Rather than spend hours researching and writing a new blog post, it’s often better to refresh or rewrite your old posts. This will help improve the article’s overall quality and make it more useful for your audience.
It will also allow you to update the content with the current year, which is important for SEO. This will increase user time on the page and boost organic search traffic.
Optimize the Title
The title of a blog post is the first thing readers see in search results, so it’s important that it conveys a clear, concise message. It should also include your keyword, which helps search engines better understand what the page is about.
If your post title is outdated, it’s important to update it so that it aligns with current SEO best practices. This includes adding a keyword to the front of the title, using numbered lists and headers, and adding schema markup.
It’s also good to check that your post titles aren’t too long. According to Ahrefs, titles that are too long can get truncated in search engine result pages (SERPs), which can lead to poor user experience and lower your content’s visibility.
Another way to optimize your post titles is to use an online tool to help you find out if they are optimized for SEO. The tool can provide you with a report that shows you how your titles rank in SERPs, as well as which keywords they are optimized for.
In addition to ensuring that your post titles are optimized for SEO, you can also improve them by sprucing up visual elements like graphs, tables and infographics. This can increase reader engagement and make your blog posts more shareable.
Finally, it’s important to add a new date to your blog post title when you republish it. This is one of the easiest ways to boost your organic traffic, as people tend to gravitate towards fresh content. Once you’ve updated your post, be sure to let Google know about the change by submitting a 301 redirect through your Webmaster Tools account. This will prevent your old post from losing its SEO value.
Optimize the Meta Description
A meta description is a crucial element of any blog post. It’s often what search engines display under your title and URL, and it can make the difference between someone clicking on your blog post or scrolling right past it.
It can also be used to highlight specific information about your blog post. For example, a news or blog post might include the author’s name or date of publication, while a product page might include key details such as price, age, and manufacturer. It’s important to include your target keyword within the meta description without making it too long or confusing. A good rule of thumb is to stick to around 160 characters or less.
The meta description should be written in such a way that it encourages readers to click on your page. This can be achieved by using targeted keywords, a call to action, and highlighting relevant information about your article.
When it comes to targeting keywords, the best way to do so is by performing keyword research. Then, you can use those keywords throughout your content. However, it’s important to avoid keyword stuffing, which can lead to a low SERP.
Another great way to optimize your meta description is by searching for your target keyword and looking at the snippets that appear in search results. This will help you determine what your competitors are doing well and how you can improve on their descriptions.
When it comes to calls to action, the best way to do so is by providing valuable and helpful information about your blog post. For example, you could mention that you have an extensive selection of women’s shoes, or you could encourage readers to “shop online now” or “click here”. By demonstrating your expertise in this area, you’re more likely to encourage people to visit your site.
Optimize the Content
When writing blog posts, it’s easy to focus on keywords and meta descriptions without thinking about how the content is structured. This is a mistake because search engines are looking for clear, well-structured content that answers the user’s query. If your post doesn’t fit these requirements, it’s likely not going to rank well. To ensure that your content is optimized for the right keywords, you need to start with a comprehensive keyword research process and create an outline before you begin writing.
Try also using a tool that will help you find popular search terms and see how others have approached the topic. You can then use this information to improve the structure of your article. This can include changing the order of your paragraphs or adding in subheadings to make the content easier to read. It’s also a good idea to add in some internal links so that users can navigate to other related content on your site.
Once your post is written, it’s important to add a strong call to action (CTA). This should encourage readers to take the next step, such as signing up for your newsletter or downloading a freebie. The CTA should be clearly stated and linked to the appropriate landing page.
Concurrent to the usual results from a tool like Rank Revival, updating old blog posts can make a huge difference in the performance of your website. By improving on-page SEO elements and creating more valuable content, you can breathe new life into your old blog posts and boost your organic traffic. Remember, online marketing is a fast-paced industry, and best practices are constantly evolving. By regularly updating your older content, you can keep up with the competition and maintain a high-quality user experience.
Optimize the Images
It’s important to keep your blog posts visually appealing by including high-quality images. This will encourage people to spend more time on your website, and it will also boost SEO. In addition, images can improve the user experience by helping them understand complex topics.
The file size of an image is one of the most important factors that influences search engine performance. Large images slow down web pages, which creates a sub-optimal experience for users. Luckily, there are many ways to reduce the size of your images without losing quality.
One way is to use a photo-resizer tool, such as Imagify, which automatically optimizes images for web use without changing their dimensions. Another way is to choose the right image file type, and to use descriptive file names. You can do this either in Photoshop, or with code (using the srcset and sizes attributes). Finally, you should always include alt text for your images, and make sure that they are responsive – Google will only index image content if it has adequate descriptive information.
In addition, it’s important to have a fast-loading website, as this is a ranking factor. You can speed up your site by using a CDN like Cloudflare, and you can use tools such as Pingdom, GTmetrix, and Google PageSpeed Insights to record your performance metrics.
If you’re reviving an old post, it’s also a good idea to update the photos. This will help your post look fresher and more relevant, and it will increase the chances that it will be found in image searches. In addition, you should always try to keep the same image URLs for your posts, so that they don’t get a new one each time they are republished.
Optimize the Links
While it’s a good idea to update your blog posts with fresh content, you should also ensure that all of the links in your post are still valid. This will not only ensure that your readers are able to click through to the sites that they’re intended to, but it will also help Google rank your posts more effectively. Broken links can be a major problem for SEO, so it’s important to check that every one of your internal and external links still work before you refresh your blog post. If you find any that don’t, you should either replace them with a link to a related article or add a note in the post saying that it has been updated since the original publish date.
In addition to updating your internal and external links, you should also consider adding new ones as well. This can provide a more comprehensive and relevant article for your readers, as well as improve your credibility by citing additional research or information that wasn’t available when you originally wrote the post.
It’s also a good idea to add in any relevant links from other posts on your website. This will encourage your audience to spend more time on your site and can even lead them to other posts that may be more valuable for them than the one they’re currently reading.
Updating your old blog posts is a great way to breathe new life into them, attracting more traffic and increasing your search engine rankings. By following the tips outlined in this guide, you can create a compelling piece of evergreen content that will remain relevant and valuable to your audience for years to come.
