Republishing Old Blog Posts: Why, When & How

Blogs are one of the most common types of websites around (there are upwards of 500 million blogs as of 2019!). Many blog owners consider the idea of republishing old blog posts and reusing them. This post covers why you may want to republish your old blog posts and how to do it properly.

Why Republish?

There could be many personal reasons a blogger may want to republish a blog post. Instances like promotions, partnerships and events can influence a blogger to reuse a preexisting blog post. Below, we cover the most common reasons for republishing. Keep in mind you may come across many other reasons to use one of your old blog posts.

The Post Was Successful

If some of your most popular posts are from a few years ago, you should republish them! Your best posts are filled with great content that your website visitors enjoyed. Republishing those blog posts is a great way to give them another boost in traffic. You will want to make a few changes before republishing these old posts so they continue to see success.

The Post is Outdated

Your old blog posts may include outdated photos and even lingo that isn’t used anymore. To prevent your new readers from coming across outdated content, you should give these posts an update and then republish them. You’ll especially want to update your old blog posts that still get a lot of traffic.

When to Republish

You may wonder, How do I know when to republish an old blog post? In answer, there are many times you should republish a post. The general rule of thumb, presented by some SEO professionals, is to update your old blog posts every six months. But, updating a post and republishing a post are two different things. Here are some instances in which you should consider republishing a blog post:

Increase in Relevancy of the Topic

If you’ve had your blog for a long period of time, you have probably seen certain topics increase and decrease in relevancy. We all know that topics, trends, and styles tend to go in and out of popularity. This same idea goes for blog posts as well. A blog post from five years ago may cover a topic that is very popular today. If the blog post is of high quality, you can utilize your old content, make a few tweaks and republish it. This will likely lead to more website traffic from new readers.

Content is No Longer Accurate

Old content may not be accurate anymore–especially if you write about technology, social media or marketing. A reader may stumble across that old content and information that may now be inaccurate. They may become misinformed over the subject, or you may lose credibility if the reader knows the information is wrong. You will want to update your content when you find this to be true for your blog.

You may be thinking, What are the chances of a reader finding my old content? No matter how low the likelihood is, you still want your blog to be of the highest quality possible. This will ensure your website will not suffer from a low Google ranking due to poor content. It’s a good idea to periodically read through your old content to see if it’s worth republishing or needs an update. Additionally, if you have Google Analytics installed on your website, you can see exactly how often your old blog posts are viewed.

You’re Out of Ideas

Sometimes writers hit a brick wall when trying to figure out what to write about. This is normal, and it’s especially common for blog owners who have been writing content for an extended period of time. When you find yourself out of ideas but still have the time to post consistently, try republishing an old blog post. Your post will still show up as if it is brand new content, so you will remain consistent for your readers.

Many blog owners worry their readers will get annoyed, or even angry, at the blog owner for republishing content. This cannot be further from the truth. If you are only occasionally republishing your blog posts, your readers will be glad to see their old favorite blog posts again. Adding a note that says, “Republished to improve accuracy” or “Republished with minor changes,” to notify your readers of the change, may put your mind at ease and help readers understand.

How to Republish Content

There are several elements to look out for when republishing content. You want to be thorough and do it the right way to avoid confusion for your readers or a penalty from Google. Below, we will explain exactly how to republish your blog posts.

Keep the URL the Same

If you are practicing search engine optimization (SEO), you will want to keep the URL of your blog post the same. When a URL changes, Google has to recrawl and rerank the webpage all over again. You will also lose all of the backlinks that lead to your blog post, which impacts your ranking as well.

Double check to make sure the date of the original publication is not in your blog post’s URL. Often times, content management systems autogenerate a URL that includes the date. Republishing your blog post will cause this date to change, which is not good. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you will need to create a 301 redirect.

Additionally, if you find you must change the URL for some reason, don’t worry. As long as you can create a 301 redirect that points the old URL (www.example.com/old-blog-url/) to the new URL (www.example.com/new-blog-url), you should be fine. Some reports say that approximately 90% of your SEO juice from an old URL can be forwarded over to the new URL. So, make sure not to overlook creating a 301 redirect when needed.

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Make Necessary Edits

As mentioned above, you should update your content so it has accurate information. Google checks to make sure websites are reporting accurate information, so this is very important. Go through and make sure all your backlinks still work and update them if needed. Also, make sure your statistics are still accurate. If your post was published years ago and you reference statistics from 2010, you may need to refresh those numbers with something a bit more current.

Update Photos

Photos should also be updated when republishing a blog post. Photography trends frequently change, as well as the quality standards of photos. Switch out your old photos with new ones so your blog post looks fresh. Of course, if you feel your photos are still relevant and look nice, then don’t worry about this step. But, it’s something worth considering.

Keep the Same Keywords