BLOG TIPS - As your blog ages and you add more & more qualtiy posts / content you might find yourself losing track of past posts and the trail your blog has left behind . Check our your Blog Archive, not just to remember the work you've done, but for opportunities to update past posts (with new posts) or to create new ideas. Use you past posts for new content to continue to inject life in your blog.
I recently visited a blog that I came accross thru a Google search. It turned out to be an old post from 2008. As I read it I wasn't very impressed and could tell the info was dated, but I stayed on the blog and when I clicked to read more current posts on the topic, the difference was quite shocking. The newer posts looked considerably more professional, contained better and current info and you tell that the blogger / writer had grown, yet she hadn't gone to the additional effort to update the blog's archive. I wondered why, since there was a good chance that after reading the old post I might have just clicked off the blog thinking it was of low value, and not known of the improvements.
Here are a few tips and ideas to help you update your archive-
1. Simply put, keep your archive updated ! Very easliy said, but most bloggers don't do it. By update, I mean, once you have been blogging for some time you learn new tactics and pick up valuable blog tips. Go back and use the new info you can on you past posts! Use that SEO info and make your old post, and your blog, more impactful and more professional looking. Don't try to do it all at once, make an update schedule and stick to it! Try adding some keywords relevant to your blog if they were't used originally or, change the title to something more interesting.
2. Use a full site map, and not the default. By adding a sitemap to Google that contains all of your posts, not just the default sitemap (which most bloggers use) which only contains your last 26 posts.E ven if you don't have 26 posts yet set it up now.
3. Promote your related posts. Also an obvious tip that many bloggers miss is a 'Related Posts' list. This should be placed under your blog posts and lists posts from your archive that are on related. This should send blog readers back to your archive (just make sure the older posts are updated and cleaned up !). Check out Link Within for more.
4. Re-promote your older posts by re-sharing and re-tweeting. Your certainly tweeting your new posts on Twitter and sharing them on Facebook, Digg, etc, so why not give your archive a boost going back and send the posts around again. Give it a try, but be selective, and watch the results.
5. Link your older, archived posts to your new posts! After your your blog has 20-30 posts you should begin linking back. Your hopefully attracting new readers each day who haven't been on board when you posted the old stuff! Don't let them miss out, help them find your earlier info
6. Analyze the numbers and your stats. Knowing your stats is very important, not hard to do and you don't have to be an analytical expert. Something as simple as a 'Hit Counter' on your blog that shows you which of your posts in your archive get the most hits. Use the info to learn more about what is working on your blog. When you know your most read posts, you can adapt your writing and posting to cover the hot topics. Feedjit a good place to help.
There surely more things you can do for your blog to keep it current and up to date. Just bear in mind that your archive represents your blog, as old posts stay on forever. So if they're are not what you want read by folks, then YOU need to go back and "clean" them up. It's well worth the extra time spent on your blog!
Let BtG readers know what you do for archive updating, comment below-
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