As much time as it takes to write a great post on your blog and get some attention from it — it disappears. That amazing post that was so well off just moves on from the front page and goes off to page two…three.…and sooner or later it is buried so far no one remembers it!
That is a major problem for all blogs, and one that is not always given much attention to. Keeping old posts alive and in the loop can really bring a lot more traffic to your blog than you think. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it can’t still bring in traffic to your blog!
There are a lot of posts here on Blogussion that are buried pages back that I would love to still have on the front page of the blog. I can’t just do that, because the newer posts on the blog wouldn’t get noticed this way. So, I came up with a few ideas of my own that can hopefully solve this issue and get older posts viewed by my readers again. Ideas that are going to be implemented here very shortly!
Numbered Page Navigation
Okay, so I included this as part of my 5 Improvements, 5 minutes post and a lot of you seemed to react the same towards it. Basically, if you look at the bottom of the homepage here on Blogussion — you will see a a numbered list of all of our pages of posts, opposed to the standard “previous” and “next post” links.
Not only is this useful for better page navigation, and some have even argued for SEO benefits — but it will make getting to older content easier. With a numbered navigation, a lot more possibilities open up as to where someone might end up reading on your blog.
The plugin I use on my blogs to display the numbered pages is called WP Page Numbers. In the comments of “5 Improvements, 5 minutes,” a reader pointed out an alternative to the plugin called WP-Pagenavi. Do you guys have any preference between the two plugins?
Keep your Popular Posts Popular
Do you list the most popular posts on your blog? If you do, then great work! If not, I advise you get a list of your popular posts up on your blog as soon as possible!
I like to have a list of the top posts on my blogs because it gives newer visitors a taste of some of my best content. If you notice in the sidebar here I have done that, and any other blog I have designed does the same.
You have to make sure your popular posts are very visible on your page. My best advice to keep them “above the fold.” In web design, “the fold” is what the user sees before they have to start scrolling down the page. Because it is so hard to impress visitors at first glance, you have to put your best content above that fold.
A popular place to show the most popular posts on blogs is in the sidebar. I keep them there, and thousands of others do too. Place them as high up in sidebar as you can so when someone visits your site, the first thing they see is your best content.
If you have banner ads high up in your sidebar, I strongly advice you push them down or remove them from your sidebar and replace them with your popular posts list. That is exactly what I did when I talked about the negative effects of banner ads on my community, and I do not regret it at all.
Try this at home: If you do have poor performing banner ads on your blog, try removing them and in place of them put your list of most popular posts. Leave it there for about a week and check to see if you see any changes in pageviews on the posts listed. I almost guarantee you that they will get viewed more.
“Stick” posts to the front page
WordPress has a new feature which I believe was released in version 2.7 called Sticky Posts. Basically, it’s an option you select in your posts panel and for whatever post you activate it for — that post will always be on top of your blog and never be pushed down the page by newer posts.
This is a truly great option as you can get a post from months back that may be extremely valuable and have it hanging out on your homepage for all of your newer visitors to check out.
I find that the sticky posts option and the teasers option in Thesis work great together. Since you can fit more posts on a single page with teasers, you can make multiple posts sticky and still keep new posts visible.
I’m not going to lie here, I actually got this idea from the marketing genius Marko Saric who uses this technique to keep his older, but extremely informative articles up top for his newer audiences to see. Don’t think it’s a smart move? This, and some other techniques contributed to Marko getting 200,000 visitors in his first year of blogging. Way to go man!
Create a list of YOUR favorite articles
Just like listing the most popular posts on your blog, a section where you pick out your favorite articles can work very well for getting older posts read.
Some of my best, most well received posts are sitting in the archives of this blog collecting dust. I hate the idea of that, so later this week (coming along with the design refresh…yes you heard it here first folks) there will be a big change to that and my older articles will get read.
If you’re unsure of what I am suggesting here, check out the homepage of ProBlogger. He picked out his favorite posts on his blog and he organized them into a little list on his blog. I’m sure those posts do very well on his blog now, and of course are buried back dozens and dozens of pages.
Quickfire tips
I always love this little section! I have already broken 1,000 words in this article and don’t want to explain each and every idea I had in full depth, so here are some more quick tips for you:
- Internal Linking — I linked to a couple of my past posts in this article. If you are reading this blog for the first time, chances are you never read those articles. Hopefully with the anchor text I used to show the link, you got interested and maybe opened the link in a new tab to read right after this post!
- Link to similar posts — At the end of each post, in your post footer, add a list of posts that are similar. You can do it inside your article, or you can put all of your trust into a plugin and have that generate similar posts for you.
- Add a search bar — Search bars are probably more valuable then you think. All people need to do is type in a keyword, and can automatically get linked to dozens of posts with that keyword in it.
- Archives page — Most bloggers have an archive page already. If your blog in particular doesn’t have one, think about adding one. When you really think about it, your archives page is really the best gateway to your older posts.
