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Bring Older Posts Back to Life but Be Careful

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Personal SEO - Website SEO and Real Estate Marketing

If you've built up a good wealth of blog posts either on ActiveRain or on your website, it's not a bad idea to bring some of those older posts back to life, especially if they have great information that is timeless.

This can also go for annual events. Let's say you had a post on Halloween events last year. Rather than writing up an entirely new blog post with new information, go back to that older posts, update the information, and republish it as a newer post. This is pretty easy to do on websites such as Wordpress because you can just change the publishing date. However, you don't want to change the URL structure if you have links to it from various places unless you have a redirection tool in place.

But you have to be careful when republishing older posts that specify certain events and dates.

In our own town, a real estate agent republished an older Easter event blog post on her website and then promoted it on social media, however, current Easter events didn't match up with past events. This agent simply republished the same post with a different publishing date. The previous post stated that a very large Easter egg hunt was to be held at our church but this year, we decided not to have the event ourselves but instead partner with our city. The agent didn't correct current events or verify them so there were several people that showed up to our church the day of the Easter egg hunt even though there was no hunt actually going on. Clearly, this made some attendees upset, but because the event was completely out of our hands and technically the agent's fault for not verifying current dates, there really wasn't much we could do.

I will oftentimes pull up older posts on events whether it's for Christmas, Halloween, Easter, or New Year's but you have to check the date and the accuracy of the event. The event may still be going on but the times may have changed and the dates will usually change as well, unless it's something specific on that holiday such as on October 31 or on December 25. If you can't find anything online about up-to-date events, simply call the previous event holder and ask if the event is still going to be held. You may find out information that maybe nobody else has online and be the go-to person for the most accurate and up-to-date information on the event.

 

But, this tactic isn't always just for events. Perhaps you did a kick'n, 2000 more blog post that's timeless and should be brought back to life. Go ahead and update some information on the post, add in related posts that maybe you've done in the meantime to give them more authority, or link off-site to related and relevant information, websites, and topics. Google will see that this timeless blog piece has some life left in it and may increase the entire ranking on the website as a whole.

Just because you wrote about it once doesn't mean you can't add to it, update information, and resend it out into the inter-webs. It's a great thing to do when you've got writer's block and can't think of a new topic for the week but you know you have a little bit more experience on that older topic and can add more value to it as a whole.

 

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Posted by

Personal SEO Tim and Tammy Emineth

Personal SEO Facebook Page Personal SEO Instagram Page Tammy Emineth Pinterest Page Personal SEO Linkedin Page Linkedin Page

 

Tim and Tammy Emineth have owned Personal SEO since 2004. We focus on SEO first whether it's blogging, images, website design, IDX solutions and calls to action. We operate with a Storybrand philosophy to encourage more traffic to your site, more eyes on your content and more leads to your business. Call us or email us for a free website audit.

Tim: 425-443-8372  Tammy: 425-344-0677

Comments(26)

Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

I am going back and updating all the condo posts that I had done previously.  We switched MLS providers and all the links to mls listings (which were supposed to be evergreen) were broken! Now I am regrouping posts, linking them to each other and building more material.  Geographic posts that are a few years old are interesting to read and realize how many restaurants and stores have gone out of business since the posts were originally published. 

Oct 02, 2019 06:40 PM
Tammy Emineth

ugh.. hate broken links! But you're right, neighborhoods change and by updating them you're getting in good with Google.

Oct 02, 2019 09:15 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Tammy- glad this was featured because it's a good idea to repurpose and resurrect older posts. 

Oct 02, 2019 07:12 PM
Tammy Emineth

It is! Especially if you have a lot to draw from already.

Oct 02, 2019 09:15 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

This is great information and advice, Tammy. We have all heard about the value of evergreen posts, and reposting posts with some edits, but it's certainly wise to keep mind what you said about accuracy and other issues!

Congrats on the feature...so more can see and be aware!

Jeff

Oct 02, 2019 08:21 PM
Tammy Emineth

Thanks Jeff. Yes, man I know that agent felt bad!

