Get Traffic Using Old Blog Content
Since 2011, Google has emphasized that freshness of the content would be a significant factor in its search algorithms. One way to tackle this is by writing and producing more content, endlessly. But this strategy is time-consuming and laborious. Instead, the smarter way is to update and optimize your old blog to meet the expectations of the evolving algorithms.
Revamp The Evergreen Content
There is a reason why content marketers favor evergreen content. They never fail to grab the attention of the audience, and always stay relevant, much like the name suggests.
Content experts from Essay Pro recommend including evergreen content along with trendy topics to deliver traffic to your website while holding a valuable position in the SERP for a considerable time.
However, to add another boost to it, you can always upgrade your content to let Google know that it is new. You will not only get a spike in traffic, but you will also achieve this by a minimal work of SEO. According to HubSpot, this historical optimization strategy has helped them to increase their organic traffic by an average of 106%.
Once that sinks in, it might be time to reconsider your marketing strategies based on this piece of information. To help you a bit more, here is how you can optimize old blog content for new traffic.
1. Identify the Best Choices
The first step is to figure out which content is worth the upgrade. In theory, every post might do with some alterations. But it is the actual data that could point you in the right direction. Using an analytics tool such as Google Analytics, determine which blogs were the most popular when published.
Consider the posts that fall into these categories.
- Low ranking content with high authority;
- Relevant content with high conversions;
- Posts with mid-range rankings;
- Posts that are losing rankings.
Above all, even if it’s satisfactory data-wise, see whether the content would apply to the current audience as well. The characteristics of your target audience would have evolved in a few years. What worked in 2015 might not work in 2020 anymore.
2. Match the Search Intent
Google’s BERT update from 2019 aimed at contextualizing every search intent to match the results. This means you will have to optimize your content to suit the queries by effectively offering answers.
Rewriting the content is not only about increasing word length or adding more points. It is about bringing the text more in line with the terms that people are looking for.
The aim is to find out the valid questions that match your content and tweak the posts as a means to answer them. You can narrow down search intent by entering the main keywords of your old blog post in a Keyword Explorer tool and look for phrases that have been searched the most.
3. Re-optimize for Keywords
Among the main benefits of upgrading the old blog, articles are that you have a better comprehension of how the article is already performing. That allows you to consider new keyword opportunities. Identify keywords that are not only ranking well but do not have a high volume of target.
To find new words for your content, review the Performance Report on the Google Search Console. Filter the Positions tab and see which keywords rank the most. Users can also set a date range to find data for a specific page.
4. Refresh the Title and Visuals
Restructuring the old blog articles by adding new headings, subtitles, and visuals will instantly give it a fresh impression. Google also highlights featured snippets, and these small changes will increase your chances of earning a place among them.
In 2018, 40.7% of voice search answers came from featured snippets. The trend is only on the rise in 2020.
Update the text, title, description, and headers to include these keywords and continue to monitor their performance. While at it, do not miss making changes to the technical SEO to meet the latest keywords and web page optimization. With a new heading and illustration, your post will look new for promotions.
5. Add New Links and CTA
If you had included any statistics of facts, make sure that they are up to date when you rework on the content. Any outbound links added should be the latest and ones that would help build the traffic.
The same goes for inbound links as well. Since you posted the old blog article, the chances are that you have published several new posts.
You might want to redirect audiences to the fresh posts, increasing the time the users spend on your site. Also, take time to update the Call to Action to any current promotions or sales you are hosting.
6. Update the Published Date
Before you market the refurbished post, change your publishing date also. You can include a note in the article heading as “Updated” to grab the users’ attention. If you are using a CMS such as WordPress, some plugins will help you automate this change quickly.
See Also: Yoast SEO plugin
Bonus Tip: Check the Comments
Your most useful tool for content upgrading might be your comment section. If the post had a high level of engagement, you would have most likely received feedback from your audience on how they found your post. You might also find valuable suggestions or constructive criticism regarding improvements that can be made.
Wrapping Up
It is hard to point down one specific tactic that would work on all your old blog posts. Some might need attention in their narrative, while some – in their SEO and imagery. Make sure that the updated blog reflects your brand style and the current target audience.
Finally, optimizing the past content does not mean you have to change every single attribute. It might even harm posts that are already doing well. Some content and keywords might continue to work for a few good years.