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How to Maximize the Value of Old Content on Your Website

 Renew Marketing    Content Marketing

How to Maximize the Value of Old Content on Your Website

If your website has a blog, then you probably have old posts that aren’t getting a lot of action.

Some old posts attract small amounts of long tail traffic, while others attract a trickle of image search traffic.

No matter what kind of old content you have on your blog, there are easy and effective ways to turn that content into an opportunity for your business. Today, I’m going to show you exactly how to do that:

Step 1) Identify incoming search terms on old blog posts

Even old, boring blog posts will attract some search traffic. Use Google Analytics or a similar tool to identify which search terms visitors are using to arrive at that blog post. Or, you could install an incoming search terms WordPress plugin.

Step 2) Incorporate those search terms into your title or content

Obviously, people are finding your content using the search terms you found in step one. However, you’re probably not ranking very high for any of those search terms (or else you would be getting more traffic).

That’s why you need to incorporate these search terms into your content in some way or another. I recommend placing one of the high-volume search terms in your post’s title while scattering other long-tail traffic throughout the piece.

Step 3) Update the content to your current date

Just because you wrote a blog post about online marketing in 2012 doesn’t mean that the information isn’t relevant in 2014.

However, you should always read through your old blog posts to “modernize” your text. Maybe you said something like “our current President George Bush” or “Ray Rice is a popular NFL football player for the Baltimore Ravens”.

Changing a few sentences can instantly modernize your content. Unless you’re talking about time-sensitive topics like politics, sports, or technology, changing a few sentences may be all you need to do to bring your content into the modern age.

Step 4) Resubmit to social networks

Resubmit your content to social networks. Share it on Facebook, post it on Twitter. Make it part of a “Throwback Thursday” or #tbt for your business.

It might get ignored on social networks. Or it might get shared and viewed all over again. It never hurts to throw it out there and see what sticks – especially if it your post was popular on social media the first time you advertised it.

Step 3) Monitor search traffic to these older blog posts

Now that you’ve optimized your oldest blog posts for search engine traffic, it’s time to measure your results.

Monitor incoming traffic going to your old blog posts. Are you seeing a noticeable increase in traffic? Blog owners have been able to increase traffic by between 15% and 65% using these methods – your mileage will vary.

Repeat these steps on all your old blog posts. You’ll be surprised at the results.

Old content adds little value to your site. It’s just sitting there getting older and less relevant. You can follow these three steps to make sure you’re maximizing the value of older content while also improving your search engine rankings.

Option 2: Enlist the services of a professional content curator

Content development isn’t just about writing good new articles every week. It’s about curating old content, marketing existing content, and commenting on industry news.

Many small businesses have a blog. Unfortunately, too many of these blogs are updated infrequently with irrelevant content. Let’s face it: most small businesses don’t have the time to write intelligent blog posts, upload those posts, market them, and monitor content to make sure it’s performing well.

But professional content curators do have time for all that. Most online marketing firms offer professional content curation as part of their overall service package.

How Renew Marketing can help

At Renew Marketing, our ultimate goal is to expand the online presence of your brand. We do that by creating customized online marketing plans for your business. No two businesses are alike online, and you need a dedicated team of online marketing professionals to tackle the challenges of digital marketing.

Whether you’re looking for content marketing services, content curation, or an over-arching digital marketing strategy to build success for your business, Renew Marketing can help. Contact us today and receive a free no obligations consultation for your business.