“It must be a piece of art. A slice of my imagination. It should reflect my innermost thoughts and resonate deeply with my audience”. These are the recurring monologues that play in the background of your brain while sculpting a blog post. Yes, sculpting!
We spend hours, if not days, researching and crafting those words. With intricacy and unparalleled sincerity. We yearn to breathe some soul into the post. We strive for the perfect rhythm, the best cadence, some meaningful verbiage, and a timeless structure.
In the end, we are happy with our brainchild. Pride permeates our existence. A sense of accomplishment dances in our eyes. And then…..nothing. That’s it. That entity of ingenuity is left to rot with the others. It becomes just another consequence of sincerity, left unpolished.
Therein lies the fault. There are many ways to rejuvenate our old posts by simply adding relevance and tweaking its nature of existence. It is like adding oil to a lamp when time suffocates its flames.
Here, let us discuss 9 ideas to maximize ROI from old blog posts by either remodeling them into something seemingly new or tweaking its technicalities.
There is no shortage of formats out there. And the platforms to which we can transform our old posts are plenty too.
On a similar note, if you need great content, talk to us. We have an awesometastic content team, and we’d love to help you out.
INFOGRAPHICS
We can restore life into our blog post by republishing it as an infographic. Posts pregnant with data are perfect to attain the infographic structure. The advantage is that we get to choose the best insights, the most meaningful conclusions, and the awesome data in the blog and structure them in an appealing manner.
We also get to choose the artwork that goes behind the design, the color schemes, the light illustrations and the entire structuring of the infographic. Using a tool like Canva, one can easily make eye-catching infographic models with no prior designing expertise.
Finally, we have to share the infographic through social media or blog once again. Just be careful to update the data to adhere to currency. Relevance should never be compromised.
E-BOOKS
List building is an important outcome of any blog. And an e-book is one of the most proficient ways to do that. Research a little and find out the topics that are currently trending. Then we can dig out the blog posts that are pertinent to those keywords or topics.
If more than one post adhering to the topic exists, we are in luck. Structure them purposefully and take aid from a designing team to make a beautiful e-book.
If there’s only a single blog post related to the topic, expand it. Take the sub-headings and inject it with data and content. Blow it but not out of proportion.
PODCASTS
People are increasingly being influenced by podcasts. It is a great way to save time. Devouring information while exercising or commuting makes it preferable. Convenience is the name of the game here.
It is fairly easy to produce too. All we need is a computer and an audio recording plus editing setup. However, it would be easier for your content to be passed around under other names. If you are fine with it, this aural alternative can be the new and improved structure of your old blog.
VIDEO
Blogs, podcasts, infographics, and almost anything can be turned into a video. Video marketing aids retention and is the best attention holder.
Get some interesting facts and points out of your blog post or infographic and visualize it. Making a video also multiplies the platforms available to share your content. We could simply add this video to our blog post instead, to give it a refined look.
Also, adding a video to your site will help increase the amount of time a visitor spends on your website. Talk about being SEO friendly!
I DON’T WANT TO DO ANY OF THESE!
Really? Would you rather take notes on revamping your previous posts within itself? Would you rather find the gold in the old? Do you, like The Beatles, “believe in yesterday”?
Actually, it is not a bad idea. Old isn’t dead! Old isn’t even useless! It can be given a new structure and a new name. Maybe a few new words. And a much needed new purpose. It surely can add to our returns.
According to Backlinko, updating your earlier blog posts and aligning them to today’s context can increase organic traffic by 111%. Crazy right? Not exactly. The method is rational and measurable. Similarly, Hubspot enjoyed a boost of 106% in its organic search views. They termed it a “historic optimization.”
So, what are the most effective ways to make it happen? What are the tactics that work? How exactly do we make cash from the trash?
Let us explore some credible points and brainstorm as to why they may or may not work.
But before jumping into discussions and emerging with conclusions, let us ask ourselves a few questions to evaluate the necessity of such an action.
- Is it of any value to the users?
- Is it informative in the current context?
- Will the information be helpful to any segment of your audience?
- Will this reposting keep them entertained?
- Is it of any value to you? Will it earn us backlinks, organic ranking, or help drive conversions?
- Is it good? Check for grammatical errors, organization, segmentation, and other fundamental quality determining factors of the blog.
Bear in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And goodness is subjective. If you are this generation’s Orwell, and wise enough to write content that transcends time and space, then everything you ever wrote need not be revamped. However, the above-mentioned factors are for the non-Orwells.
Now that we have determined if the posts in question are ‘revamp-worthy’, let us see what exactly to do with them. How to effectively engage your audience in a blast from the past.
INTERLINKING
If the blog in question is old, there is a chance that you might have mentioned something about which you may have produced another blog later. Go through it and try linking it to as many newer blogs as possible. Do not, however, compromise on relevance.
UPDATE TITLES
Be “SEO first” but look “people first”. The earlier titles you used may not be relevant today. For example titles like “Latest PPC Trends” tend to be not so latest 5 years down the line.
ADD KEYWORDS
Obviously! Of course! Definitely! Like Duh! There are not enough phrases to stress on the importance of adding keywords. Google is forever tweaking and reinstituting its keywords ranking algorithm. Do some post-specific keyword research and figure out which keywords your posts are ranking for.
DELETE COMMENTS
Well, not all of them. Just the spams. Delete the spam comments with the risky links attached to it. Make sure you stick to the ethics and leave the negative comments intact. A healthy comment section (with both positive and negative remarks minus the spams) can boost the credibility of your blog.
ADD CONTENT
In addition to the content already in your blog, add more relevant, keyword-rich content to make your blog appealing to the newer audience. Add quotes, make it longer, and update your CTA. Add new, improved images that go with today’s marketplace and graphic trends.
So the whole process looks something like this:
Rephrasing and tweaking Buffet’s insights to make sense in the content marketing realm, we can assume that “the windshield is always clearer than the rear-view mirror.” It’s tempting to churn up some hollow drivel and hit the “Publish” button than to look back and appreciate, plus analyze, your earlier works.
A second chance is the best thing you can give your blog. And clearly, these small touch-ups on your blog can work miracles. It is much quicker than writing and publishing a new post. It’s like dusting an antique piece. It gives a wholesome feel to the entire house, in this case, the entire website.
Now, this may be a lot of work for some people. Fortunately, we have a great content team who’d love to help. Check us out here.
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