- Create a sneeze page — A sneeze page is a page you create and list your favorite posts, or posts you think are very valuable. Darren Rowse explains it great as a challenge in his 31 Days to Better Blogging challenge.
We have a sneeze page if you would like to see a great example of what one might be. It’s part of our From Planning to Earning guide, and we have created our sneeze page in our blogging guide section of the guide.
Just trying to keep your blog tidy
I hope you guys enjoyed this article. What are your tips for keeping old posts in the loop? Is there anything you would add on to anything I mentioned in this post? Let me hear all about them in the comments!
49 Discussions
One way to bring a post back to life is to tweet the post again (you don’t tweet it as a new post). You know, people forget things, they don’t and can’t memorize everything they read. Even if someone already read your post it helps to refresh his knowledge about the topic you have written in your post.
But don’t do this too often.
BlogInterface.net´s last blog ..What Do Readers Want To Hear From A Blogger
I really think this method is not only valuable to your blog but also to your twitter followers. I find great information all the time from other tweets with older posts in it. Sometimes I would not have found it any other way!
Seth´s last blog ..Very Straightforward Methods to Draw Traffic Back to Old Posts
Fantastic post!! I am loving this site more and more. I am learning so much about blogging. I will try these tips and give you an update in a week.
Thank you!
Arie Rich
Kmpblog.com
I would love to here how it goes! I am sure it will help to bring traffic to your older posts.
Great Post.
A good way to bring back your favorite posts back to life is to use the related posts plugin and by using the most popular posts plugin. It will make visiters stay on your site longer.
Teen Blogger´s last blog ..5 Popular Blogging Myths Revealed
This is a terrific post. Great ideas. I’m definitely going to use them!
Julie Simon Lakehomer´s last blog ..More Biological Guessing: Walking on Four Legs
We hope you do. Your blog looks great but it would be the extra effort to get new readers to check out your older posts.
Seth´s last blog ..Very Straightforward Methods to Draw Traffic Back to Old Posts
Yeah it is true, We spend hours and hours on writing a great article and in few days no one cares about it. Thanks for all the tips, I just added my favourite posts on a lists on my blog. Thanks
Yep. Nothing is more sad then seeing a post shrink into the shadows of a blog. Sending traffic to it over the long term makes it so much easier to write great content when you know it will be seen.
Seth´s last blog ..Very Straightforward Methods to Draw Traffic Back to Old Posts
A few of these had slipped my consideration – very nice tips! Gonna apply the one about numbered pagination immediately. Thanks!
Brandon Cox´s last blog ..Five Ways To Generate Discussion and Support Blog Comments
I think this will help. I’ve enjoyed reading your recent posts on your blog and Fuel My Blogging. Lots of great tips. I am sure these tips will help point your visitors to all of your great content.
Alex, I have the “popular posts” wordpress plug in doing its job on the footer – is that good? Or does it not give internal link juice?
Also, I would love a post on how to create those tabs (as pictured) in the post, NOT in the thesis theme. If i could ever get the tabs to work would a good use be – My Fav Posts, Popular Posts, Most Commented, and Archives?
Thanks,
Evan
P.S. BB Is a dirtbag
Hey Evan,
It doesn’t matter where they are as they will still give link juice. The only problem I can see with them being in your footer is that your human visitors, your most important visitors will be less likely to see them!
That would make a good tutorial I suppose. I will certainly put it into consideration!
PS: Who’s BB?
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
Hey, nice ways to get the traffic back to old posts. Like your writing. By the way, great site. Love the design.
Make Money Blogging Online´s last blog ..Blogging – A New Way to Market
Thanks! Glad you enjoy the blog.
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
I think use numbered page navigation can give big impact. I will try it soon.
Dana@Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Use Google Analytics
It does, and it most certainly has for us!
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
I use a random posts plugin to bring back my old posts back to life.
Mathdelane´s last blog ..Keywordluv Abuse and No Follow Free on Do Follow Blogs
Yes, the random posts plugin has a great way of doing that! You never know what post will show up.
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
Great post Alex, revisiting your old posts and updating them with current information is also a way to go.
Web Hosting Blog´s last blog ..Web Hosting for Small Business and for Blogs
Thanks! It may be a hassle at first, but even if you can just add a few links to older posts – you will be getting a benefit from it later.
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
Really effective way for fast indexing of old posts. Featured posts and random posts are really good. Thanks buddy for sharing this tip here.
Sanjeev´s last blog ..WP Smush.it Wordpress Plugin For Image Optimization
No problem, glad you enjoyed the article!
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
Awesome tips, Alex!
I think I’m going to have to try creating a list of my favorite posts for my blog, I never thought about it, but I guess if people want to read what I have to say they might be interested in what I find useful!
Jeremiah Hoyet´s last blog ..Increase Page Views With LinkWithin
Thanks a lot Jeremiah!
That definitely is an excellent way to get traffic back to your older posts. We did it here a few months back and it was an absolute success!
