I love ‘lazy’ shortcuts like these…
Especially when they give your readers more of what they want and free up your time.
There are so many little daily tasks involved in running an online business.
So anything you can do to free up some space to work on other things is a bonus.
That’s why I want to introduce you to simple little technique you absolutely must try this week…
It takes very little effort to get results and Google loves it.
In fact, all you need is an old blog post that you’ve already created.
Here’s how it works.
How to turn old blog posts into new website traffic
The notion of blogging frustrates a lot of online businesses.
We all know that we need to do it…
It helps maintain your Google rankings, keeps your site relevant, visible and useful for customers seeking information.
It’s also something to share on social media, giving you authority and more followers.
But sometimes it seems a lot of work, even for these rewards.
You spend ages working on a post, doing the research, writing the copy, editing and fact-checking.
Then you put it on your site and promote it for a couple of weeks in your email newsletters and on social media.
And after that?
It sits there on your site, slowly moving down your contents page, becoming less and less relevant, until it’s just another archived piece of content.
Your post becomes an artefact.
Pretty, but useless.
The only people who will ever read it are a few super-dedicated readers who make the effort to scroll through your back-pages.
In the meantime, you have to keep finding more new topics to blog about every week.
Now, if you LOVE writing and have plenty to say, this is not a problem.
But for everyone else… aaaaaargh!
Unless, that is, you act a bit smarter.
You see, it’s a mistake to consider your blog posts as static entities.
They are more like works-in-progress.
They can be gifts that keep on giving.
There’s a way to re-use and re-purpose your old posts to keep them visible on Google so that they continue to bring in traffic.
This absolutely works.
And it makes sense. Google is looking for online content that’s relevant, topical, up-to-date and useful.
So what better way to show Google that you’re an active site than by updating old blog posts with new information?
Here’s what to do…
1. Pick a high performing post
Go back over your online content and find a post that performed well for you in the past.
Good indicators are:
It pulled in a good level of traffic – Use Google Analytics to see how many page views the post got.
It was widely shared – Look at the number of Facebook likes, tweets, re-blogs and other social media stats from the post.
It received comments below the post or you recall getting emails and other feedback after it was posted.
2. Update the post
Now find a way to add something value added to the post.
Your options here include:
– News updates – Add a new development or piece of current news that’s related to the subject matter.
– Extra tips – Add more bullet points, tips, facts and instructions to the piece to give it more details and substance.
– Correct the post – Either find a mistake, or use events that have happened since to correct or improve the accuracy of the post.
– Add new research – Find some new statistics, quotations or other kinds of proof not mentioned in the original.
– Add a video or audio file – Find another multimedia element to add: for instance, you could add to the post by recording an audio interview and embedding it, or making a YouTube or Vimeo demonstration.
– Commission a graphic – You could use outsourcing sites like www.fiverr.com or www.upwork.com to commission an image that will add impact to your post. For instance, an infographic, chart, table, cartoon or short animation.
– Add feedback – You could add comments and feedback that you’ve received related to the subject matter. “Since I first wrote this post, I’ve received some wonderful stories…”
– Link to subsequent posts – Add in links (with text) that will make the old post more useful and relevant by taking the visitor to new content you’ve created, or even content on other sites. If you do the latter, make sure you contact that website and inform them – maybe they’ll share it too and increase the traffic that post gets.
3. Re-publish and share
Once you’ve edited the post, make sure you flag up that this is an updated version on the post itself.
Examples include:
“NEW information – since this post came out something has come to my attention.”
“Urgent update – Last year I told you about this topic, now I’ve found even more ways to…”
You can also add ‘2nd Edition’, or ‘NEW Version’ or ‘September 2017 Update’ or something along those lines to the headline of the piece.
Once you’ve done that:
Share it on your social media channels (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).
Post it onto any other pages linked to your business (i.e. Scoop.it, Tumblr, Pinterest).
Email your update to your database.
Make sure you make it clear that this was a popular post and you’ve now improved it with new information.
Tease about what those improvements are, so that they’re encouraged to click through and read it.
Bearing in mind the low amount of work you need to do, compared to creating a brand new post, this is something that’s worth doing regularly.
Try it this week and see if you can spend the time you save doing something else to help your business grow!