You create a post with great enthusiasm.
You put all your love.
However, some time passes and he hardly receives visitors.
you get frustrated You have spent a lot of time and effort creating content that is not bringing you traffic.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to rank old posts on Google?
Yes, it would be.
And it is also possible to do it.
Discover how to position old posts.
It is easier than you think.
Why Update Old Posts?
Nobody likes to waste time.
And less striving in vain.
You have identified a relevant topic for your readers, you have incorporated it into your editorial calendar, you have done a keyword analysis, you have written the article and you have published it.
In addition, you have promoted it on social networks, in your newsletter, and in some specialized circles.
It’s a considerable job, so you’d like to pay it off.
At first, Google ignored you.
However, you have discovered that you can reposition a post.
It has an advantage and a disadvantage:
- The advantage is that you can appear on the first page of Google
- The drawback is that it requires a little more time and effort.
Now you have a post that is worth (almost) nothing.
If you follow the method that I am going to explain, you will have a well-positioned post with traffic.
The key is to revitalize the content and make it attractive in the eyes of Google.
And the user, of course.
In this way, the image of your blog will improve, traffic will increase and you will have the option of increasing your list of subscribers.
Which can mean an increase in your billing, which is what is really important in an online business.
Which Posts Should You Optimize for SEO?
One of the most common mistakes of a novice blogger is to start writing without rhyme or reason.
He believes that it is the most important thing to be successful.
However, unless you get paid to write, posting is not going to make you money online.
Wouldn’t it be more interesting to get clients?
Content marketing is a marketing strategy to attract potential customers.
Therefore, you must not only write and position posts, but you must also attract your ideal client.
Therefore, you should start by optimizing the posts that convert the most.
And how do I know which posts convert?
Creating a conversion goal in Google Analytics.
If you don’t know how to do it, you can search on Google.
It’s not complicated.
Another option is to optimize the most important posts at a strategic level.
For example, if you are a digital trafficker, a relevant post would be How to create a Facebook Ads campaign.
Start with the posts that generate the most impact on your business, either now or in the future.
How to Climb Positions in Google?
To climb positions in the search results and reach the first page you will have to improve the click-through rate (CTR), the time spent on the page, and respond to the user’s search intent.
As Jack the Ripper would say, let’s go in parts.
CLICK-THROUGH RATE OR CTR
It measures the number of clicks your search result receives in relation to total searches. It’s a percentage.
To improve the click-through rate or CTR, you will have to be on the first page of Google.
If not, it is very difficult for anyone to click on your result.
You can always try to alter this result, by asking someone to do a certain search and click on your website.
This effect is amplified if a group of people does it instead of one person.
DWELL TIME
The time spent on your page is one of the most relevant metrics since it determines the user’s interest in your content.
If the user spends several minutes on your post, it means that it meets their search intent.
Or at least, that’s how Google interprets it.
It could also be that they called him on the phone or he fell asleep… XD
SEARCH INTENT
It is the concept that the user wants to know when carrying out a certain search.
For example, a user wants to find out if he needs a gasoline or diesel car.
If you do not know much about the subject, it is likely that the keywords you use are not the most appropriate.
“What is better diesel or gasoline”, and “diesel vs gasoline”, could be some of your searches.
If your post is very technical and you talk about the Newton meter, cams, spark plugs and the throttle joint (I never knew what it means but I like the way it sounds), your dear visitor will go faster than a child at the dentist.
The user’s search intention is to know the advantages and disadvantages of each fuel and its impact on the price and useful life of the vehicle.
Nothing else.
If you give him a master class on automotive mechanics, you are not responding to his need.
How to Position Old Posts in Google
To position old posts on Google, follow these 10 steps:
1. DO A KEYWORD STUDY
If your old entry has not worked in Google, it is very likely that it does not respond to the keywords that users use.
For this reason, I recommend that you do new keyword research.
Maybe before you didn’t know how to do it well or you didn’t even do it.
It is the first step to reaching the top of the search results.
2. ADAPT THE TITLE TO THE MAIN KEYWORD
Title a post is an art. On the one hand, it must be attractive and prompt to click.
On the other, it must contain the main keyword so that Google knows what it is about.
If your post is about how to create a YouTube channel, do not title it “How to be a YouTuber”, because it does not contain the main keyword or respond to that search intention.
It is not the same to create a channel as to be a YouTuber.
The former is easy, the latter requires planning, time, and work.
In long-tail keywords (with several terms) you will have little room to be creative with the title, with other shorter keywords you will be able to unleash your ingenuity.
3. CREATE A NEW INDEX
Once you know the main keyword and its derivatives, it is time to create the structure of the post.
Two parameters need to be combined to create a good index:
- The logical structure of the post
- The SEO structure
Continuing with the previous example, to create a YouTube channel you need to create a profile or account, configure your channel, and upload videos.
