The other day a comment came through from a reader on a blog post that was written over two years ago; a reminder that what we write is indexed in search engines and searchable in our blogs indefinitely. After reading the comment, I reviewed the article and realized that is was really well written and the content is as pertinent today as it was two years ago.
When Vivid Image started blogging years ago, we didn’t have as many readers as we do today, nor were many of our clients “tuned-in” to our helpful content as they are now. That leaves us with a challenge of reintroducing older content in new ways.
So, can blog posts be recycled?
In a matter of speaking, yes. BUT, there are a few rules to follow so that you don’t jeopardize the integrity of your blog and the content you’ve got indexed with search engines.
Rules for Recycling Blog Posts
- Never Delete Old Blog Posts: This should go without saying, yet I get this question frequently. Once you’ve posted something to your blog, exercise great caution when deleting old content that is likely indexed by search engines or bookmarked, shared as a link on a social site, etc.
- Create New, in Order to Update Old Content: If you have new content to share that can replace older content, create a new blog post and link to the old content. You may go into your old content and add a link to the bottom letting people know of your newly posted content.
- Make Minor Adjustments to Older Content: If you notice a spelling error, broken link, or email to an employee who is no longer at your company, for example, I believe you can (and should) make these minor changes to an old blog post; but leave the integrity of the content intact.
- Never Copy Verbatim an Old Post to Create a New One: Search engines frown on duplicate copy, so make sure your new blog post isn’t exactly the same as an older one. Create a new blog post, add some original content, updates, summaries, links, industry news, etc and then link to the previous article(s) you are referencing.
Be Creative! There are many ways to draw attention to older articles, such as;
- Writing a collection of your favorite articles you’ve written
- Top 10 Articles of the year
- Create a list of the most controversial, commented, or shared articles about a certain subject
- Pose a thought provoking question relating to a topic and link to older topics
- Add a plug-in to the bottom of posts suggesting other blog posts
- Get in the habit of linking and/or suggesting related topics in all new blog posts that readers can follow for more information.
