5 Ways on How to Revive an Old Blog Article for SEO

Blogging is not a major piece of artwork. Blogs are a combination of timely and evergreen content.  Timely content focuses on trends, news articles, and pop culture events, while evergreen content stays relevant and provides value for a long time. It is rare to update timely content simply because it’s old news; however, there is value in updating and reviving old evergreen content.

Is there a benefit to updating old content?

The benefits of updating old blog content are providing a better user experience and increasing SEO opportunities. Website visitors expect quality content. They want to know that your content is fresh and up-to-date. Frequent updates enhance their experience and the quality of your website. These updates also increase opportunities for SEO by driving more traffic to your blog, boosting your rankings, and generating more backlinks.

Leveraging old blog posts and their established place on the web can extend the life of your best content. It is especially beneficial when your content has reached a traffic plateau — a period where your growth rate is stagnant.  

Traffic to your post also comes from backlinks. It takes time to acquire backlinks to new content. Alternatively, old content is less likely to receive new backlinks because the information is outdated. Updating old blog posts can help you keep the backlinks your page has already received and acquire new backlinks by reinforcing the value and authority of your content with current information.

How to Revive an Old Blog Article for SEO

Update old content can drive organic traffic to previously successful but declining posts, and boost the ranking of content sitting on page 2 of the SERPs. For blog posts that are not ranking at all due to high-volume keywords and keyword difficulty, consider a complete overhaul to rewrite and restructure the content.

1. Target new keywords

How old is your blog post? Depending on its initial publish date, one of two things could be true. One, you were targeting keywords based on keyword difficulty and search volume at that time. Two, you didn’t have the SEO knowledge to implement keyword research.  Search volume indicates how many people are entering a keyword into a search engine. This metric, commonly referred to as Monthly Search Volume (MSV), anticipates how much traffic is available for that keyword. Evaluate search volume with keyword difficulty. Keyword difficulty is a measure of how difficult it is to rank on the first page of a SERP for a specific keyword. Neither keyword difficulty nor search volume can solely determine your target keywords.

2. Update the on-page SEO

Updating and implementing your SEO strategy on an old blog post takes place in a few key areas. You will need to update and optimize your:  

• SEO Title Tag 
• Meta Description 
• Article Title 
• Subheadings

3. Update the content

The bulk of your updates will happen in the body content. Begin by rewriting your introduction. Continue by updating the rest of the content as needed. It will be done in two steps — removing out-of-date content and adding current information.  When removing out-of-date content, start with information that no longer applies. Let’s revisit the keyword “androgynous style” from before. Imagine a fashion blogger writing a piece this year on androgynous style and its style icons from the last ten years.

4. Focus on the links

Using links to revive an old blog post is a significant way to boost SEO. Links can boost your ranking on a search engine results page and increase the credibility of your post. Update your links in two steps.  First, search for broken links. Broken links are dead ends that take visitors to a 404 error page. If a reader clicks on a link, it’s because they want more information. If they find a broken link, it immediately diminishes the quality and credibility of your content and increases their frustration. Remove, repair, or redirect any broken links.

5. Add and optimize new images and videos

High-quality blogs have high-quality visuals. Adding images and videos brings us back to the two benefits of reviving an old blog post — providing a better user experience and increased opportunities for SEO.