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
-
Should blog tags be location specific?
I understand the concept of organizing blogs with categories, but how specific should the tags on blog posts be? i.e. "cosmetic dentist" vs. "cosmetic dentist san francisco" I'm specifically using Squarespace if that helps. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | ReaderSam0 -
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 -
Google's mobile-friendly update. How significant is the impact for us?
Hi guys. Recently I got an email from Webmaster-tools saying our site is poorly optimised for mobile devices, and that it’s going to heavily affect rankings from April 21st. I’m worried to say the least. We literary cannot afford a hit on traffic at the moment 😞 We rank well for niche terms like ‘customised diary’ and ‘personalised diary’. So question... Because we rank well for these very specific searches will we still take a hit on rankings after the update? Won’t our high relevancy for those search terms be enough to keep us high in the results? Also, do you know if this change is specific to the users device? E.g) Someone on a mobile device will get mobile-friendly results, whilst users on a laptop will get different results altogether? I'm just trying to get a sense of how much this update will effect us. Any isights, suggestion, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Our site. Thanks in advance. This community is invaluable to us 🙂 Isaac - TOAD Diaries.
On-Page Optimization | | isaac6630 -
Does Hiding the article´s date in a blog affect SEO?
We are running a blog and would like to hide date, as users find the article less interesting if they are dated more than 2 years ago. Will hiding the article´s date in a blog affecto SEO? Thanks in advance u2cJxsr
On-Page Optimization | | goperformancelabs0 -
Integrate a blog within an existing site
Hello everyone! I work on a website of a very small company and so far no one has ever implemented (not even thought about) a proper content strategy. The only content on the site are products description. Through Analytics I discovered lots of opportunities and topics to be covered which would massively increase the traffic, increase the engagement and (hopefully) sales. Problem is that I don't really know how to integrate a blog into the existing site; my first thought was wordpress What is the best way to do it?
On-Page Optimization | | PremioOscar0 -
Dealing with spelling variations
Hi, my site is a directory for restaurants seen on TV. The two most popular shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Man v. Food often are searched for by a number of different variations. Diners DriveIns Dives, Diners, Drive Ins Dives, Man v Food, man versus food, etc. Should my site consistently use a single variation (the official one) or intentionally use multiple variations to cover various keywords? I'm pretty sure the answer is a single variation but figured it was worth asking.
On-Page Optimization | | tvfoodmaps1 -
Can I force an update of Grade Reports?
It looks like my weekly crawl has finished, but my Grade Reports still reflect last week. Is there a way to manually update them, or do I just have to wait it out?
On-Page Optimization | | FDAitsupport0 -
Will deleting excess self serving links from old posts damage established ranking
My SEOmoz report showed many posts with "too many links." I can easily go back into wordpress and delete self serving links. But is there a downside to this if these posts are already ranked well on google search for the desired key words? Or will deleting the excess self serving links improve ranking
On-Page Optimization | | wianno1680