How To Upcycle Old Blog Content – Sandbox To Success Episode 35

Listen to the Episode Below (00:14:48)
Get New Episodes In Your Inbox

On episode 35 we’ll be talking about different ways to upcycle old blog content. I’ll actually be following along with a blog post one of our contributors Ashley Mullen wrote. You can view that blog post here: 8 Ways to Upcycle Old Content.

How To Upcycle Old Blog Content - Sandbox To Success Episode 35

How To Upcycle Old Blog Content

If you’ve been blogging for a long time now, you probably have lots of old content that no one reads or knows exist. We have about 800 posts, but didn’t start building our readership until the last year. Of our 50,000 or so readers, I doubt any of them have read the first few hundred posts. We want to repackage the post, and represent them to our readers with a pretty little bow! Remember, we’re doing this blogging thing for our readers as much as for ourselves. Presenting this content to them, and in a different way, is good for them and good for us.

Here are 8 suggestions that Ashley had:

Add a Pin Worthy Image

I totally agree with this. I’ve gone back and looked at old post that I once thought were great, and they were HORRIBLE! You want to update the images. Pinterest likes really large images. We use 700 by 1300 when we make ours. Some people use around 650 to 1200, but I like them a bit larger than that. You want a nice enticing vertical image. If you aren’t utilizing Pinterest, you really need to. Search the archives on Sandbox to Success for Pinterest, and you’ll find lots of info.

Don’t delete the things there! If you have a bad image, leave it. Just add the new, better picture. For recipe post, this is a way you can go back and update with your improved photography skills. You might even have a new style or branding that you can present for an old recipe.

Update Content With New Information

One of our most popular posts is How to Prevent SIDS. We want to always go back and look at that post to make sure we’re giving the most up to date information. Maybe you’ve talked about a service or product in the past that has since gone downhill. You can go back and update that with the more recent information. Google bots are always crawling your blog for new information, and they’ll take that new information and update it (so long as you’re indexed). If you aren’t indexed, you’ll need to go to Submit Owl (one of our sponsors) and they’ll add your site to all of the indexes for you for only $24.95.

Add Clickable Tweets

This allows your reader to share a tweet of your choice out to all of their twitter followers. You can use plugins like Click to Tweet, which allow you incorporate the tweet into your post. Keep in mind that once you remove the plugin, you’ll have a lot of broken content. Once you begin using a clickable tweet program, you’ll want to be sure to continue using it.

Use Old Content For A Newsletter

You can use old content for email marketing. You can share old post that may be relevant to your readers.

Update Your Post With A Follow-up

You can do a follow-up post on your old post with additional information. You can simply create a second part, or create whole series. For example, you may have a recipe post about ham. You can create a follow-up post that gives examples on how to use your leftover ham. Just link back to the first article that tells how to create the ham, then write about what to do with the leftovers.

Create new SEO catchy titles

SEO is search engine optimization. As SEO changes and we learn more, we’re able to better grab the attention of our readers. We use Yoast SEO, which has pros and cons. It allows you to fill out your keywords, and then gives you advice on how to tweak the post to best optimize it. It gives your red, yellow, or green lights depending on how well the post optimizes the keyword you selected.  

It isn’t completely accurate, as the results change depending on the keyword you enter in.  Regardless, it’s a great tool. It also allows you to change the meta description for your post, which is great! I prefer to create one that is more catchy than the generic one that populates.

You can also update header tags in your post, as well as the format. Perhaps some of your older post didn’t’ utilize header tags or your format has changed. Update them to be consistent with your newer style.

We’ve done this on the family blog last year, and started updating a lot of our post using these tips. I’ve updated with Pinterest images, added header tags (I like an H2 tag with a title, and H3 tags for what would have been bulleted tabs). We also added on to old post, and updated Yoast. I made sure there are featured images selected, no spelling or grammar issues. I use grammar.ly, which is amazing! I use the free version, and it highlights possible grammar issues in your post so that you can fix them.

Bonus Tip:

This wasn’t in the original post, but I’d like to add a bonus for podcast readers. Add a monetized link to all your posts that “work”. Maybe you’re making a craft, or recommending a product.  Don’t add links that don’t make sense, but if they work… add them. You can use an affiliate network, or a sponsor (like how we include submitowl.com). If you’re going to be repining or reshaping this new updated content, you want to make sure you’re monetizing it in the post appropriate way to you. Blogging cost money, and you should be monetizing your blog to recoup some of your cost.

That’s it. I would LOVE feedback. Please send me as much feedback as possible. SandboxtoSuccess.com! You can leave a comment, or follow us on social media. I would love iTunes or Sticher reviews. Those reviews would be just for this podcast. This is pretty much a passion project for me, because I love helping you as much as possible. I would love feedback if the information I’m giving you is helping you succeed and helping your blog be a little better!

Until next time, thanks for listening to the Sandbox to Success podcast, with your host: Katrina M. Thom. If you like what you just heard, leave us a message at ITunes or Stitcher.  We would also love to hear what you have to say. Use the hashtag  #totspodcast to connect with us on twitter. Don’t forget to check out the show notes, which can be found at www.totsbusiness.com. Join us next time for another edition of the Sandbox to Success podcast. Have an AWESOME day!

The post How To Upcycle Old Blog Content – Sandbox To Success Episode 35 appeared first on Thinking Outside The Sandbox.