Writing a blog post can be a challenge. It is hard work, but afterward, you’re probably proud of what you have created. No way are you ever going to throw those beautiful articles away, right? But what should you do with blog posts that are really, really old?
Why You can’t keep all Your Content
No matter how awesome your content may be, Google only has a limited number of results, they’ll likely only show one, maybe two results from the same domain. That means if you have 4 fantastic articles about coloring hair, you could possibly only be hurting yourself and confusing Google. It might be time for some content management.
Congregate, Delete, or Keep Updated?
It really comes down to three choices with your old content. Your best content should be updated regularly, repetitive content should be deleted, redirected, and consolidated into one very powerful blog post. Any content that’s just lost its relevancy should be deleted.
Update Your Most Valuable Content
Do you have old articles that still get traffic from Google? Is it still relevant to you and your business? This old content can be very valuable and should be kept onsite. Just be mindful to make sure you’re going in every now and again to update these. If it truly is an important article it should never have outdated content in it.
Delete and Redirect Outdated Content
Do you have outdated articles? Is the content just not useful to anyone anymore? Was it announcing a past event? These are pretty much useless and warrant being deleted. Do be sure that those URL’s are redirected to either a similar article or just your home page if you have nothing else, you want to keep any power that they had passing through your site.
Merge Content
Have you written multiple articles about the same topic? Are they pretty much the same? Are they ranking for the same keywords? These types of articles should be merged. Make one really awesome article out of the few you have written in the past. Then delete (but do not forget to redirect) the old articles. Be selective with this good content and give it the strongest URL you can think of, with the work of a few articles consolidated in it, it should have some real power to it!
Don’t be Afraid to Re-share & Repost Your Content
Updating and merging your old blog posts is never a waste of time. But if you really want to reap the benefit of your refurbished content you can republish it on your blog, repost it on your social channels and mention it in your newsletter. This way you’ll make sure your content won’t be forgotten and you probably even attract new visitors to your site.
If you make minor changes to a recent article you can just update it without any worry. When you’ve completely merged or rewritten content you can choose to also change the Publish date, putting that post at the top of the pack on your website.
If you do the latter, don’t forget to delete the old comments on the article! It might come across odd to publish a “new” article with 5-years-old comments further down the page.
Keep Cleaning up
Checking on and deciding to update or delete old content should be a regular part of your SEO process. Just as you clean your closet out when it gets too cluttered with clothes, your blog needs cleaning out sometimes. As your site grows and traffic increases, you need to maintain content and your site structure. If it’s not already, this needs to be a key aspect of every SEO strategy.
Do you need consistent blogging to help your website stay at the top of search results? Request an SEO quote. If your business needs help with social media, building a lead generation funnel, or even setting up a chatbot, give us a call at (919) 616-0219. We’d love to help you.
