The Issue of Old Content

One of the most upsetting things about seeing slow progress on your website is what happens to your content.

You probably work hard on all the posts you upload to your site. Each time you add something new, that probably involves research, planning and a lot of time sitting down just writing.

Sometimes you’ll feel a little uninspired. Other times you’ll create posts that you’re truly proud of and that you can’t wait for the world to see. You upload them and they get… 10 views.

Then you do it all again.

Yes, this is a pretty crushing feeling but there are a few reasons that you shouldn’t feel so bad. And in fact, this can be turned into a strength. Read on!

The Power of Old Content

The first thing to recognize is that just because old content isn’t getting read, it is still providing value to you. Firstly, it is building up your SEO and it’s helping you to gain traction and attract bots. Over time, doing this will help your newer content to actually getseen.

What’s more, is that it looks good for viewers. When someone visits a site and finds it completely empty, they’ll often just leave and think it’s amateurish. But if your site is filled with old content, it looks established and important.

What’s more, is that while some posts won’t get read, if they contribute to your mission statement and they serve an important purpose, they can still add a lot of value that way by establishing your authority.

What to do With It

The other important thing to consider is that if your content is ‘evergreen’ (meaning that it isn’t time dependent like news), then you can simply re-share it later on. Just post that old content out on Twitter or Facebook again and remind your audience why it’s so good. Once you’re big, your old content can work wonders for you and gain thousands of views that it never got the first time round!

Better yet, why not frequently update and improve your old posts? If something is somewhat time dependent (like a roundup of old phones) then you can come back to it year-on-year to improve it and make sure that it’s still relevant. Not only is this good for your site’s accuracy and reliability, it’s also something that Google loves to see and that can be great for your SEO!