Content is the lifeline of every blog, and you have to make sure you have the best content available for your readers. The way content interacts with people, and the important it plays has changed enormously over the years. Much of this has to do with Google algorithm updates that have been tweaked to meet the user pattern. For example, users are much more precise when they search, and know what they are looking for. This means we have to be as “targeted” when implementing keywords into our content. As a blogger, I made the mistake of using to many broad keywords, and my competition when through the roof when that happen. However, I was able to learn early on I have to be very precise, and targeted so I’ll have a better chance of ranking within the SERP’s. Next,
Many of us have been blogging for years even before many of the algorithm changes took place. This means we should go back a revive old content because there’s still value in what we wrote before. With that said, I’ll be going over some cool ways to revive older content you’ve written, and how you can keep a close eye on future content making sure it stays Evergreen. Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Don’t Forget Link Building
One way you can fall down in the ranks, and stop having traffic visit your website is from competition. I believe in almost every niche you’re going to have competition so you have to find ways to stand out. This means writing content which is better, but continue to build links from authority websites. Since the Google update, much emphasis has been given to relevance, value, and refreshing content. This means you have to always make sure all three elements are completed when building your brand through content. Otherwise, you’ll be just like everyone else. What can you do to make sure you have the best links? Here are “3” things I’m always doing to revive old content by constantly building link…
Guest posting – One of the best ways to build momentum quickly, and get a high authority link back from a solid website. Some authority bloggers have been around for years, and have built their brand with thousands of readers. They have enormous traffic daily, a high domain & page authority. If you can get published on this type of website, then it can be awesome for your link building profile. However, you have to make sure you don’t just post on any blog because it has to be:
- Relevant
- Authoritative
- Have traffic
- Always kept up to date
When you publish content on a high authority blog, you’ll drive relevant traffic to your blog. Next, make sure you add an author bio to the bottom of your content so people can click through to your actual blog, and read other content you’ve written.
Social Media – Social media has changed the way we connect with people online, and it’s important to have accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. I rely on these “3” networks because they control 75% of the social media traffic. The key is to get accounts setup, and be able to share value content getting it in front of the right type of people. Use the tools these social media platforms offer like #hashtags, etc. Why is this important?
When you add the correct #hashtags, you’ll attract the right type of people to your content. These people are relevant, and the chances of getting them to link to your content from their blog goes up enormously.
Internal Link Building – When building links, it can work both ways so it’s important to always connect your internal pages too. This will increase the PA (page authority) of your website, and it’s something Google has been updating within their algorithm too. For example, they look for the overall value of the website when ranking it within the SERP’s. It shows a complete site full of value, and NOT a single page. Before many people were able to manipulate the search engines by building ranking “1” single page for conversions, and avoiding all other pages.
Lesson #1 – Pay close attention to the way you build external, and internal links. It’s important to make sure your links are relevant, keyword “TARGETED”, and from authority websites.
Combining Relevant Content
One thing I’ve noticed when writing content is I’ll have similar pieces of content. Over the last 7 years I’ve written closely related content for my blog, and this actually opens up a great opportunity when reviving my content. If both pieces of content are NOT performing well, then I can always combined, edit them, and publish them as one single piece of content. It will allow me to create a higher value piece of content which adds enormous value for my readers. Next.
I’ve noticed a huge trend taking place within the SERP’s. Much of the content which is outranking in search engines is above the 2,200 words count mark. I think this has to do with the value you can provide when you have lengthier content…right? The longer the content, the more value you can provide for your readers. This is something which has stood out with Google after the algorithm updates. With that said,
Go back and view the previous content you’ve written, and look for similar topics. Check the sate they were published, and how much traffic is currently being driven to those pages organically. If you notice the traffic is slow, it’s time to take both pieces of content, and combine them to optimize them. Whenever, I combine to revive, I’ll take 1-2 weeks to go through each one adding the MOST important points, and keywords. I’ll have someone edit it for me before I publish. Here are a few more things you can think about when combining content:
- Think about adding images if you have NOT previously
- Add videos
- Add infographics
- Skim through your competition, and see what they are missing so you can add it to your content afterwards.
Lesson #2 – Find similar content on your blog, and combined them to make a “SUPER” content. Make sure you take time to research how you’ll combine them, and what sections you’ll pull out of each. Next, add the right keywords, and any other element you think will improve the overall value. For example, images, videos, and even infographics will help your audience going forward.
Create Other Relevant Content
It’s one thing to combine relevant content as mentioned in Point #2, however you do have another option. Since much of the ranking system is based on relevance, then it might be a good idea to create content around a specific topic linking to each other. Relevance adds value to relevance so linking similar content will definitely help boost your rankings. For example, if I’m writing on “Link Building Strategies”, then I can create 10 different topics linking into each other. Here are just a few:
- Intro to link building
- Using anchor text
- Article directories
- Guest posting
- Social media
- Text decoration
- LSI keywords
All of these topics are related, and can be combined into each other boosting each with juice. Google has stated links from relevant websites, and content will be even more important as we move forward. This is why such a strategy can definitely help move you up the ranks providing much needs traffic. However, when using such a strategy it’s important you research the broader topic, and start narrowing down until you find a solid handful of topics.
Lesson #3 – Create a cluster of similar topics all ranking into each other. This way you are adding relevance into each of your content “TOPIC” which ultimately will be good for rankings, and driving traffic.
Evergreen Content
In the end, I want to talk about ways you can protect yourself going forward when creating content. We first must understand why content runs into a dead lifeline, and most of the times it’s because it becomes irrelevant. However, there is a way to make sure you stay relevant all the time, and it’s to write content that is Evergreen.
Evergreen content is one which has NO expiry date because the topic will always be relevant. For example, if I’m writing content on “10 Vacations Spots for 2015”, then once the year is over my content will MOST likely fail to attract the right audience. However, I can shift this topic around, and make it last for a very long time as long as it’s the best available, and full of value. I can write content based on “10 Things to Take When Going On Vacation”. You can see with such a topic or title it will apply to everyone no matter what the year or vacation location. This type of content will stay relevant for a very long time.
Evergreen content is the direction many of you should be focusing on going forward so you can continue to drive traffic to your pages NO matter what.
Lesson #4 – Create content which is Evergreen, and has NO expiry date. This will ensure your content doesn’t stop attracting an audience, and doesn’t have to be revived going forward.
Final Thoughts
Keep these factors in mind when you go back to revive older content. It will be time consuming in the beginning, however if you spread out the process then it’s something which can be done WITHOUT burning you out. After, going forward, you might want to focus on writing content which is Evergreen so it has an unlimited life line.
