{"id":17507,"date":"2024-08-19T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/?p=17507"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:35:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T02:35:54","slug":"keep-your-blog-fresh-how-to-repurpose-old-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.dreamhost.com\/blog\/keep-your-blog-fresh-how-to-repurpose-old-posts\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Update Old Blog Posts To Keep Your Content Fresh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine you enter a grocery store to find wilted greens and gray beef on the shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’d (almost) certainly leave before making a purchase, right? And probably never return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for visitors to your website<\/a>. While good content can stay relevant for some time, every blog post has a use-by date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once that time comes, you have two options: throw away your hard work or repurpose the old content<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most cases, repurposing content is the better option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to restock your content store with fresh produce, we’re here to help. With this expert guide, you’ll learn why updating old content is important, and how you should go about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to get started? Let’s roll!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why You Should Update Old Blog Posts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlike groceries, your blog posts won’t rot away \u2014 not exactly. But there are some serious problems with outdated content. Repurposing or refreshing older content is a great way to turn these issues into opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five key benefits of repurposing content, with input from some top marketing experts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Outdated Content Damages Your Brand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour blog is a reflection of your company,\u201d says Kathryn Marr, co-founder of digital marketing and web development company, Blue Ivory<\/a> <\/a>Creative<\/a>. \u201cIt shows that you\u2019re knowledgeable in your industry, provides valuable information that keeps potential clients interested, and is one of the keys to a successful search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a> strategy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least, that’s what should<\/em> happen. The problem is, old content makes your blog seem abandoned and outdated. If statistics are out of date and source links are broken, visitors might assume you\u2019re either poorly informed or careless. Either way, it’s not a good look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes all it takes is updating older posts with newer statistics and sources to make your content seem brand new<\/strong>, helping you regain credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Google Prefers Recent Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Search engines like Google try to deliver the most relevant results for any given search term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One key indicator of relevance is recency.<\/strong> If there are two very similar posts on the same topic, search engines tend to prefer the newer article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Google<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Repurposed content comes with a new publishing date and fresh ideas<\/strong>. It’s a good signal to search engines that your site is an up-to-date resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2024 Google Algorithm leaks<\/a>, we learn that the freshness factor<\/em> is alive and well. Google is able to see when the last significant change was made to a page and can even ‘re-rank’ pages in real time based on freshness data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that’s not the only reason why you should update content for search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your older content might have been optimized for outdated SEO standards. One example is keyword stuffing \u2014 that’s adding as many keywords as possible into your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before 2011, this was encouraged. Now, it\u2019s bad practice and can lead to Google penalties under their updated spam policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/h3>\n

SEO enhances a site\u2019s search rankings by focusing on factors like relevance and quality. Adjusting your site for these elements can significantly improve its visibility.<\/p>\n \n Read More <\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

3. Quality Over Quantity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this content marketing myth that goes something like this: post as often as you can to get more traffic,\u201d says Camilla Hallstrom, content marketing consultant at Influence With Content<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, blogging like that might have worked five years ago. But quality rules. People engage more with quality content, and it\u2019s the best way to build a brand they love.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as importantly, search engines now evaluate the <\/strong>overall quality of your website<\/strong><\/a>. If your site is packed with underwhelming content pieces, Google and Bing will assume you’re not a serious, credible source of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to fix this is by updating older posts so they are fully up to date, and more comprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Your Strategy (or Style) Might Have Changed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Content strategy tends to evolve over time. Look through your older posts, and you may discover that you were targeting different keywords<\/a> back in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n

Keyword<\/h3>\n

Keywords are words or phrases that describe the content of a website or web page. They help search engines match these elements to relevant searches.<\/p>\n \n Read More <\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Instead of contributing to the SEO impact of your website, these posts are actually telling search engines that your website is about something else. For example, your older posts might focus on services you no longer provide. You can solve this by reworking old posts to fit your current content strategy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the style of the content you produce might have changed. Blog posts that seemed cool at the time could appear cringeworthy to your audience today. It’s definitely better to update this type of content, rather than leaving it hanging around like an embarrassing photo from your high school years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Timeline<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Creating New Content Is Hard Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If old content is so bad, why not just hit delete? Because creating content from scratch is hard work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you delete old blog posts, you’re throwing away the effort you put in at the time. You might need to create new work \u2014 fast \u2014 to replace what you’ve tossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case for refreshing or repurposing outdated content is summarized nicely by Phil Weaver, CMO of Learning Success<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cContent creation is a very resource-intensive process. Each old post should be considered a business asset. Just like any business asset, old posts should be maintained to get the maximum benefit from that asset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you pay someone to create content for you, this message is even more important.<\/strong> Content repurposing is a much more cost-effective blogging strategy than creating new content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Often Do You Need To Update Your Content?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a general rule, you should check any content that is three years old or more<\/strong>. Once a blog post reaches its fifth birthday, it’s time to blow out the candle and re-light it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recommend content managers try to complete a full content audit<\/a> once a year, provided your catalog isn\u2019t thousands of articles deep,\u201d says Sam Warren, marketing director at RankPay<\/a>. \u201cThe larger your catalog, the more likely it is that you\u2019ll want to develop a process for rolling updates in lieu of taking a project-based approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your industry is competitive, fast-moving, or is constantly innovating, then you\u2019ll probably need to update your content<\/a> more often to give yourself an edge \u2014 particularly in industries such as law, finance, and marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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