Every day, often while on hold on the phone, I peek at my blog stats, especially the search terms people use to find various posts. From reviewing my analytics, I can see that people often search for podcasting tips, podcast scripting, social media marketing and a few other topics. [They also search for my name and company name; it’s always fun when someone hops around my site and then calls me. So far, I’ve been able to resist saying: “Yes, hello, I’ve been waiting for your call; I see you’ve visited my website four times in the past two days.” That’s just creepy.]
Last week I started writing a post about the topic of re-visiting and re-publishing old blog posts, when I came across (probably via Twitter) this great post by Tac Anderson called Tips for Getting the Most Out of Old Blog Posts.
Breathe life into old posts
First, Tac suggests freshening up old posts. Since, as he notes, about half of a blog’s traffic likely comes from search engines linking to old posts, why not update the oldies but goodies? After all, you KNOW what people are looking for. Why not serve up the content they want and need?
I’ve never republished a post verbatim; rather, I update it with new info, sometimes with a link to the original. For example, I’ve revisited many of my older posts about podcasting. And in some cases, I’ve recorded new podcasts on topics I’d first covered years ago. (As an aside, I realize that today marks six years since I launched the Trafcom News Podcast, so the back catalogue is pretty hefty.)
Tac also revisits posts that “didn’t do well” but “should have done better.” I admit I haven’t tried this tactic yet, but will. So far I’ve mostly focused on the popular posts.
Move your content to another medium
He also mentions taking your content offline. If you’re not already putting this into practice, it’s something to think about. Some of my posts have blossomed into screencasts, podcasts, or full-blown presentations. Right now I’m working on an ebook that began as a series of blog posts.
Thanks for the inspiration for this post, Tac!
How have you breathed new life into old posts?
Not yet, but I will! Thanks for sharing this.
Posted by: Sue Horner | September 12, 2011 at 04:59 PM
Some great ideas, Donna!
If those old posts are still bringing in traffic, I would also suggest you add links from them to the newer content so that the people coming in via search engines can find the latest. And will hopefully come back for more!
Posted by: Connie Crosby | September 12, 2011 at 05:08 PM
You're welcome, Sue.
Connie, thanks -- I should have mentioned that!
Posted by: Donna Papacosta | September 12, 2011 at 05:42 PM