How to optimise your blog post after publishing

Most businesses will already be familiar with the basic process of optimising blog content before it’s published. Keywords, meta descriptions and relevant H1 tags are all features of today’s content that brands and bloggers need to implement, but what about existing content that has already been published? Creating a blog post is only the beginning, there are multiple ways to re-use and enhance your content after it has been published.

Optimising existing blog content in order to drive traffic and achieve your marketing goals, can be broken down into two key steps: repurposing the content and promoting it.

Improving old blog content
The first step in optimising your existing content is to go back and give it a makeover. Just how much you change is completely dependent on the blog post itself – this could be a gentle refresh, while others may need to be repurposed to achieve a different outcome.

Identifying what content to improve
Identifying and refreshing old blog content can be a time consuming process, especially for company blogs which contain many blog posts. Prioritise your time by determining which posts hold the most potential and tackling those quick wins first. For instance, if an old blog post is ranking from #11 – #20 on Google for a high volume keyword, then traffic, engagement and conversions across your site could see an immediate boost if the post moves up to page one in the rankings.

How to refresh existing blog content
More often than not, a simple review of your old blog posts will present any standout issues. Start by analysing the post in terms of keyword relevancy and add well optimised headings if needed. It’s also a good idea to ensure that any data you’ve referenced is up to date. Finally, read any similar content that your competitors have posted, particularly those ranking higher than you. This should give you a good idea of where your own content could be improved.

Promoting existing blog content
While brands will share blog content on their social channels when it’s new and fresh, the hard work doesn’t necessarily stop there. Reviewing and sharing existing evergreen content is one way to ensure that your blog posts continue to drive valuable traffic to your website.

Content optimisation through social shares
Sharing old blog content on your social media channels not only alerts new followers to posts that may be of relevance to them, but keeps your social networks fed with applicable content. If the topic of a blog post you wrote five years ago finds itself in the news again there’s no reason not to share the content – once it’s been updated accordingly.

Content optimisation through backlink building
Generating a catalogue of high quality backlinks that point to your blog content is no easy task, yet it shouldn’t be overlooked if you want to get the uppermost value from your company’s blog posts. Once that publish button has been hit, be sure to send the link to any relevant parties and get your content seen. The Vuelio Media Database is a great source for finding bloggers and journalists interested in the content that you produce. Snag a backlink from a key influencer and your blog post will instantly grow in SEO value.