This would be the logical structure:
- Create a YouTube profile
- configure the channel
- Upload videos to YouTube
What happens?
That Google is capricious and the users too.
If the user searches for “customize youtube channel” it will be very difficult for your post to appear in the top positions since that keyword does not appear.
Therefore, you have to find a way for that keyword (and others like “open an account on youtube”) to appear in the index.
It is not always possible.
So, they are inserted in the text and not in the headings.
A logical and SEO-optimized index would be:
- How to open an account on YouTube
- How to create a channel on YouTube
- How to set up and customize your YouTube channel
- How to upload my first video to YouTube
- Recommendations when uploading a video to YouTube
As you can see, we have followed the logical structure and we have added SEO.
We have even created new sections to contain all the important keywords in our headers or H2.
Finally, it would remain to go into detail with the H3.
Here I recommend not being so optimizing and writing them in the most natural way possible.
4. RENEW THE TEXT
Writing on a blog is something that requires talent but, above all, practice.
When you wrote the old entry you had less experience than now, therefore, you write much better than before.
And I’m not referring to misspellings, which is also, but to your style and your way of engaging the reader, which is more important.
In addition, by giving a new structure to the post with your “SEO optimized” index, it will be much easier for you to follow a common thread that gives it freshness and enlivens reading.
And, of course, the text must also contain the main keywords distributed throughout the post.
5. OPTIMIZE METADATA
If you do not have a technical profile, this curse word may sound a bit strange to you: metadata.
Metadata is data about the data, that is, it provides additional information about the content of the post.
The most important are the meta title and the meta description.
- The meta title is the headline that Google takes to display in its search results.
- The meta description describes the content of the post in a couple of lines. Google takes it when it feels like it.
Be that as it may, both metadata are very important both to position well and to increase the CTR (click-through rate) and continue climbing positions.
If all of this sounds Chinese to you, check out the SEO for Beginners post.
6. IMPROVES THE VISUAL ASPECT
People enter everything through our eyes.
If a post is within an elegant website and its content is attractively distributed, the user is much more likely to stay to read it.
If your website is uglier than Picio, your visitor will flee in terror.
In addition to structuring the content and using paragraphs of a maximum of 3 or 4 lines, I recommend that you use a color palette to distinguish the headings, as well as some visual resources.
The images, infographics, and inserted videos dress up the posts a lot.
This will increase the time spent on your website, one of the most important factors for Google.
7. UPDATE THE DATE OF THE POST
The “Freshness effect” is the way of calling the fact that Google rewards fresh and updated content.
The search engine understands that recent content will better respond to the user’s search intention.
Therefore, it is good to change the dates of the posts.
Now, do not do it without updating the content, since Google is not stupid and it will not have any effect.
Once you change the content, update the date and save the changes.
8. STRENGTHEN INTERNAL LINKING
Now that you’ve republished your old post, it’s time to reinforce the internal linking of the particular post.
To do this, you must find the maximum number of URLs on your website link to it.
It is not a matter of aiming from each page of your website, but you should do it from 10% of them or even 20% if it is a fundamental post in your business.
Beyond percentages, the important thing is that the post receives a few links from other posts (also from the menu, Home, or other places) to show Google that this post is important on your website.
9. GET EXTERNAL LINKS
This is always one of the most complicated tasks in SEO.
And it is that to get external links you have to work hard.
You can get links or link building in 5 ways:
- buying them
- Appearing in the press
- Doing a link exchange
- Through guest posting
- in a natural way
The first is the least recommended and is penalized by Google.
There are people who do it and it turns out well and others do it and they plummet in the SERPs.
To appear in the press, you have to do something new and noteworthy.
Then, you have to get the information from a journalist.
It can also reach you organically (Google, word of mouth, social networks) or by paying a press release service or a professional.
10. PROMOTE THE NEW POST
The last step is to promote the new post.
And I say new because it really is.
If you’ve worked through all the steps, the republished post won’t look much like the old one.
Now you have to spread it all over the Net. You can use:
- Your blog (obviously, it will appear first)
- Tu newsletter
- Social networks
- Specialized circles (forums, virtual campuses, etc.)
- Advertising (Facebook Ads, Google Ads, etc.)
Your post is very cool… and you know it.
Let the rest know.
Positioning old posts on Google is a necessary task to take advantage of your content marketing and obtain a return for your business.
We have seen what are the steps to follow and how to do it professionally.
The result will depend on your talent, your knowledge, and the authority of your website.
There are also other factors such as competition and Google’s affection for you, but they are more difficult to control.
Focus on doing a good job of creating content and focusing it on your ideal client, who is the one who ends up making your investment profitable.
Thanks for Reading.