Great post, Alex! I believe adding a search bar and creating a list of popular and favorite posts will be the most effective.
Jade Higgins´s last blog ..15 Recommended Websites For Any Successful Affiliate
They’re simple additions, but they can have such a large impact on how posts are read.
Hey Alex, what related articles plugin do you use?
David´s last blog ..10 FREE Online Internet Marketing Tricks Every Business MUST Use!
It’s a plugin by Rob Marsh, just Google his name and it will show right up.
one of the reason for doing this may be an old post are so popluar that anyone’s attention could be stick to it while browsing blog, and hence there are chances of getting more and more traffic, even i do it too.
That’s true Frank, great point!
I think there are many plugins as well for this to show your past posts. In this way you can attract visitors to your old posts as well.
I prefer Wowzio and Linkwithin.
Social Bookmarking Service´s last blog ..Social Bookmarking Service
There’s a ton: related posts, popular posts, recent posts, random posts and so much more!
Wow! Thanks for reminding me to get my blog a “Best All-time Posts on TechChunks” section added to the sidebar ASAP. This is something I have been on my todo list forever but never could implement due to laziness. Thanks for providing the much needed push. You have got a cool blog here, BTW
TechChunks´s last blog ..Wolfenstein 2009. Revive Your Old Memories (Review)
It really works! We did it here a few months ago and the results were great. It brought life back to a few posts and I really was glad I did it.
In addition to the “sticky” post you can also run a featured article plugin. John Chow uses one that rotates 5 posts instead of just having 1 post at the top. It is a very nice supplement to popular posts and related posts.
While it doesn’t exactly drive people back to older post directly, having a recent posts plugin can also be helpful for keeping people on your page and expose them to more backlinks and related articles.
I’m really looking forward to your site redesign. You’re theme has a very clean look, so I’m excited to see what your new layout will look like since it will undoubtedly be an improvement!
Blake @ Props Blog Ideas´s last blog ..Crack Up Going Through The Let’s Play Archives
Yeah, John Chow has a great setup over on his blog. I’m sure that works great, especially considering the fact he has such a large readership!
Recent posts are definitely effective to help bring life to more current posts. On some themes (like ours) it may be a little excessive since we can hold so many posts on our home page, but not all bloggers have a similar setup.
“So, I came up with a few ideas of my own that can hopefully solve this issue and get older posts viewed by my readers again. Ideas that are going to be implemented here very shortly!”
hopefully? does that mean that they work or dont? or that you dont know that they work, but think they will? Has anyone above me tried these tips and do they work?
Thomas – they work. The question is all about how they are implemented. You need to find out “how” they work on your site, but indeed they do work. Highlighting older content always gets more traffic to it, but you need to evaluate the best way to do it on your site.
Actually, what I meant there was that I was still thinking about what ideas I was going to use from this post to add to the redesign of this blog. I would never blog about anything that didn’t work, I just meant that I was hopefully going to not be lazy and add them!
Great tips – I’ve had some really good results with the link within plugin which adds a list of relevant posts with images at the bottom of each post. I also use a popular posts plugin to help visitors explore a little more.
Clare Swindlehurst´s last blog ..Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper
That sounds like a pretty nifty plugin, I’m going to have to check it out!
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
A method I have used with fair success is to craft an article out of a good post. Of course , to make this work, the post needs to be considerable longer than the standard article submitted to an article directory.
As an example, for this post, I would use the headline, Ways to Keep Your Old Blog Posts Active. The trick here is that I would only include one or two methods in the actual article. I would indicate in the Bio Box that to read the whole article, please click through. This way I get a link to the post, visitors who want to read the rest of the post and possible syndication of my content.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Oct 26, Norman Rockwell Museum: Making Vacations Memorable
I am in the same boat as you Keith: headlines are crucial for catching people’s eye. Whether it’s on a social network site or on the blog itself – it all comes down to the headline.
Alex´s last blog ..8 Funny Things I Learned From Designing That I Apply to Life
Thanks for your tips buddy…If we do creative it will be popular…
Hi,
You really brought out a nice guide for keeping the shining starts always glowing. I like the idea of number navigation and sticky posts. I never thought of getting my posts sticky. Apart from Thesis, which is the suitable plugin for getting the posts sticky and that is handy too?
Thank you for a nice article full of useful tips.
- J.
One method I didn’t see mentioned (sorry if I missed it) is the “follow up post”. When some facts change months later about what you posted you do the “follow up” and link to the original post and vice versa – cross linking both. That drives relevant traffic both ways.
Matt´s last blog ..Our clients are “Simply The Best”
Excellent post. There’s plenty of good information correct here, although in order to do want to let you something — I’m running Ubuntu using latest beta of Firefox, and the actual layout your own blog is kind of quirky for me. I can understand the articles, the actual navigation doesn’t function therefore great.
Good tips for old posts. I use popular posts widget in my sidebar but I don’t agree with sticky posts feature for old posts on the main page. Main page should be always full of fresh content.
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