What do I do about old content on my blog?
-
I run a blog: www.b2bsocialmediaguide.com. It's been going for 2.5 years and some of the old content is, frankly, dated! What do you recommend I do about it?
1. Update old articles with new, more relevant content and change the date?
2. Write new articles with the relevant content and forward the URLs from old articles to the new ones?
3. Do nothing.
4. Just add links to new content from old posts?
I don't want to lose link juice!
-
Thumbs up if you agree this would make a great YouMoz post. We'd love to see you other there too, if you're ever inclined.
-
Keep your old posts. There is nothing wrong with having a historical account of your topic. I can't stand everyone freaking out about old content and simply getting rid of it. Aren't there any historians still out there that enjoy examining where we've been?
Do this:
- Create new updated post that is current and represents how you want to present the info today
- Go to your old post and add a IMPORTANT Notice box at the top of the article that explains that things have changed since the original posting and visitors can find all the latest and greatest at the new URL (link).
This also protects your credibility and demonstrates how long you have been following your issues in your niche - golden!
-
I don't want to lose link juice!
Absolutely! And wasting content is even worse.
I would do #5.
5. Assess the content to determine it's value. Value to me includes....
-- are there links pointing to this content?
-- is there traffic arriving through these pages?
-- are visitors who arrive at my site through other pages consuming this content?
-- the quality of the content
After I assess the items above I will take different routes depending upon the findings.
A. If content does not have links, does not pull traffic and is not being consumed I will probably delete the content and redirect the page to index.html
B. If content has links, traffic and consumption then I will decide if it merely needs a few edits. If that can be done I will keep the page. And, if that can be done I will look to add improved images, special interest boxes, "Did you know?" boxes, links to other relevant pages on my website. KICK IT UP A NOTCH!
C. If content has links, traffic and consumption, AND THE SAME TITLE IS STILL A GREAT CHOICE... but the article is really outdated then I will rewrite from scratch and post on the same page, always trying to kick content, images and message up a huge notch on this successful page. Then I will promote this major rewrite on my homepage, in feature boxes around the site, in my RSS feed.
D. If content has links traffic and consumption, and the old title is no longer a good choice, then I will rewrite from scratch, publish on a new page and create a boldface roadblock link to it in the first few paragraphs of the old article... and do the full onsite promotion. Eventually when traffic to old page starts dying then I will redirect. I want to keep the traffic from that old title flowing in because some noobs, old farts and out-of-date people will still be searching for those out-of-date terms. Conversion rate on these people can be good because they are looking for help or a book or someone (like you) to be their guru. Also, with this choice you now have TWO pages pulling traffic for different search queries.
You see, there is no generic answer to this question. You must assess on a case-by-case basis. Be careful not to abandon the noobs, old farts and out-of-date people. They can be valuable traffic.
-
Hi Heather,
Rand had an article on just this topic for a Whiteboard Friday, well worth a read:
http://moz.com/blog/how-to-move-rankings-up-on-older-existing-content-whiteboard-friday
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to provide good quality content if competition is stealing
Hi everyone, I have a customer that is very successful in a worlds niche market in the aviation industry. Following Rand Fishkin and Wil Reynolds I tell them to provide the best content they have for their customers and want them to blog. Now the issue is that their competition is playing unfair and already stole texts from them to present those at aviation fairs. What do you think? How can one follow Rands and Wils suggestions without losing in the end? Cheers Marc
Social Media | | RWW1 -
Can you redirect old abandoned Twitter/Facebook accounts?
My client has a Facebook profile and a Twitter account that they have abandoned. These pages also have old branding and we would like to redirect these pages in some way to the current Facebook and Twitter accounts. I did find this article but it's 3 years old and not sure this is works: http://www.thesearchagents.com/2011/12/how-to-do-a-301-redirect-on-twitter-even-though-twitter-doesnt-allow-it/ What's the best way to do this?
Social Media | | RosemaryB0 -
Does adding a twitter or facebook feed to a website help rankings in regards of providing fresh content?
I have been asked if this is a sufficient way to provide fresh content to a website, however I am unsure if Google considers this as "fresh content", and I can't seem to come across a clear answer. Any thoughts?
Social Media | | pderas0 -
Value in content from website being shared across social media?
If I write content (small career advice quotes) on my website and I distribute across Twitter and FB I assume my site will get the full credit (from an SEO perspective) since that is where the content was originally uploaded. However, will I still get SEO credit for being active on social media, or will Google view it as duplicate content and evaluate that I am not active on social media? thank you
Social Media | | knielsen0 -
Benefits and cons of hosting video content vs hosting via youtube
Hi if a site is hosting its own videos (not embedding them on youtube) is there less benefits then getting youtube to host it, and then embedding the youtube video. For instance: For benefits such as building channel authority, easy to rank the video in the search engines hosted on youtube, better opportunity to increase visitors and traffic and higher chance for the video to spread and rank for the keyword when hosted on youtube. What do you guys think?
Social Media | | monster990 -
Does a 301 redirect pass along Google +1's from the old url to the new one?
When I 301 redirect a page that has content that has been +1'ed by our visitors, I would assume that Google would handle a +1 the same as a link and pass this authority along to the new url. Has anyone had any experience or heard directly from Google confirming this behavior?
Social Media | | Eventful0 -
Are Facebook tabs searchable? Is this duplicate content?
What if a partner brand wants to post the full text of a story on one of their FB tabs, Please advise whether this would be duplicate content, thanks!
Social Media | | bonnierSEO0 -
Viral Marketing Question: If you build a truly great piece of content, what are the best ways to seed it?
Say the site is a 2 year old eCommerce company that has this awesome clever infographic but not many blogger connections. What would be the best ways to get that content syndicated? What agencies are still left that do actual viral marketing now that Rand and Todd Malicoat have moved on the greener pastures?
Social Media | | zachc_coffeeforless.com0