Dealing with updating blog posts
-
I run a travel and culture blog which means that I write about a lot of upcoming events which recur each year. Usually I title (and slug) the page with the event name and date.
When it comes to update the article the next year, sometimes it's as little as changing the date, other times more has changed and it needs to be substantially re-written.
Until now, what I've done is update the title, content, and then re-posted (sometimes altering the slug where it's needed to be done). Sometimes it works fine and Google keeps me ranking well, but other times the changes dont get such a great response.
I have these options (as far as I can see). Which do you think is best?
1. To create a new article each year and put a message at the start of the previous one to say, click here to read about the 2012 event
2. To continue what I'm doing updating, changing the slug, and re-posting (ie changing the date).
3. To write a new article and insert a 301 redirect.
I need to make sure the article appears as a new article in my RSS feed and also on the homepage.
Look forward to your ideas!
Thanks
-
Wow - now I feel like my idea has been blessed by a god (Lead SEO at SEOMoz).....feeling quite chuffed actually!
-
That sounds like a great idea. I'll try it. I have a fair number of readers coming through the RSS feed so don't really want to lose that.
I'll try it and let you guys know!
-
I like Gary's suggestion - having one page for the event over multiple years means that you're not creating a new page every time, so the page can continue to benefit from the links it accrues year over year (changing the slug means the post loses its link equity every time).
I can't find any statement from Google saying that changing the publish date of a piece of content isn't allowed when the content is updated. I think in this case it should be fine since your intent isn't to manipulate - it's an update page and a new post.
The other solutions would be to redirect all of your past event pages to the new one every time you make a new one - this would preserve a portion of your link equity - or not to update the publish date (I don't know how much traffic you get from RSS readers so that would be your call).
-
Ok. Thanks anyway!
Anyone?
-
I wasn't aware the Google didn't like a modified "published date" perhaps someone with more knowledge on that than me can help? Sorry, I believe in "knowing your limits" and I have no personal experience with that being a problem (I am not saying it is not, just that I don't know!).
-
Thanks for the reply
I dont necessarily need to keep previous years content - the issue with that way is that to get the updated post to go into the RSS I'd need to play with the publish date and that isn't something Google likes, right?
Thanks
-
How about you maintain a single "page", i.e. a consistent URL for the "current year", so a slug of something like
-my-event-event-name (no dates or anything like that in the slug) then each year
1.) Put the new/revised content on that URL. Include the year in title, content, description etc.
2.) Create a new post and copy the last year's content to that one including the historic date and link to it (if you want) so a URL a bit like -my-event-event-name-2011
That way, you always have the latest content on a consistent URL. You can then maintain all the links you accrue over time to a single URL, just update content each year and store all of the past posts on "newly created" URLS each year. No matter whether they rank or not, presumably....
Gary
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Blog Site Set-Up/Frequency
Hello! I am a new blogger that is just getting started. All I have done so far is purchase a domain name and signed up with Blue Host. From what I am reading, WordPress seems to be the most recommended plug-in to get going. There is a lot of material out there on SEO and I wanted the community's thoughts on where to start. My blog is intended to provide readers with information on a particular topic. It is a vast area with much to write about - I intend on populating the content myself/with the help of experts in the field. It is not news so it is not time sensitive. Here are my questions: 1. As this is a brand new site, should I be blogging every day or is couple of times a week sufficient? I am able to produce content fairly quickly in the beginning as there is a lot to write about. Should I write a whole lot of content first and then release it on a schedule (twice a week, daily, etc.)? As it is a new site, I don't want it to launch with just one article.. 2. I am taking a WordPress class next week, but as someone that is not too familiar with copy/backlinks, other mechanisms to boost SEO. does WordPress make it easy enough to optimize your site for search results or does it require more expertise? As far as I see, my first tasks are to 1. ) set up the site effectively so people can find it and 2.) create valuable/engaging content. Appreciate any advice on setting up the site, blogging frequency, other tips to get going. I don't want to launch a site and get dinged by Google for reasons I am unware of..At some point, when I have a robust set of content, I am thinking of FB advertising to increase traffic to the site. Seems a bit premature to do that at this point.. Thanks all in advance for your feedback!
