I’m going to break my own rule and answer a question (see post title) with a question:
As a consumer of content, would you rather read a recent blog post that’s a week or a month or three months old, or one that’s three years old, and which do you think has greater credibility? (Okay, technically, that’s two questions…)
Answer:
Exactly, me too. Recent content, hands down.
And your customers and Google agree.
New content tends to get more traffic and engagement, and therefore, Google tends to rank it above older content. How do both blog visitors and Google know how old your content is (I know, another question)…Your post date stamp!
Most of the content I publish on AMJ’s blog is evergreen, meaning it doesn’t really become outdated. That’s not always the case, but generally, I tend to focus on themes and topics that don’t really trend out. If you publish posts on your blog regularly (weekly or bi-weekly) and you’ve been at it a long and have a nice, deep content catalog, feel free to keep your date stamp. Just know, your older content might not get as much traffic as the more current stuff.
Here are a few tips to breathe new life into and drive traffic to your older content:
–Refresh the post with a new title and a quick rewrite then re-post it. This can include updating language, improving the quality of the writing, bringing in a new perspective, layering in voice.
–Change the post date (it’s a WordPress back end thing). This is kind of cheating and Google may glom onto it, so beware. But visitors won’t know, so it may be an effective option if you don’t have the time to rewrite all of your older content.
–Cross-sell older content in new posts. It’s as simple as including “You may also like” at the end of a post with a link to the older content. Keep in mind, it should be related to the new content so it makes sense you’re recommending it. I do this quite a bit for clients and it’s very effective in driving traffic to older content.
All of that is to say, old content isn’t innately bad, but if your business posts inconsistently or there are long breaks in between posts, removing the date stamp might give greater credibility to your blog content.
Contact AMJ if your brand or company needs freelance Content and Copywriting support.
