How to Go About Updating Blog Posts

Last updated on 26 November 2024

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I couldn’t. I sat down sometime last month to write a blog post that I had up next on my list and I just had exactly ZERO motivation, drive, or bothered-ness to actually write it. Sound familiar?

We’ve probably all been there. But the thing is, while I didn’t feel like creating something new, I did want to do something productive for my blog. Instead of forcing myself to write, I decided to revisit an older post and give it a much-needed update. Updating blog posts is just as important as writing new ones, and we’re going to take a look at what I did to update a blog post.

Why updating blog posts matters

Refreshing old content is an often overlooked aspect of blogging, but it can be incredibly beneficial. Here are 3 ways updating blog posts can be a game-changer for your blog.

1. Improved SEO

Search engines like Google love fresh content that is relevant. By updating your old posts, you let Google know that your content is still valuable, which can boost your rankings (getting to that first page or spot on Google!) and also drive more traffic to your blog.

Let’s say you wrote a post about “Top Travel Destinations for 2018.” By updating it to “Top Travel Destinations for [current year],” and adding in whatever the current trends and destinations might be, you make it more relevant to today’s readers. Also, it’s good to revisit the keywords you used, based on current trends or how people are searching.

2. Better user experience

Updating blog posts ensures that your readers get the most accurate and useful information that you can offer up to them. Outdated content can frustrate readers (how many times have you stumbled upon info that was a few years old and you’ve had to backtrack?) and might even damage your credibility as the go-to person in your niche.

Imagine you have a DIY tutorial that references tools or materials that are no longer available. By updating the post with current alternatives or if you’ve found something that actually works better, you save your readers from frustration and also offer them current resources that they could use.

Happy readers return to blogs.

3. Maximising existing content

Creating new content can take time, and when we’re doing lots of other things, or we’re just not able to motivate ourselves to do any research … it can be tricky to always put out new content. By updating existing posts, you leverage the hard work you’ve already done. Hazaa!

It’s a more efficient way to keep your blog current and valuable without starting from scratch every time. And it’s just good practice.

A well-performing post from a few years ago might still have potential, but perhaps the links are broken, the images are outdated, and some information is no longer relevant. By updating those parts of the blog post, you’re essentially breathing new life into the post. Which may sound gross, but you know what I mean.

 

How to go about updating blog posts

So what did I actually do to go about updating that blog post I mentioned at the beginning of this post? Here’s what I ended up doing.

Keyword Research and Optimisation

One of the first things I did was check the keywords. Keywords play an important role in how your blog post ranks on search engines. Over time, trends and search behaviours change, so updating your keywords can help keep your content relevant.

For this blog post, I found that the original keywords I used did not really serve me or the blog post very well at all, anymore. They did at one point, but times have changed. After some research, I tweaked the keywords to better suit the blog, and this simple adjustment will hopefully mean that the blog post does better in the future.

Updating images

You might not agree, but I think images are important for a blog post, for lots of reasons. The images I initially used in that blog post weren’t up to par, so I replaced them with higher-quality, more relevant images that I thought would better suit what I was trying to do with the blog post.

The original photos were either too small or didn’t quite fit the content. By updating them, I not only made the post more visually appealing but also more engaging.

Refreshing the content

Another thing I did to update the blog post, was I rewrote a few paragraphs to improve clarity (lots of my older blog posts need tweaking in this area!),  and added a couple more paragraphs in to update the information.

Information evolves, and changes, and sometimes what was relevant a few years ago might not be anymore. I found sections that needed more detail or an updated perspective. And hopefully, by doing this, it’s going to be a lot better for readers!

Adding internal links

When you’ve had a blog for a long time, it can be easy to forget to go back to those older blog posts and add links to blog posts you’ve published more recently. Linking to newer posts not only provides additional resources for your readers but also boosts the SEO of your site by showing search engines that your content is interconnected and relevant.

I added links to recent posts that expanded on topics mentioned in the original post, which will guide readers to where they could go from here.

Updating the Call to Action (CTA)

Lastly, I changed up the CTA to make it more accurate to what I want to get across, and what I would like my readers to do next. The original CTA was outdated, and I’ve got a lot more going on these days that I could seek action on, as it were. So I made a new CTA and added that in.

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There are lots of benefits to updating blog posts, and I hope that by showing you what I did to update one of my own blog posts, you can head on back to some of our older blog posts and see if they could do with a fresh update.

When was the last time you went about updating blog posts? Share your experiences in the comments below!