On-Page Optimization | | mmprakash0 -
How to transfer old WP blog to new URL
I have a 9 year old WP website with a WP blog which is still getting 300+ new visitors a day even though I have not written a blog for 5 years and have not updated content. Some posts have over 25,000 links. However the Moz analytics is fraught with significant errors-404 redirects, page not found, dup content, no metatags, title too long etc. I was totally inexperienced 5 years ago and made many errors. However the basic content was sound and still is producing new visitors. I am starting a new ecommerce website using the same name but the URL and server will be different. I want to transfer my WP blog to the new site. I am concerned however that bringing the posts over can create the same errors on the new site. If I update all of the blogs on the old site using Yoast before transferring the blog to the new site will that help. I suppose I could check those flagged dup content and only transfer one of that category?
On-Page Optimization | | wianno1680 -
How to deal with 404 errors from deleted categories?
I was reorganizing my blog and deleted several categories. Of course now Google Webmasters is coming up with a bunch of 404 errors. How do I fix this?
On-Page Optimization | | blogger20130 -
When to post blogs?
If I was to put 2 blog posts on my site a month, does it matter if I post them on the site at the same time, or is their benefits in posting them a week apart? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | ClickIt0 -
Which Blog Platform to link to an eCommerce site is best?
I just hired a content writer to blog on my site, but I want to make sure I have the right blog set up properly before doing so. I currently have my blog on my own domain. http://alturl.com/ixd7p It's a pretty crappy blog, to be quite frank. (The link to the blog is in the footer). It doesn't allow me to change category titles so it's throwing duplicate content - not good. I am seriously considering getting a self hosted Wordpress blog and linking that to my site instead at 3dcart- so it will be blog.domainname.comMy CONCERN.... I always heard that it's best to have the blog right right on the eCommerce site (just as I have it now) because it keeps feeding the domain fresh content. If I have a self hosted Wordpress blog and have it linked to my site, will it still feed my site fresh content?
On-Page Optimization | | tutugirl0 -
Updating Old Posts
I have ~ 45 posts that I wrote 2-3 years ago that need to be updated with current information and I'm wondering if I should: Just update them Update them and change the date published to present day Publish the updated info. as a completely new post other? ... and why. I've read so many conflicting thoughts on this, really curious to hear what other Pro members think (or would do if it were them). To give a little more background, the topics of the posts are various retirement communities. Things that may have changed could be they added new amenities, new home types, prices, number of homes still available, etc. I have one page of my site that acts as sort of a directory linking to an article(post) for each community, but worried if I add all the updates as new posts I'll have to link to separate articles about each community which doesn't really make things too friendly for the reader. They want to know about what's going on with each community now...not back 3 years ago. Thoughts? Suggestions? Many thanks! Ryan
On-Page Optimization | | ryanerisman0 -
SEO for Image only posts
Let's say I have a post where I show 25 different wood textures. I start the post with a small paragraph and then I show several images of wood textures linked to an internal or external page. Since I don't use a text link, then I have to rely on alt tags. It would be very difficult to assign a different alt tag to so many similar images, and I guess there would be a risk of keyword stuffing (walnut wood, oak wood, etc). On the other side, if I assign the same tag to all images, then that clearly is keyword stuffing (alt=wood textures). This is just an example, but it applies to most of my posts. What do you think I should do with the alt tags? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | enriquef0 -
What should I do with my blog...V2
Hello again! The other day I was asking about my blog which is on http://cheshireweddingphotographyblog.co.uk/ Based on the answer, I decided I wanted to move it within my website. So I emailed Photobiz saying I wanted it to become: http://www.celynnenphotography.co.uk/blog They want me to make it: blog.celynnenphotography.co.uk They say the benefits (re: SEO) would be the same but that there would be more downtime if I wanted it done my way. Are they right in saying the benefits would be the same for blog.celynnenphotography.co.uk as it would for http://www.celynnenphotography.co.uk/blog ? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | IoanSaid0