyword Research
While GSC provides enough information about adding rankable keywords, it’s always better to conduct fresh keyword research.
The reason’s simple.
Over time, the keywords driving traffic to your original post may have shifted, and new, more relevant terms may have emerged.
User intent evolves with time. Something relevant a few years ago might have changed today. The best example is the travel industry after the pandemic.
Travel keywords mainly include workations, solo travels, staycations, etc., which used to be all about outdoor traveling a few years ago.
Simply plug in your blog post topics in a keyword research tool and analyze changing trends. You can also utilize Google keyword Planner and Answer The Public.
You can also use ChatGPT or Claude to find keywords. Here’s a complete article on using ChatGPT to find keywords and speed up content updating.
3. Ensure the Content is Informational
As we just discussed, user intent changes over time. Search intent is as important as, if not more important than, keywords.
Before updating any blog post, check the intent of the content outranking it.
It’s easy to outrank informational posts. However, if your original post is outranked by product pages, e-commerce listings, landing pages, or other transactional content, informational posts might not be enough to outperform them.
Because the search intent for that keyword is transactional, the users are not looking for a blog post.
A case in point: For the search query “SEO content strategy,” all the ranked content is blog posts. This is a sign that blog posts work for this query. A content refresh can get you ranked higher.
But for the query “website traffic,” all top pages are tools. Updating your blog post on this topic won’t get you ranked because the intent is to search for tools.
4. Rewrite the Content
With your updated keyword research in hand and a clear understanding of the search intent you’re targeting, it’s time to dive into the actual rewriting and restructuring of your blog post.
Nail The Search Intent
Understand who you’re targeting in the blog post. A post may have a single or multiple target audiences. Determine how you’d focus each of them in the post.
Later, decide the content format depending on the intent behind the keyword. Is it informational, navigational, commercial, or navigational content the audience wants?
Analyze the competitors’ ranking on the first page. If you find that the top-ranking results are mostly product category pages and e-commerce listings, it indicates a transactional search intent. In this case, you may want to shift your focus to a more informational “buyer’s guide” style of content that helps users research and compare different camera options.
However, if most of the top results are tutorials and blog pieces related to education, it indicates an informational search purpose. You can then double down on providing in-depth, how-to-style content that addresses your target audience’s questions and pain points.
Optimize For E-E-A-T
One of the most critical aspects of rewriting your old blog content is ensuring it aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines.
This is a key factor in determining the quality and credibility of your content, which can significantly impact its search rankings and user engagement.
To optimize for E-E-A-T, consider the following strategies:
- Demonstrate your subject matter expertise through the depth and accuracy of your content
- Establish your authority by citing credible sources, industry data, and expert opinions
- Build trust by highlighting your credentials, certifications, or real-world experience
E-E-A-T is nothing but ensuring you maintain the quality of your content.
Always write from experience. If you don’t have first-hand experience, contact SMEs and weave the blog post around their case studies.
Get experts to review the content before you publish it. Always support your claims with examples and data.
Researching for new examples is a tedious process. You don’t always have the luxury of time to conduct fresh research for statistics and data.
Create a research repository.
Talk to in-house and external experts. Maintain the contacts of those whom you often reach out to. Build relations with industry leaders on LinkedIn.
Another way to find quotable content is through podcasts and YouTube videos. But finding the right resource is again an uphill task. Use Sparktoro to find the podcasts your target audience listens to and store their insights. These come in handy whenever you can’t directly reach out to a subject matter expert.
Go one step ahead of Google and review your E-E-A-T with ChatGPT before publishing the content.
Plug your blog post into a Custom GPT created by Sarvesh Shrivastava. It checks your content to give a complete analysis and E-E-A-T score with areas of improvement.
Add New Headers
Your blog post’s arrangement and style can greatly impact its readability and interaction.
When rewriting your old content, take the time to rework the section headers to be more compelling, informative, and targeted to your audience’s search queries.
For instance, instead of a generic header like “Introduction to Meditation,” you could try something more specific and attention-grabbing, such as “How Meditation Can Reduce Stress and Improve Focus in Just 10 Minutes a Day.”
