ROC Marketing Minute
Updating Your Old Blog Posts To Gain Readership and Attract Clients to Your Rehab Center
Blogging is an excellent method of increasing the SEO of your website. If you have been creating blog content for a while, it may be challenging to come up with new ideas. Rather than creating posts from new topics, you can update the posts that had the greatest success in order to continue to leverage them.
Tips for updating blog posts
Here is a list of tips you can use when updating your old blog posts:
Create a list of your most successful posts
To start, create a list of all your blog posts and determine the metrics you would like to monitor. If you use Google Analytics, you can access information like goal conversion rate, time on page, bounce rate, and social shares. Once you have made your list and included your metrics, rank the posts from best performing to worst performing. The ones at the top of your list are the ones you can focus on updating and resharing.
Review the existing content
Proofread the blogs you have chosen to ensure there are no typos and to confirm all the information presented is still relevant and accurate. It is important to check that all the links still work and are connected to relevant and recent information. Consider reviewing your CTA and ensure it is still optimized. Remember to renew your meta description to reflect the new content.
Work on the appearance
Reviewing your blog means that you can update or add more images, take extra time for formatting, and ensure the look and feel of the article matches your current branding efforts.
Use the same URL and the original post
Instead of copying and pasting your old content into a new post, revise the one you have and keep the existing URL. This will help reduce your chances of getting flagged for duplicate content. Keeping the URL is also important to ensure you leverage any links to the page and can help increase SEO.
Add more information
As you review your blog, add extra context, information, or examples as necessary. If you notice any terms or ideas that are vague or complex, add more detail or simply the ideas. It is also important to revise dated information to help ensure you are presenting the most recent and accurate information. Another good approach is to integrate trending topics into your blogs to help attract a new readership.
Create (more) internal links
As you grow your blog, there are likely to be increased opportunities for internal links. Review your content and try to insert internal links to more recent posts to help create a larger web for all your content.
Include an editor’s note
Add an editor’s note to help keep your readers informed and to increase your transparency. It may be confusing if the publishing date is current, yet the comments are from months ago. It can also help encourage repeat readers to continue reading if they know there is new information available.
Maintain your keywords
If you choose to update your title, ensure you keep the keywords so that the page still ranks for those words and matches the existing URL.
Why updating old blog posts is important
If you have a lengthy blog on your website, updating the posts can seem like a daunting task. However, making the effort has many benefits, including:
Maintains brand image: By ensuring all the information included in your blogs is accurate and updated, you can help build trust and your company's reputation when potential clients find your content.
Improved SEO: If your old blog posts are irrelevant or of poor quality, this can negatively affect your overall SEO and hurt your current marketing efforts. There is such a thing as bad content, so minimizing what is considered bad content by search engines can help your rankings.
Increased opportunities: If potential clients are accessing old and outdated information, it can deter them from pursuing your programs, and this can affect your earnings.
Other ideas
Here is a list of other ideas you can use to refresh and redistribute your existing content:
Create spin-offs: If you have a great idea from an old blog post, think about ways that you can create a series of spins offs and expand on the information you already have. Consider other angles to the topic and what other additional information might be helpful to your readers.
Reformat your content: You are likely to have blogs that are more successful than others, so consider repurposing the information into other formats. For instance, you can create an infographic, a podcast episode, or a video to help reach larger audiences.
Create a highlights section: Consider creating a “highlights”, or “best of” section on your website to showcase your most successful content.
Share them in other ways: You can share your blog posts on other blogging sites or industry-relevant groups to help grow your audience.
Share older content on social media: As long as the information is still relevant and accurate, you can share your old blog posts (or updated ones) on social media to help encourage readership.
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