This week's headsmacking tip is extremely powerful and pretty darn simple to implement. The premise is straightforward - you've got old content that ranks in the top 20-30 results, but never achieves first page (or top 5) rankings. Frequently, we see a lot of sites making the mistake of trying to link build (both internally and externally) to the old content:
For some reason, site owners often seem wedded to the existing content - it doesn't have to be this way.
One of the fastest and best ways to attract links is with "linkbait," right? Content that naturally spreads across the web because it's interesting, valuable and has viral-worthy features like great design, sensible layout, commercial-free presentation, etc. Here's the news flash - linkbait doesn't have to go on new pages; it can function equally well on old URLs that already have existing link juice.
There are some specific strategies that are excellent for refreshing content and continuing to earn links to a URL:
- Have an old blog post? Spruce it up with new material, some spiffy graphics and re-release with a promotional push.
- Got a contest? Re-run it annually and continue to garner links to the URL again and again.
- Built a smart how-to article? Re-engineer it with the latest data and go for a new viral campaign.
- Old sales page that lacks anything interesting? Do what these guys do and make a new version.
Added bonus - when you refresh a page, you might find that you have trouble submitting it to the major social marketing services. Use the # operator (which the engines ignore) or a ? operator in the URL that 301s and you'll be fine. You can also take the old content and, if desired, move it to a new URL (using our example above, something like domain.com/tubas/2001/ would work) so it stays in your archive and can still be accessed by those who are interested.
Give this headsmacker a try on some pages that you're having an especially hard time ranking. The combination of old links + new can be a great way to win an otherwise very challenging battle in the SERPs.
My comment is here.
Damn, you're doggin him.
I just don't understand why there have been several blog posts about updating the Beginner's Guide to Search Engine Optimization, yet the main page still says "Last Updated: February 25 , 2006" at the top. To make matters worse, Google puts that date in the page's snippet... which can't be good for SERP click-through rates. *shrug*
Rand, while you and the team are working on it, just update the date to get Darren off your back. He probably doesn't need to read the whole thing.
The old date is accurate for the page that's there, but we're definitely planning to replace with the new version once it's complete :-)
Good post, btw, when you say google ignores a # or ? operator, where in the URL should it be placed to be ignored?
Rand specified that Google ignores the # character, but note that he didn't say it ignores the ? character. Google sees these two pages as the same URL:
/pagefrom2002.htm
/pagefrom2002.htm#2009
But sees these as two different URLs:
/pagefrom2002.htm
/pagefrom2002.htm?update=2009
Rand suggests that if you use the ? character at the end of the URL (and you might need to in order to resubmit the same article to the same social marketing service), then to 301 redirect it back to the original url so that all the additional link juice feeds the same page.
Be careful of something.
1. If you want to rank well for the exact same term. You'll want to make sure you do NOT change the title tag, description tag (yes, it matters in this case), H1, or H2. Be mindful of copy used in the text of the page as well.
2. If you are a site with a fast crawl rate and need an immediate bump and are willing to take the risk of possibly messing things up. DO change the title tag and description. Google updates MUCH faster a page that had BOTH the title tag and description tag change.
3. If you have a keyphrase that is actually for different intents (somebody's dress, etc.) then create a title tag, description, H1, and H2 that will fit the multiple purposes (somebody's inauguration dress, somebody's election night dress, somebody's ball dress, etc.). Then once you have the core keyphrase and you rank well on it you'll have relevant content for all longer tail queries PLUS you'll have a title tag and description that will entice the click no matter what the occassion. TIP: If you can't get the longer tail term, do a site: query for the longer tail term on your site (assuming a large site) and 301 redirect the pages that pull up for that longer tail term withing the site: query to the page mentioned above. You'll maintain your relevance on the broader term and gain relevance for the longer tail terms.
May only be relevant for 'my world' but it works amazingly well.
Interesting... I wrote an article last year about going back and altering old blog posts with new content, as well as new kw's if you find people are looking for you through queries you hadn't considered before... however, I caught some flak from blogging purists who felt that a blog post should remain untouched once published, as a permanent reference point to that time and place of writing.