Remember, your H1, H2, and H3 tags help with SEO and play a crucial role in guiding the reader through your content. Use them to break up your text into easily digestible sections and highlight the key points you want to convey.
Search engines analyze the headers to understand the usability of your content. Make the headers obvious about what lies ahead.
Update The Media
Content is consumed in multiple ways. It’s easy to research what format your audience enjoys consuming more.
But, conveying more in fewer words improves the quality of your content. Say more with less mess by adding relevant visuals and multimedia to your posts.
No, I’m not saying add as many generic stock photos. That won’t do.
Create infographics, charts, and graphs, and add a summary video or audio at the top of the blog. This makes it easy for readers to grasp the blog post in less time and hear it without having to spend time actually reading it.
Images also help you grab more SERP property by being featured in the multiple SERP features.
Check The Readability
Be sure to review the readability and accessibility of your blog post thoroughly. This includes evaluating factors such as:
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Sentence structure and complexity
- Paragraph length and flow
- Use of active vs. passive voice
Tools like the Hemingway Editor and Grammarly can be incredibly helpful in identifying and addressing any readability or accessibility issues within your refreshed blog post.
Remember, your goal is to create content that is informative and engaging and easy for your target audience to understand and navigate, regardless of their reading level or any disabilities they may have.
Don’t Overwhelm Readers
While it’s important to provide comprehensive, value-packed content, you don’t want to overwhelm your readers with excessive information.
I like limiting expert quotes to three per post (2000-3000 words). Also, the statistics and external resources should be relevant and not used more than necessary.
Adding statistics is tempting as it shows you’ve done good research. But, too much data can dilute the original message and leave the audience confused.
Instead of establishing your authority, it creates a false impression that you’re trying too hard to earn it.
Strike a careful balance between depth and digestibility to ensure your refreshed blog post is informative and enjoyable.
Check The Schema Markup
For blog posts, the most relevant schema types include:
- Article: Provides structured data about the article, including the headline, author, publication date, and more.
- BlogPosting: Specifically designed for blog content, including additional fields like the post’s main topic.
- NewsArticle: This field is used for news-related blog posts and includes fields like the article’s main keywords and the news publication date.
By incorporating the correct schema markup into your refreshed blog post, you can help search engines better understand and display your content in a rich, engaging way. This could potentially lead to improved click-through rates and higher rankings.
To implement schema markup, manually add the relevant JSON-LD code to your website’s HTML or use a WordPress plugin like Yoast SEO or Rankmath to streamline the process.
5. Promoting and Resubmitting Your Updated Content
Once you’ve completed the optimization process, it’s time to give your updated blog post the attention it deserves.
Start with resubmitting the published blog to search engines. This will ensure that Google, Bing, and other major players know your changes and can quickly reflect them in their search results. Posting a blog post on social media amplifies its reach and visibility and fastens the process of indexing the blog.
I’ve created a detailed article on ways of promoting your blog on social media.
The final step in the blog content refresh process is to closely monitor the performance of your updated post and make any necessary adjustments along the way.
When Should You Go For Content Update Vs. Content Rewrite?
The approach and need for both content updates and rewrites are different.
Many people confuse updates with rewrites.
Minor updates are usually preferred and more effective. However, a complete rewrite is needed if the content is outdated or no longer resonates with your audience.
In that case, it’s more reasonable to delete the original post and start with a fresh slate.
💡 Note: When you update the content, don’t change the published date for minor changes. Instead, add an update date. This maintains that the post is not rewritten and yet signals to search engines that it has been refreshed.
Changing the publish date every time you change something signals Google that you’re trying to manipulate the search results.
Final Thoughts
Your existing content library is a treasure trove of untapped potential. Whether you’re looking to boost your search engine rankings, drive more engaged traffic, or maximize the return on your content investment, refreshing your old blog posts is a powerful and cost-effective solution.
It’s more effective to optimize a single post instead of publishing tens of new ones.
Remember, search engines and your audience are constantly evolving, so it’s essential to keep your blog posts sharp, relevant, and optimized for the blog’s success.
Create and update evergreen content so you yield great results with the same effort.
Have any questions? Ping me on LinkedIn.
