It’s easy to forget about your old articles, but they are an opportunity for you to attract new readers and give your site a boost.
Every new post you publish adds value to your site, of course. But it takes time for search engines to index fresh content and even longer for it to earn backlinks that can help it rank.
When you check your analytics, most of your traffic comes from articles you’ve already published. It’s because these posts are already indexed, may have backlinks, and are delivering readers to your site. But this traffic isn’t guaranteed, because things can shift or change quickly.
The best way to protect your traffic is to update and improve your existing content to keep them attracting new readers.
Keep your articles fresh and up-to-date
Creating new content takes a lot of time and effort.
But refreshing your existing articles can be a quick win. Sometimes all it takes is just a few minutes to make a post relevant again.
For example, while I was researching this topic, I came across a well-written article that included a recommendation to use StumbleUpon to promote updated content.
The rest of the article was excellent, but StumbleUpon shut down in 2018.
Outdated references like have a negative effect on both readers and search engines.
Fixing it is easy. Simply delete the outdated reference or replace it with a current alternative.
A small update like this can instantly refresh your article and keep it relevant.
It’s a classic example of why maintaining your existing posts is so important, and how easy it can be.
If one of your articles contains dated information, a quick edit is often all it takes. Remember that things change, especially with online tools and social media platforms.
If your content includes advice, reviews, or recommendations, make it a habit to check your posts regularly to make sure they stay accurate and useful for your readers.
Why your existing content is high-value
Whether you have your site or publish on other platforms, you always have some articles that perform much better than others.
In fact, it’s probably a smaller percentage than you think.
The 80/20 Pareto rule often applies to websites in that 80% of your traffic is generated by 20% of your content.
I know that, in my case, this is 100% true.
A report by Ahrefs notes that, on average, pages in the top 10 on Google Search are two or more years old.
It also adds that only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication.
These quick stats show why your existing content is more likely to attract readers than your newer posts.
It takes time for a post to gain search keywords and backlinks, and that’s why older content performs better.
When I checked my most popular pages using Google Search Console, almost all of them were published more than two, three, or even four years ago.
Sure, many of my older posts don’t bring much traffic. But the ones that do are highly valuable, and I make sure I keep them up to date.
Search engine bots and crawlers check the freshness of content. However, simply changing the published date may not help much.
It’s easy for crawlers to compare versions of a page’s data. Changing the original published date without improving the content will not help.
When you update and publish changes, most blogging platforms like WordPress change only the modified date. In my experience, search engines react to modified dates and show them in search results.
Therefore, to keep your high-value content working for you, only change the date when you significantly modify an article.
How to improve your content
Making changes or editing your content is the most common way to improve an existing article.
I have one article with advice on how to solve the problem of images not appearing on Facebook and X (Twitter).
However, I noticed that X changed its image checking process.
It only took me two minutes to update the information and republish it.
The article is specific to a problem and doesn’t get much day-to-day traffic. But occasionally, when this problem occurs on Facebook in particular (and it does), I get loads of traffic and new readers.
I also write about Amazon KDP, but it’s often making changes.
One article became outdated due to a significant change Amazon made to KDP book categories.
But I didn’t delete the article because it still brings me a lot of traffic.
Instead, I updated the introduction of the original article to say the content was now outdated. I included a link to a new article I published outlining the changes.
The result is that I get traffic from both articles.
Remember that older articles rank better than new ones, so don’t be tempted to delete them.
Anytime you think about deleting a post, update it instead, even if it means a total rewrite.
Other improvements you can make include your title and meta description.
However, be cautious because changes to these elements can impact your search engine ranking.
If a post is ranking well, perhaps leave it as it is. However, if it’s not, consider trying a more effective title.
Is a longer word count better?
You often increase the word count when you update a piece of content. But will it help to improve your chances of ranking higher?
According to one study, the average word count of the top search results is 1,447 words.
You can find many statistics and studies on word count for articles and blog posts.
In general, most say that 1,000 words or a little more is an ideal average target.
If you have some content that is lower than this, try adding more information by covering points you might have missed initially.
Look at some high-ranking articles on the topic to help you find new angles or statistics to make your article more informative.
However, make sure that the additional content you add is of value to readers.
Word count is not about a number, but about thoroughly covering a subject.
What you shouldn’t do
However, there is one element you should never change.
Don’t edit or change the URL.
Your existing URL might be mysite.com/7-ways-to-write-a-book.
If you update the article to 10 ways, don’t change the URL.
If you do, you will lose all your search queries, keywords, and backlinks for the page.
Yes, you could use a 301 redirect to a new URL, but you will still lose a lot of your links and queries.
If your URL is reasonably indicative of your article topic, don’t change it.
You can’t update or improve everything
If you have been publishing regularly, you probably have hundreds of articles and posts, if not more.
It’s impractical to think that you can monitor and spend time checking and updating hundreds of posts.
The most logical approach is to focus on the 10-20% of posts that generate the most traffic.
You could create a spreadsheet with your data from Google Analytics or Google Search Console to set up a schedule to check your top pages every three months.
Another way is to remember to do a quick check when you view a page on your site or an article you published on another site or platform.
Also, occasionally, I get a comment regarding an issue with an article.
It’s an excellent opportunity to address the issue, thank the commenter, and confirm that you have reacted and updated the article.
However, even if it is slightly outdated, the rest of your older content can still generate traffic.
That’s why you should never delete a post unless there is no other option.
A few years ago, I read a lot about content pruning and the benefits of removing old or stale content.
In the end, I tried it and removed over 50 posts, but after three months, the result was far from convincing.
Did I get any more traffic? No, not at all. Did I lose traffic? Yes, but only a tiny fraction.
It proved to be pointless because I lost fifty or more small opportunities for internal linking.
Since then, I have given up on the idea and never deleted articles. Updating, improving, or extending an article is a far better option.
Don’t forget to give it a new boost
Whenever you update an article or blog post, share it again to help find new readers.
You always remember to promote a new article, but you should do the same for your updated content.
You can use Facebook, X, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or any other social network.
Another option is to check Quora or Reddit for questions related to the topic.
If you have a mailing list, add your updated article to your regular mailing.
If you have the technical skills, you can even use apps and APIs to recycle and share all of your existing content on social media at regular intervals.
Summary
The expression “everything old is new again” is apt for this topic.
When people search and find your content, it’s new for them, even if it’s one of your older posts.
But to be sure they will read it, it must be relevant and informative.
It doesn’t take much effort.
Writing a new article can take four to five hours, but updating one takes only a few minutes.
That’s a pretty good time investment.
Related Reading: 10 Free And Easy Ways To Promote Your Articles Online
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