If your marketing team is like many others, it is likely focused on creating and posting new content. However, if this is all you do, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to boost your organic traffic. 

There’s a good chance you have a backlog of content on your website. This probably includes posts you haven’t looked at in two or more years since they were published. While you may not check on this content, there is a possibility that Google and your audience are visiting them often. If they don’t include accurate or updated information, it could be sabotaging your bigger marketing strategy. 

Updating old blogs can benefit your site and reduce the amount of new content you have to create. It can also help increase your site’s organic traffic. Keep reading to learn more. 

The Importance of Updating Old Blog Posts 

Knowing the benefits that you can get by updating old blog posts will help you see why this is a good use of your time and effort. 

Generate More Backlinks 

Once your blog post is updated, it will once again be relevant to your audience. If you are the first in the industry to update a post on a certain topic, then you are in the perfect position to poach their backlinks. 

The reason this happens is that external sites don’t want to have links to outdated content. 

You can use a backlink checker tool to see what sites are linking to the competition’s posts. Then reach out to these sites to let them know that they have a link pointing to “yesterday’s news.” Then offer them your recently updated post as an alternative. 

Usually, these site owners will be happy to see that someone has done all the work for them and all they have to do is move a link. 

Increase Reader Loyalty

It was mentioned above that potential customers may be finding outdated content on your site. When you keep all your content updated, it provides a new level of brand loyalty and trust. That’s because readers see that you aren’t just posting new content to have something new, but to actually share something helpful and provide some type of value. 

Stay Updated with the Latest SEO Practices 

You can’t forget about SEO when updating a blog post. If you have posts that were published in 2018, you know that SEO has changed quite a bit since then. It’s up to you to make sure your post uses the latest SEO best practices to ensure the content continues ranking well. 

Gaining More Organic Traffic by Updating Old Blog Posts 

As you can see, there are more than a few compelling reasons to update your old blog posts. The information here provides you with an overview of what you should do to make this possible. Start with a few posts at a time until they are all updated and relevant to today’s searchers and what they are looking for.