Okay, so most of us treat a blog post like we’ve painted a room. Painted, done, nothing left to do. But that’s not really how it works. We need to treat them like plants and water them to keep them alive. Some of your older posts might be losing their “green”, and I want to walk you through why that happens and what to do about it. I’ll share a real example from one of my clients, plus the two updates I’d do first. If you’ve got a post you wrote years ago that you swore was perfect, I challenge you to think again.
Enjoy the episode!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is Serpstat.
One of many SEO tools to help do keyword research, sleuth in on your competitors and watch your rankings. There’s a free 7 day trial if you’ve been looking for a tool to help you do such things.
🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is actually an audio book… I liked it that much. I listened to it on my road trip from AZ to MN. It’s called The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford.
I like learning about our shadow sides and this one is very good on that. Some of it was hard to hear.
If you listen to the book, let me know how you like it!
Find other recommended episodes here.
Other Resource Links
Webinar for Watering Your Blog Posts
Listen on Spotify
<iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0s9IBNOIWNZbsCjSJ2Jwkn?utm_source=generator&si=7564166552734b96" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>Listen on Apple
<iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write" frameborder="0" height="175" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;border-radius:10px;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/refreshing-blog-posts-over-a-year-old-is-a/id1728291369?i=1000774099823"></iframe>I found the perfect analogy for why we need to refresh old blog posts! Most of us treat our blog posts like we’ve painted a room. Painted, done, no more to do. When in fact they need to be watered like plants. Blog posts wither and die without the proper care.
The question is, how the heck do we do that when we’ve already created the most perfect and beautiful blog post there ever was?
Ok, Barb, what the shit. How can blog posts wither and die? That seems a bit dramatic don’t ya think.
And yes, but no.
While it’s true blog posts have an evergreen shelf life, meaning they can get traffic for years, they need to be kept in Google’s good graces.
They can lose their “green”… ah see what I did there? Plants, green, losing it without water?
The “professional” term for it is content decay.
If your post was written in 2019 and hasn’t been touched since, Google’s algorithms may flag it as possibly stagnant, and instead serve up a blog post newly written or freshly updated by a competitor.
I’ve seen it happen. One of my best examples is from a client who had a really great article, an ultimate guide actually, that was showing less leads over time.
An ultimate guide is a popular content piece businesses put on their websites. It’s like way longer than a regular blog post. Way more meaty. Think travel guide book style.
Our copywriter refreshed it and it got more traffic and more leads!
A 69% increase in search visibility for the primary search term and a 71% increase for the secondary search term.
24 leads versus the two leads from the previous 12 months. An increase of 169%.
I believe a lot of the time we think we’ve written an epic post that we feel almost like we’re saying we’ve done something wrong by thinking the blog post needs updated.
We have to remove the personal feelings to update a blog post. Take an outside perspective, in this case, from Google’s eyes, to see how we can update.
Let’s remove the idea that we’re making it better, we’re just watering it, maintaining it.
I’m gonna share the two most impactful updates you can make. And, if you join me this Friday, June 26 on a free webinar I’m hosting, I’ll be sharing how to decide what blog posts to water and go beyond these two recommendations. The link is in the show notes.
Let’s get into those two updates.
The first one being, and this is the most important in today’s search world with all the AI happening… you’ve probably heard it before, add something unique.
I’m gonna ask you to really dig for this one. Unique of course means one-of-a-kind. Something that can’t be replicated.
Admittedly this is sometimes hard to do.
The simplest unique update is to add something of value that features someone you’ve helped.
Like I did earlier with the ultimate guide stat. That is specific to my business and my client.
If you don’t have stats for your business in that same way, you can use a conversation in a call, the block the client or customer was having, how you analyzed it and what the client or customer walked away with.
Second update that’s the most impactful is changing the words. Change the order, change the tone, add context… oh quick side note, this adding context and refreshing is sort of a hack to increasing the length of your blog posts.
Many times we don’t have time to write the massive one we’d like, this helps you do it in stages.
Yes, the blog post is already written for a Nobel Peace Prize but I would challenge you to think again.
Here’s a few checklist type updates you can implement…
- For a longer post, add a table of contents to the top that clicks to the various sections.
- External links might break and need updating.
- Update a stat with from a new report.
- Replace images or add a video.
Is there some guideline or rule to what is considered refreshed enough? No. It pains me to say there is not. That’s the fun of search optimization. You get to do things without knowing for certain if there’s a payoff.
And I also believe that it’s worth it regardless. I want my content to be the best it can be and if someone landing on something that wasn’t updated, I would feel embarrassed. I mean I won’t curl up in a ball and cry, probably, but I strive to have worthy content mostly for my visitors and yes Google. Because if Google doesn’t like it and doesn’t show it, how will my audience find it?
Here’s The Takeaway
You spent the time and energy on creating blog posts to help bring people to your website. Going back and refreshing blog posts over a year old is a super simple tactic to increase your website traffic.
Reminder about the webinar… if you liked this information and want more or have questions specific to your content join me on June 26. Reply will be available if you sign up. The link is right here. Be there or be square!
About This Show
The Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.
