Do you have writer’s block? Are you struggling to think of a new blog idea? Or are you just short on time? The good news is you don’t have to constantly create new content every week to stay relevant or to rank in the search engines. By recycling and refreshing some of your old content, you can see the same benefits as you would if you were starting from scratch. Take a look at our guide below to help you refresh your blog posts the right way.
Republishing an old post is not only effective if you’re trying to save time, but it’s also helpful if you’ve run out of ideas and if you’re trying to keep your search engine results fresh and up to date. Not only will repurposing an old blog that didn’t do well help you generate more traffic to your site but adding new educational material to it will give it new life and make it more relevant. By leaving an older blog sitting in the archives, your readers may be missing out on some great information simply because it’s old and not ranking highly for the correct and most relevant terms, keywords, and statistical information. Posts with newer publish dates and updated content are more likely to be clicked on by readers when they search for them.
Republishing an old blog doesn’t necessarily mean copying and pasting the exact same article with a new headline. It takes some research and strategy to pick the right ones to refresh. This means doing some keyword research and seeing which terms you’re trying to rank for and figuring out what questions your audience is asking or typing into google. It also means taking a look at your website traffic and the data to see what people are clicking on and interested in. You can also go through your archive and find old blogs that are still relevant or ones that could use some more in-depth research and add new information that applies.
It’s also important to understand the difference between when you should repost and reshare a blog and when you should update the content itself. If your blog was receiving a high amount of traffic but it has since waned, it might be a good idea, if the information is still relevant, to simply edit, and repost the blog with a new publication date and some updated information. If the blog performed well, there’s no need to change anything about it unless the information is out of date. This is especially helpful during busier times of the year when you might not be able to do a ton of research on a new topic but still want to have something for your readers to engage with.
If a topic starts to trend again, this is another good indicator that you should republish the post. The digital marketing world is constantly evolving and the same is true for other industries as well. But keep in mind that most blogs that are a few years, or even months old, could benefit from a face-lift with updated statistics and information to keep your readers up-to-date and engaged.
Now that you’ve chosen which posts you want to recycle, it’s important to know what to do with them. Be sure to add an editor’s note stating when the blog was originally published, and if you’ve changed the URL it’s important to include that link either in the editor’s note or in the body of the article.
This is also a great time to update layouts and images within the blog. If the post is a few years old, most likely there are updated graphics and new tools you can use to make the article appear neater, fresher, and more on brand. This will help to catch the reader’s eye and entice them to click on and read the article. In addition to updating the look of your blog, you should be sure to double-check any statistics you may have included in the original post. If your graphics or creative have the old data on them, you should be sure to update yours accordingly to match.
After you have updated and edited your blogs to be current, be sure to send an email with a link to the new posts to your subscribers so they can easily find them. And if you don’t use email to communicate with your audience, another option is through social media. Make sure you highlight your “new” blog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and any other platforms you use. In addition to this, be sure to track your blog’s performance before and after you update the content. See if the refresh or repost has increased your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results, generated more traffic to your website, and if it has affected your social media engagement and comments as well.
Want to repurpose an old blog but don’t know where to start? Our content strategists are ready to help you and your team succeed! Contact our team today and get started with planning your new digital marketing strategy today.