Your Power Guide to Re-Optimizing Old Blogs
I know more about fake pee than I think people really need to know. I mean, maybe you should know a little bit, but not nearly as much as I know. Why do I know so much about fake urine? Because the first time I learned about re-optimizing old blogs was when writing for a company that sells synthetic pee. For real.
Your business likely offers a different product or service from that other company. But if you’re ready to chat about how to update old blog posts or how to plan and create new content, let’s connect. It doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming, and it’s tremendously valuable to your website.
The team at Kristin Ratten Content Services is here to create excellent copy and content for your website. We’ll write the words, and you can pretend you did it.
What Is Re-Optimization?
This marketing practice also goes by the name of historical optimization. Simply put, re-optimization is when you refresh and republish your old blogs to gain more traction.
Most businesses, big or small, get the majority of their clicks and conversions through older content. By strategically identifying old posts to update and augment, you can increase your lead generation and conversion rates. And it doesn’t require you to create anything new. Fabulous, right?
Back to the Fake Pee
So, let’s revisit the phony urine. When I was a new writer with a content firm, barely knowing how to put together a blog, I got a “re-opt” assignment. A company that sells synthetic urine needed its old blogs updated and refreshed for republishing.
I learned four things from this process.
Re-optimization is a thing.
Fake pee is a thing.
People buy fake pee.
There are MULTIPLE companies that sell it.
That project was, let’s say, not my favorite. I powered through as fast as I could and never revisited that moment again. Until now.
As much as I didn’t enjoy the content, I loved learning how valuable it is to update your old blog posts. This company was able to make a small investment in adding keywords and fixing some formatting issues. From that investment, they got rejuvenated content that began performing well for them in terms of clicks and conversions. And it took very little work.
You can do this, too.
How Re-Optimizing Old Blogs Works
There are many ways you can update your older content to make it rank and perform better. Ideally, you will use tools and analytics to determine how your posts are performing. But if you don’t have those in place, you still can do a lot to re-optimize old articles.
Here are six ways to update old articles on your site to make them perform better for you.
1. Find long-tail keywords.
Many small business owners enjoy blogging and have a lot of valuable content on their sites. But, without targeted keywords, it is hard to get those pages to rank. Google wants to know the intent of the article to match it with their users’ queries.
So, if you never identified keywords for your old blog articles, then this is step one. You need to tell search engines what the primary focus is of your post. Aim for long-tail keywords that are specific and detailed. These phrases not only clarify your intent for Google, but they have less competition for rankings.
For example, if you are a health coach, targeting the keyword “health coach” is unlikely to serve you well. Google has over one trillion search results for that phrase, so ranking on the first page is nearly impossible without a lot of paid advertising.
But targeting something more unique and specific, such as “health coach for women with autoimmune disorders,” significantly reduces your competition. Think about your niche and how you serve your customers and clients.
If you have keyword research tools, by all means, use them. But if not, don’t panic. Think about your expertise, your unique client base, and what sets you apart. Consider what your ideal customer would type into a search query, and use that.
Go back through older posts and make sure you identify a keyword for each one. Put it in the title, meta description, and the alt text of at least one image. Beware of keyword stuffing, however. Using a focus phrase or word too many times is a form of black hat SEO that will penalize you in Google rankings.
2. Check your images.
Every single blog post you publish should have photos included. Aim for a picture about every 200-300 words. If you have an old article that doesn’t have photos or doesn’t have enough, fix that.
Make sure you are using legal photos on your site. Just because they pop up in a Google image search does not mean you have permission to publish them. Use your own branding images or check out sites like Unsplash for free legal photos. Subscription options like Adobe Stock offer an enormous amount of photos to choose from, as well.
While you are checking on your photos, take a look at their size. Large images take too long to load, and visitors will abandon ship if they don’t load within three seconds. So it’s crucial to work on that speed. Use plugins or websites to help you resize your photos so that they load quickly.
And as you’re adding legal, perfectly-sized images, check the alt text for each one. Short for alternative text, the alt text explains what the image is. This section serves several purposes.
It allows those who rely on screen readers to hear a description of an image. It also provides text if an image doesn’t load. And it helps search engines understand your intent as they crawl your site. Taking time to add or update the alt text on your images is perfect when re-optimizing old blogs.
3. Refresh your titles.
Every blog title should tell the reader precisely what they will gain from clicking on your link. This tip is ideal for older posts that have good conversion rates but low traffic. By optimizing and updating a title, you can greatly improve your click rates, which should also up your conversions.
Readers tend to click on titles that include:
Numbers
The Word “Guide”
The Phrase “Tips and Tricks”
Power Words - Readers engage with titles that include positive, powerful words, such as “profit,” “new,” or “secret.”
Also, be sure that your focus keyword is in the title, preferably toward the beginning. Making these small changes in old titles can offer significant results for your rankings.
4. Update your meta descriptions.
When you look at your old blog posts, be sure to check the meta description. Some platforms call it the snippet.
This text shows up under your title in search results, and it should tell the reader what they will find when they click on your link. It also signals to Google and other search engines your intent. Remember, they are always seeking to match a user’s query with relevant content.
You have roughly 150-160 characters before your meta description cuts off on the results page. Make sure you include your keyword in the snippet and give a clear, brief synopsis of the post’s content.
5. Make it easier on the eyes.
One of the simplest things to update when re-optimizing old blogs is the formatting. Take a quick peek at previous articles and watch for these things that cause a bad user experience:
Walls of Text - More than three or four lines of text without a break is usually too much. Break these sections into smaller paragraphs or add bullet points for long lists.
Long Sentences - Your blog is not a dissertation. Ideally, it should be at about an eighth-grade reading level for peak performance. If you have sentences over 20 words long, break them into shorter bits.
No Headings - Another way to give the reader’s eye a break is to include headings throughout your text. These help visually and guide the reader to pertinent sections.
6. Add calls to action.
If you have older posts that get a lot of traffic but not a lot of conversions, look at your calls to action (CTAs). The CTA is where you encourage the reader to take the next step, whether it’s to schedule a call or make a purchase.
Ideally, you will have a CTA within the first three paragraphs and again in the closing paragraph. These areas are perfect places to include your keyword, as well.
It could be that previous blogs are missing the CTA completely. Or perhaps they have outdated or broken links. Look to see what action you are asking the reader to take and make sure there is an active link attached.
And Returning to the Make-Believe Urine One Last Time
If re-optimizing old blogs can help a company that sells fake pee, it can certainly help yours, too. By following these tips, that business was able to reuse older content to boost their rankings and conversions. They got that synthetic urine directly to the people who needed it. So that’s a win.
Side note: If you need to buy fake urine because of your employer’s drug testing policy, maybe consider getting a different job. Just a thought. It seems like less work, overall.
Would You Rather Not Do It Yourself?
Updating old blog posts is an excellent way to refresh your site and boost your existing content. But even though it is a relatively simple process, it still takes some time and know-how.
If you don’t feel like tackling this project on your own, reach out to Kristin Ratten Content Services to see how we can help. We love partnering with business owners to help them have high-performing website content and make lots of money. Sound good? Let’s connect today.
