Wondering what to do with your old, underperforming content? Here are five ways to improve the performance of your stagnant content.
Create a new piece of content that’s better than the original. This is an obvious one, but it can be tricky if you’re not sure where to start. If you have a blog post or article that hasn’t been updated in months, consider creating a new version of it. You could add more information about a topic, change the headline, or even completely rewrite the entire thing.
Benefits of Updating old blogs
Upgrading an existing site can provide a number of benefits including improving the overall usability of the site, enhancing the site’s performance, and improving the site’s ranking in search engines. In addition, upgrading an existing site provides a great opportunity to improve the site’s design and functionality.
If you're using old blog posts for new purposes, they can help keep your most valuable pieces alive longer. They're especially helpful if your site has hit a traffic plateau — a time when your traffic isn't growing anymore.
"Databox, a popular dashboard tool for businesses, saw a 75% increase in website traffic after updating more than 20 old blog posts."
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com
Traffic to your post may come from links pointing to pages on your site. It takes a lot of effort to get visitors to click through to your website. To increase traffic, you should focus on writing great content that people will find interesting. You should write about things that interest you so that you’ll enjoy reading what you’ve written. Once you have readers interested in your work, they’re much more likely to visit your site again. You can also try promoting your articles on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
A recent study found that nearly one third of people who read online news articles also share them through social media sites. This means that if you're writing an article about minority-owned businesses in Charlotte, NC, your audience may already know about these businesses because they've seen similar posts shared by friends on Facebook or Twitter. You should include links back to the original source so that readers can learn more about these businesses.
Here are ways you can use your old content to your benefit with some edits for sure
1) Update the Design:
If you have an old blog post that looks a bit dated, you can update the design to make it look more modern. This can be as simple as changing the color scheme or adding some new images. A new design can make it more visually appealing and easier to read, which can help you get more engagement.
2) Keeping Up With Changing Audiences:
If you have an old blog post or article that you think would be relevant for a new audience, consider updating it with new information or a new perspective. This will give your old content a new lease on life and ensure that it resonates with a new audience. Also, if you have old blog posts or articles that are no longer relevant to your current audience, don't delete them – use them to create new content! You can repurpose old blog posts into new articles, or create new infographics or videos from old content.
3) Internal Link Building:
If you have new content that you want to promote, internal links are a great way to do it. By linking to your new content from your old content, you can increase the visibility of your new content and help it rank higher in search results. Internal links can also help increase the number of page views on your website. If a user is reading a post on your blog and sees a link to another post, they're likely to click on it. This can help increase the number of page views on your website, which can improve your SEO.
4) Target new keywords:
Take the opportunity to research relevant keywords when you are updating your old content. Research the most commonly used keywords in your industry or niche, and then include them in your content. It is possible to optimize your old content by revitalizing it for your new target keywords.
5) Improving Technical Performance:
If you're still using an outdated content management system (CMS), it's time for an upgrade. Newer CMSs are designed to be more user-friendly and offer better performance. They also make it easier to manage and update your website, so you can keep your content fresh without spending hours tinkering with code. Use a responsive design and upgrade to a faster hosting plan to avoid any type of barrier for your content.
6) Increasing Content Understanding:
If your old content is still relevant, you can update it and republish it. This is a great way to make sure your content is still relevant and engaging. You can also add new images or videos to make your posts more engaging.
7) Delete references to outdated stats in the content you're keeping:
If your content is outdated, see if you can update it with new information. This could involve adding new data, updating statistics, or simply freshening up the copy. And if none of them in connecting more delete the old references and add new information.
8) Weave in new SEO keywords and links:
Weave in new SEO keywords and links to help your content get found by readers. This will also help it rank higher in search engines. New keywords become popular and new link opportunities arise, which can lead to more traffic and engagement.
Don't let it die
You've got to be creative when writing something valuable so that it gets more wear out of it. And then turn it into new, fresh, as-new content! To stay ahead of the game, it's important to continually evolve and improve your customer experience. It's important to regularly update your content. Use these tips and tricks to keep your content alive for your users and search engines.