Blog posts are a great long-term marketing strategy. Once published, they bring in traffic for months or years to come.
But did you know that you shouldn’t just publish and forget about your blog posts?
Instead, you should periodically update them to remain relevant and helpful. It’ll take a little time on your part. But if you schedule this task regularly, your content will remain valuable for years.
In this post, you’ll learn how to update old blog posts for your small business in five steps, with an in-depth breakdown of the kinds of updates you should do. And at the end, you'll find a free printable checklist to reference.
Why Update Old Blog Posts?
That's a great question and one we should discuss before moving on. It's no use doing something if you don't know why you're doing it. There are three main reasons to update old blog posts:
Get Higher Rankings
High search rankings, preferably on page one, are what we all want for our posts. But sometimes you don't quite get there, despite your best efforts. Updating old blog posts allows them to outperform similar posts and reach higher rankings.
Stay Relevant
It's disappointing to click on a post only to discover the statistics or information is years old. You want to go back and make sure your posts remain relevant so readers don't leave your blog, never to look back.
Improve Content
As your writing skills improve, so does your content. But that means your older posts can make you (and readers) cringe. Poor writing hurts your blog, so a few edits can instantly improve your post.
5 Steps to Update Old Blog Posts
Step 1: Decide Which Posts to Update
Before updating old posts, you need to pick which ones to revamp. Your options include:
Your oldest posts. Okay posts that could use a bit of updating and polishing.
Decently ranked posts. If you have a post on page two or low on page one, a few updates and tweaks can help boost you to that coveted first spot.
Posts losing traffic. If your post performed well at one time but has started losing page views, that’s a good sign it needs some work.
Evergreen posts. You should review evergreen posts once a year to keep them up-to-date and valuable.
You can find these posts through your content calendar, Google Analytics, or any other post analyzer. Once you have them, organize them to update the posts that need it most first.
Step 2: Find What Needs to Change
After you find the posts that need updating, you need to assess what needs to change to make them better and write it down. For some posts, this will be easy. You might be able to tell from a glance that it's poorly written or has formatting issues.
However, other posts may take a bit of digging to uncover their flaws. Maybe this post was doing well, but it's dropped in traffic. You'll have to dig into analytics, SEO, and competitor research to understand why, whether it's because someone outranked you or you need a new keyword.
Step 3: Update the Posts
With your list created, it’s time to work through updates, which the next section covers in detail. This step can take a while, depending on how many posts you want to update. The best way is to make a plan, such as updating one post a day or week, and then work through the steps outlined here to polish it up.
Step 4: Republish the Posts
Once the post is polished to perfection, you can republish it. Open the old post in your blog editor, replace it with your newly updated one, and update the post.
When you republish the post, make sure to include the new date in the post so people and Google know it’s recent. This is as simple as including "Updated [date]" before the intro.
Step 5: Repeat Every 6-12 Months
It’s best to update your blog posts regularly, as older posts lose relevancy and ranking. Schedule an assessment every six to twelve months to review your posts for ones that need improving.
A quick disclaimer, though: posts need time to rank. If you publish a post that doesn’t shoot to page one, even after several months, that isn’t a sign you need to update it. Give it more time and promotion and see what happens. If it’s still struggling after a year or more, then you can consider updating it.
8 Ways to Update Blog Posts
Blog post updates can range from changing images to updating your SEO. Some updates are more difficult than others, but that doesn't mean they're always more valuable. Updating your post's keywords won't help if your headline drives people away.
These aren't all the updates you could do, but they're some of the most important ones.
Easy Blog Post Updates
Rewrite the Headline
Headlines play a big part in getting people to read your post. If you’re not getting clicks even though your content is excellent, it could be because your headline is weak.
When writing post headlines, I like to write anywhere from five to ten versions using different formats and styles. Then, I use a headline analyzer like Captilize My Title or Headline Studio to pick and polish up my favorite.
Doing this can get you more traffic, especially if your headline is engaging and targeted at your ideal reader. Just make sure not to change the URL when updating the headline. That can lead to broken links and lost traffic.
Include Links
Adding links to your post adds value to readers and search engines, weaving your post into the internet web. In most posts, you should include internal links (to your own content) and external links (to other’s content) to strengthen that tie.
Go through your selected post and see where it makes sense to add a few links. Don't go overboard with this. Stick to 3-5 links per post, and again, only if it's logical.
Update Images
Images may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering blog post updates. But pictures are worth a thousand words, so you need to select them with care.
Start by checking any images with text on them, such as your header. Does it still fit the headline and content of the post?
Second, consider any stock images you used. Are they still relevant? Do they look outdated or clash with the style of your blog? If so, find new ones to replace it. (And for the love of all things good, please don't use AI images. Find real photos by real people.)
Finally, don’t forget any graphics in the post. Do they still match in style or content? Do any download links still work?
Intermediate Blog Post Updates
Edit or Rewrite Content
As we discussed earlier, some of your old blog posts might not be as well-written as you thought they were. You may need to edit or totally rewrite large sections of your post.
This could include:
Write a more compelling intro to engage readers immediately.
Updating outdated information or statistics.
Edit any sections with poor writing, grammar, or typos.
Include a proper CTA, or update the CTA to match your current offerings.
Match the writing style to your current blog posts.
Remove any instances of keyword stuffing.
Cut rambles or irrelevant content. (If it’s valuable stuff, save it for a future blog post.)
Add Additional Value
Sometimes, your post will do well and rank decently, but you know it could do better. In that case, adding additional value to your post can help it outperform similar posts on page one of Google.
This could look like:
Expanding sections that are currently lacking.
Interview an expert and include their advice in your post.
Add a FAQ section.
Create a relevant freebie (which also signs people up for your mailing list).
Add a table of contents for easy navigation.
Include a section to target the coveted Google Snippet spot.
Some of these things may be small, but sometimes, a little extra value is all a post needs.
Update the Style
As your blog evolves, so does its appearance and format. This means that older posts may not look like your current ones. That mismatch in visual identity can confuse people browsing your blog, especially if your popular posts are older.
It’s worth taking the time to go through and update old posts to match your current ones visually. This could look like changing the font, colors, images you use, and your CTAs or forms.
Difficult Blog Post Updates
Update Your Keywords
Keywords are ever-evolving. What your blog post ranks for now might be what you originally targeted. It can be worth checking what your blog post is actually ranking for and updating it to match or better target your original keyword.
This is a bit trickier, so check out this post for advice on keyword updating. While this update takes time and effort, you'll get better rankings and more traffic in the long run.
Update SEO
Another important thing to check is your SEO, especially if you change the keyword you’re targeting. SEO is more than keyword stuffing these days, so you want to follow best practices to make sure you aren’t penalized by Google.
You may want to:
Add your keyword to your headings and intro.
Use alt tags on all images.
Update your meta description.
Use proper post formatting for ease of reading.
Apply E-A-T-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) to your post.
Again, these things will take time and effort, but polishing up your SEO can have amazing results for your posts.
Need a little help working through your blog post updates? I have a free checklist for you to use!
Updating blog posts may not be the most fun thing in the world. But it's a necessary task that keeps your posts valuable to readers and well-ranked in Google.
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