Oct 02, 2019 09:16 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

They can always be room for modifications but yeah, there’s nothing like an evergreen post to really get folks coming back a little bit more often

Oct 02, 2019 10:34 PM
John Henry, Florida Architect
John Henry Masterworks Design International, Inc. - Orlando, FL
Residential Architect, Luxury Custom Home Design

Yes, for those who have poured out their hearts with wisdom and frivolity, reblogging your own material with some changes is not a bad idea!  New blood probably hasn't seen the older stuff.  And some of your earlier blogs were probably not even seen. Thanks!

Oct 03, 2019 04:54 AM
Tammy Emineth

Very True! And that's probably when you wrote about major stuff where you might be struggling to find content now.

Oct 03, 2019 10:50 AM
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

I can't imagine not checking thru the dates .... disappointed kids. It's still hard for me to write 1000 word posts.

 

Oct 03, 2019 11:03 AM
Laura Filip
Laura Filip Broker , Opening doors for All Seasons of Life - Whitesboro, TX
What can we do for you today?

Tammy Emineth  great idea takes only a few minutes to update the older post to something new. Have a great day Ma'am 

Oct 03, 2019 12:24 PM
Margaret Goss
@Properties - Winnetka, IL
Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate

That's pretty careless to publish a post and not update dates and critical info! 

I wish that Active Rain would allow us to repost with a new date - I'm always adding "UPDATED" with the new date at the top of posts that I update.

Oct 03, 2019 12:43 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

A well deserved feature!

I had quite the routine going for awhile...updating old posts and making them new again. I somehow fell out of that routine and really need to pick up where I left off. Thanks for the reminder.

Now...to just get myself motivated to start blogging again.

Oct 03, 2019 01:29 PM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

Since I can no longer come up with new topics to write about I have started to breathe life into old posts. I feel guilty but it's better then just writing a post to write one. 

Oct 03, 2019 04:01 PM
Jill Sackler
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc. 516-575-7500 - Long Beach, NY
LI South Shore Real Estate - Broker Associate

I'm wondering what is the proper way to do this. I've copied and pasted old posts, made changes and republished. However, I lose all the views on the original.

Oct 03, 2019 05:24 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375
Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside - Atlanta, GA
Concierge Service for Our Atlanta Sellers & Buyers

Tammy Emineth 
Always so much to learn from your posts. Hannah Williams does the updating AND she changes dates, etc. --- people still call her --- she has lots of funny stories about that. Hope your family is well. Lynn

Oct 04, 2019 06:19 AM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

Thank you for the good tips about updating older posts.

Oct 04, 2019 06:28 AM
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

the old posts home.....May all our visits there be productive

Oct 04, 2019 07:23 AM
Gene Mundt, IL/WI Mortgage Originator - FHA/VA/Conv/Jumbo/Portfolio/Refi
NMLS #216987, IL Lic. 031.0006220, WI Licensed. APMC NMLS #175656 - New Lenox, IL
708.921.6331 - 40+ yrs experience

I borrow from my old posts fairly often ... and update others consistently, as nothing in the lending industry is stagnant and rules/regulations change often, Tammy Emineth. I appreciate the reminder to perform the updates on dates, etc. greatly.  Thank you,

Gene 

 
Oct 04, 2019 08:32 AM
Eva B. Liland Century 21 Doug Anderson
Century 21 Doug Anderson - Lancaster, CA
Glad to be of Service 661-714-1643

Thank you for letting us know about the importance of updating your posts.

Oct 05, 2019 06:55 AM
Mimi Foster
Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO
Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

So a friend recently told me that if you change the title, the main photo, and the first paragraph, you can post it as a new post. Thoughts?

Oct 05, 2019 04:19 PM
Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Good evening Tammy Emineth - I am a fan of redoing older posts and re-purposing them.

Oct 21, 2019 06:35 PM
MichelleCherie Carr Crowe .Just Call. 408-252-8900
Get Results Team...Just Call (408) 252-8900! . DRE #00901962 . Licensed to Sell since 1985 . Altas Realty - San Jose, CA
Family Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes 40+ Years

Yes, good advice on best ways to go about re-purposing posts!

Oct 31, 2019 11:54 PM
MichelleCherie Carr Crowe .Just Call. 408-252-8900
Get Results Team...Just Call (408) 252-8900! . DRE #00901962 . Licensed to Sell since 1985 . Altas Realty - San Jose, CA
Family Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes 40+ Years

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Mimi Foster's question.

Oct 31, 2019 11:55 PM