We are always looking for ways to improve our website and the content within the website for SEO purposes. Most recently, in 2014, we used the crawl diagnostics feature within Moz to identify which blog posts were not properly optimized. Using WordPress and the Yoast SEO plugin we were able to fix these crawl issues and in turn, improve some of our keyword rankings. Most medium priority issues identified were a missing a focus keyword and/or meta description. High priority issues included broken links from pages that no longer existed or were moved. This project was completed over a month and proved to be very effective.
We have created a check-list that helps us revisit old blog posts and make edits. This list has proven to be effective for VA Partners and we would like to share it with you. We also recommend using a tool like Moz that regularly crawls your site in order to observe how the changes you are making are making an impact.
Here are some of our recommendations for how to optimize old blog posts:
Have an Eye-Catching Title
Your title should be eye-catching and reflect what your blog post is about. Remember to include your keyword within your title.
Use Headers
Ensure that you are using headers throughout your blog post. This not only helps you to organize your thoughts and ideas, but it makes it easier for the readers eye to flow through your post. Most people don’t actually read the entire blog post, but quickly scan the headings to see if the information presented is useful to them. Make sure that these headers clearly outline the title of the post and capture your readers attention.
Include an Alt Tag on all Images
Every image within your blog post should include an alt tag. An alt tag acts as a text alternative for the image and can be read by screen readers to assist those who are visually impaired. Including an alt tag is also another step in improving your SEO.
Link Building
Most SEO experts recommend including 2-3 external links within your content and 2-3 internal links. Link building helps provide your reader with other relevant information, but also helps improve your page authority.
Check Spelling and Grammar
Read through old blog posts to ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors. I don’t think I need to expand on this, we can all agree that spelling errors and bad grammar are BAD.
Update Images
People are generally attracted to images, which is most experts recommend using images with your social posts. Your blog should be no different. Visit old blog posts and replace images that are grainy or are generally just not that visually appealing.
Use WordPress SEO by Yoast
WordPress SEO by Yoast (which happens to be free) is a tool that helps you properly optimize your blog posts to improve your chances of being found on Google. After writing your blog post, use Yoast to check to make sure your post is properly optimized – the green light is good, the red light is bad.
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Focus Keyword
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SEO Title
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Meta Description
You should have already completed keyword research and have a plan in place. Make sure that you are writing posts that are relevant to your business and would be beneficial to your readers. Revisit older blog posts and make updates based on a keyword that you would like to improve your ranking for. Your focus keyword should be used naturally throughout your blog post.
Your SEO title is what will be shown on the Google search so make sure it’s eye catching!
The meta description is the preview text shown in Google searches and should give the reader a look into what the blog post is about.
As your business evolves so does your knowledge and writing style. This being said, it doesn’t hurt to go back to old blog posts and make updates where necessary. Don’t forget to double check that the content is still relevant. If it isn’t, make updates where necessary.
Hopefully you find this list useful and if you have other suggestions please share them with us in the comments.. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more marketing tips!
