by Lorraine Ball
Google demands new fresh content in exchange for keeping your page at the top of search results. But churning out 3 – 5 posts a week, only to have them sink into oblivion, buried in the sea of new posts is not the best use of your time.
The alternative? If you have been blogging for a while, instead of pounding out page after page of content, give yourself a break by updating and re-releasing some of your old posts. The process of updating old posts is called re-optimization. In addition to saving time, the improved content quality is likely to rank better for search. Here’s how it works:
1) Research – Review your most frequently asked questions and popular topics. Look for content which answers these questions. This content is ripe for re-optimization.
2) Select a specific key word – While a good blog post may contain information to support several key words, you need to pick one. Use it in the title and meta description. Since this is an existing post, you don’t want to change the URL. This will break any existing links to the page. If you are using a rich snippet tool, be sure to update that text as well.
3) Add at least one hundred new words to the post – Make sure you use the key word or phrase for which you want to rank in the new text. Comment on something that has changed or provide additional examples to round out the post.
4) Don’t forget the pictures – Remember that 25% of all search is image search. If the post didn’t have one originally, add a photo. Find a picture that improves the user experience by supporting what you are talking about. Search engines will read the image label to decide what the picture is about so be sure to use the key word in the title and image description. Do this to all existing images as well.
5) Add links – This is a terrific opportunity to add links to some of your new FAQ’s, blog posts or pillar pages which answer specific questions.
6) Add multimedia – If you have a podcast or a video on a related topic, add that to the post as well. This will enhance the user experience and keep visitors on the page longer. Google looks at the time a visitor spends on your page as a sign of engagement so multimedia will help increase that rank criteria. Consider recording a podcast or short video on this topic if you don’t have one.
7) Re-share – Once the post is updated, let people know you have something new. Create a new social share graphic to give the content an updated feel. Then share, share, and share again on social media and in your newsletter.
