It’s not enough to just write and publish posts.
One of the bittersweet truths of blogging is that you have to market and promote your posts. You also shouldn’t let your old posts suffer in the archives purgatory.
You don’t want to write each blog post and then forget about them because your audience sure won’t.
Keep reading to learn why you should rewrite and republish old blog posts.
Most of your traffic will come from a small number of blog posts that did extremely well (about 4-5%).
Thus, it is a great idea to update these posts in order to stay relevant.
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that giving your post a new headline, changing its formatting, or tweaking with the introduction can turn a post that is often overlooked into one that goes viral.
One such example is my The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers.
The first time I posted it, it got a couple hundred likes, a few comments. That was it. But when I reposted it, without changing much, it went viral, and it was picked up by WordPress Discover.
This is why you should also rewrite and republish your old blog posts that didn’t turn out so popular. You should update these posts with a new intro, a new headline, and maybe even change the images.
The laws of content becomes popular are oftentimes murky, and experimentation is the name of the game.
Rather than constantly working on new content, try different ways of making old content more relevant to new visitors.
Also, you should interlink to relevant posts as you add new content.
This also means going through old content to add those relevant links, and while you’re at it, why not tweak a few things here and there?
It is not enough to write a blog post and then wait for folks to read it.
You must try to do everything you can in order to get as many readers as possible; this also means that you should do your best to keep your content up-to-date at all times.
As a matter of fact, sometimes it’s just bad timing that a post does not get read by more people, even though the right ingredients are there, so why not republish the post at a later date and at a different time of the day? What do you have to lose?
Blogging is a fluid medium, which means that the content you share can be altered at any time, so do not be afraid to rewrite and republish old content as a way to get new readers.
The In-between Mom
Thanks for the tips!
Cristian Mihai
My pleasure!
Truthful Enquiry
Very cool entry. I’ve found that this works, especially if you write in series like I do.
imaginationsalvation
Great post. Never thought to recycle old content
glenmckenzie(justabitfurther)
Excellent suggestions. I re-publish old posts but don’t necessarily go through them much in terms of re-writing or adding/deleting new information. The addition of interlinks between relevant posts is such a great idea.
athousandbitsofpaper
You make such a good point here – I think I tend to cover a few themes in one post at times and going back to old posts and rehashing them down the track is definitely something I will think about doing now.
JanBeek
Thank you for the tips on revamping and reblogging old posts. I have not done that very often – and I think you’re right. There may be some good stuff worth breathing new life into it stuck back in the 2012-13 archives!
Ms. M
So thankful for your many fantastic reminders. Being a writer is a whole lot of self-esteem blows and keeping up with momentum.
wktanwilliam
You have just taught me something that I never thought of doing. I always wanted to leave a trial of how I wrote in the past. For better or worse, they r part of my writing journey. But after reading your article, I may remake some articles without discarding the old ones . What do you think?
Cristian Mihai
You should go for it. Experimentation is a big part of being a blogger.
reflectingreminiscence
Oh this is so informative, especially for an emerging blogger like me. How do you know such insights? Have you done some course? How to know such minute details?
Cristian Mihai
7 years of experience. That’s how I know about blogging. Lots and lots of mistakes.
reflectingreminiscence
Oh, so much to learn from you. I’m happy I browsed through your blog. Yeah, mistakes help us become better. Keep going..👌
Shell DeToni
I’ve been considering this approach to generate traffic now that I’m freelancing. Thank you for the information, it’s very helpful.
Cristian Mihai
My pleasure!
iamthesunking
I don’t think I have ever thought of doing this. I have linked to old posts before but never republished them. And it’s true that when you spend time on something, it’s sad for it to languish in the archives!
Sandi Staton
Thanks for that great advice.
Cristian Mihai
My pleasure, Sandi!
Rhonda
This is really good advice. I find myself linking to previous posts in an effort to bring context to whatever point it is I’m trying to make, but I’m not certain that those links are being clicked on. I think I should try what you are suggesting.
Shana
This is absolutely genius! I don’t know why I never thought about it in the first place but I’ll definitely take your advice 🙂
Cristian Mihai
Thank you so much, Shana! And you must take advantage of this. It’s a lot easier than to constantly create new content.
degreesofmaternity
Great timely advice. I’m currently in the process of doing a weekly reblog of past posts that didn’t get much traction the first time around. Not only am I giving them a rebirth of sorts, where they’re getting more attention than they initially received; but I’m finding it quite enjoyable to reminisce and see where my blogging thoughts resided back in the day.
davekay
Funny you say that, as after your previous article on having a headline that grabs attention I’ve been looking at doing just this. I’ve got some old content that I think could really benefit from a refresh, starting with my approach to the headline.
Browsing the Atlas
Definitely food for thought! Thanks!
Cristian Mihai
My pleasure!
Robert Zoom
This was great advice! In fact, today I’ve republished a post that I think is interesting but that has been originally published at a wrong time of the day.
bigskybuckeye
Great tips Cristian! I have begun posting some of my older posts (usually edited and updated) on Monday with quite a bit of success. Most of my current readers missed out on my earlier work when my blog was much younger.
Andrew @ Oz Traveller
You make some good points. I guess a lot comes down to how much time you have to dedicate to your blog
ktkhaing
Thank you
Darazizi
Brilliant advice. Thanks!
Cristian Mihai
My pleasure!
-Eugenia
Reblogged this on BrewNSpew and commented:
Sharing useful tips for blogging –
Cristian Mihai
Thank you for the reblog!
-Eugenia
Most welcome!
Bette A. Stevens
Great tips! Thanks. Sharing…