Kind of a tough call in the grand scheme of things... should we maintain the pre-Internet way of thinking (that a document, once published, is as it always will be), or should we embrace the fluidity of the web and welcome changes/updates to old content (and with that, embrace the idea that we might find ourselves referencing archived data that isn't what it was when archived)?
I guess we owe it to anyone who would be referencing our content to make sure that it is up to date and correct. Updates are usually pretty evident too, as are dates of reference, so the occasional shift in meaning is expected and shouldn't be feared.
Not to mention the authority boost of the existing external links... assuming there are some. These can help reaffirm the athority while the new links can signal timely interest. What's old is new.
This would be an excellent time to refresh with a little keyword research, especially around the title tag. Are the keywords and the wording used back in '02 still on target today? Do they need tweaking or a complete overhaul?
The reverse archiving is a key point that so often gets missed. It especially works well for recurring things like events. Rather than date the event with the URL:
focus on the event without date:
Then feature a section on the main conference page like, "See previous years." Might even want to nofollow and robots block these older events, but think through the pros and cons first. If you don't block and allow them to be indexed (or even if you do), I'd retrofit them with a "See this year's Widget Conference" link.This isn't entirely of the same vein as trying to get older content ranking high again, but more about nothing being worse than having your older events outrank the current event and not getting those interested to the right pages -- don't lose a sale to your old content!
Fantastic post Rand! The recurring contest is a particularly clever idea. What else can be recurring?
Love this idea...
great nice post perfect in time for a hyper competitive campaign, reoccuring contests what a simple concept!
thank you!
@ Darren - haha smart ar$e - but great point!
=D Too bad it took me like an hour to Photoshop that, thanks to my perfectionism/OCD.
I would assume that it's easy to run into the law of diminishing returns with this technique.
I know I for one wouldn't link to a post that was two years old, even if it wasn't really. I can't be the only one.
It all depends on what the post is about. If it's a metablog, technical or Making Money On the Inernet site then old is usually bad. However for lots of subject matter no one cares - people want the information that they need, and they don't care or even know how old it is in a lot of cases.
For example if you have a popular site about classic cars you can make a mint with contextual ads and searchers who are looking for information about '65 Mustangs don't care when it was written. Keeping it updated though can attract new links from other car blogs year after year.
Good tip.
On a similar note, I had a bunch of articles on my sh0p which were getting tonnes of traffic, but converting poorly. I've since set up a separate blog on a similar theme, so to give the blog an initial boost, increase my sh0p conversion rate and garner some fresh interest (read: links), I 301'd all the articles to the blog along with some fresh graphics and updates.
In all, it's been a very successful endeavor.
I have to agree with everyone here that I see an increase in my blog traffic when I update old posts with new information. I don't do it to every post but I try to make an effort on as many as I can.
I know that I don't do this enough, but optimizing old posts is a great way to get traffic and boost google rankings.
this post just brought me about 5-6 different ideas on how to put it into practice in two of my sites. simple but i hadnt thought about it, thanks
Create new page, copy content from the old one, update your content, hit "publish", delete old page, apply 301 reditect. It worked for me!.
Back in a days I did it with my HTML pages when I switched to PhpNuke, the same trick I repeated again when I switched to WordPress.
I am doing this stuff frequently with articles of my blog and #rocks.Earlier I nevr knew # has so much power and now i keep on getting new and innovative uses of # .
Hi all, the question I have is what do you define as 'legacy' content, i.e. how long?
I have a site which has been up 9 months, but I've refreshed little content. What do you reckon?
I smacked my head on this one. Looking back through my archives, lots of my posts could benefit from this strategy - many of them are dealing with music technology principles that don't necessarily age... they'll be just as relevant in ten years as they are now. Must go and refresh the pile...
Pretty good idea...especially if there's a page on your site that is bringing you a decent amount of traffic already.
I have been reading several of your posts in an effort to increaase my knowledge on SEO so my question is not relevant to this particular posting. I am curious if you can provide a perspective on the importance of the role of Information Architecture in a successful SEO strategy. Is is critical? Is it foundational? Or can you overcome a poorly constructed IA with some of the SEO strategies you promote on the and with your clients?