The “2nd page SEO strategy” can be an AMAZING way to update old blog posts in an attempt to gain SEO rankings. And NO, it’s NOT just “adding more words.” That’s a useless strategy without important context!
For the past 48 hours, I have been holed up in a hotel room in Atlanta, GA.
By myself…
Studying blog SEO…
Kinda sad, isn’t it?
So while I’ve gotten a ton of work done here, there is one strategy I’ve learned that I REALLY needed to share with you.
There’s a ton of SEO content written about keyword research, backlinks, etc–but there’s not enough of this strategy.
Here’s what I did in less than 30 minutes yesterday:
The above image is for a random post I wrote targeting the keywords “blogging tools for beginners,” showing it at the #10 spot.
After about 20 minutes of work, I sent a “Fetch as Google” request (we’ll look at what this is in a second), and promptly jumped up 3 spots.
Woot!
Update: It’s now rank #1 ?
How to revamp SEO on your old blog posts:
Please allow me to introduce what I call “The 2nd Page Strategy.”
The reason I call it this is simple: If an old blog post isn’t even on the 2nd (MAYBE the 3rd) page of Google, don’t bother with this strategy.
What we’re really trying to do is find something that’s doing well, and help it do really well.
Step 1 – Track your SERPs and actually recognize how you’re ranking 🙂
So, I use Ahrefs, which is pricey, but you can also useSERPWatcher (comes with the KWFinder suite), which is pretty dang awesome at $30/mo (waayyy cheaper than Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc).
However, you can totally track your SERPs for free!
Yes, this will feel very “manual,” but hey, it’s free.
Here’s the free Google template used in this example.
- Whenever you publish a piece of content, write down the name and the keywords you’re targeting.
- Leave it alone for a few weeks.
- Periodically check back in, do a quick Google search for the keywords, and check to see where you’re at….
- If you’re NOT on the first 3-4 pages….don’t go searching further. Just put down “N/A” in the rank column 🙂
That’s it.
Remember, the goal is to find the posts that are doing well…and go back and turn them into really well!
Step 2 – Analyze the SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
What’s that you say?
You’ve got a post ranking in the top 30ish for your targeted keyword?
Congrats! Now let’s get to top 5ish ?
- Google your keyword.
- Open the top 10 or 20 results in new tabs (depends on how thorough you want to be!)
- BROWSE (not read all the way) through the results, one by one, taking notes.
Before we talk about what notes to jot down specifically, it’s incredible important to understand the following.
Google in 2019 is all about user intent.
More than ever before, Google understands the actual user intent behind users’ search queries. “What is this user REALLY looking for with this particular search query?”
When you browse the search results for your keywords, you are trying to find a pattern of user intent topics.
- Browse through the top 5-10 posts that are ranking already.
- Note the different topics and sub-topics they talk about.
For example, if we were targeting “blog traffic strategies,” we might look at page 1 of Google and determine that…
- 9 out of 10 posts include topics relating to guest posting
- 3 include mentions of Quora
- 8 include topics relating to improving SEO
- 0 mention listening to the DYEB podcast 7 days a week. ??
What you’re after is a pattern. More specifically, a part of the pattern YOUR blog post might not have…or could use more of.
Re-read that ?
If all the top 10 search results spent a HUGE amount of time writing about guest posting in the example above, and mine only has 1 sentence….what do you think Google thinks?
That my content is not comprehensive?
Step 3 – Adapt your content to the pattern, making it more comprehensive.
You’re already on page 2-3, so the GREAT news is you won’t have to do hours and hours of work!
In fact, if you’ve spent 10-20 minutes analyzing those other blog posts, chances are you’ll be in a great spot to update your own blog post in a matter of minutes.
It shouldn’t take an extra 1,000 words (unless you just want to?)
Add in any missing components of “the pattern” you hopefully discovered in part 2.
Remember the SEO goal here: Satisfy the USER INTENT for your keywords.
That’s what that pattern represents, at least in Google’s eyes, right this second. Thosetopics found in the top 20 search results.
Here’s what to add to your old blog posts:
If you’re lazy…or otherwise didn’t find the first few steps very fruitful, there are a few other things you can do to update old blog posts.
1 – Update outdated information.
Some examples, times, dates, etc, may have been relevant when you first published the post, but aren’t now. Update them.
2 – Add more media!
For real totally. Add more revenant pictures and/or video embeds! Google loves these.
Whenever I see Neil Patel’s high-ranking content, I’m always blown away with the amount of images he has in his posts.
3 – Make the intro quick and readable.
It’s always a good thing to
- Keep people scrolling down the page
- Get people engaged with the MEAT of the content quicker.
While these may seem like they’re at odds with one another, they aren’t.
Keep your intros nice and snappy.
With one liners like this.
Or…
- bullet points
- short catchy images
- etc
All designed with one purpose…
To get em scrolling.
4 – Add more, ya know, words.
As long as whatever you write is in line with user intent? And is relevant?
Go nuts.
Add an extra 250 words. An extra 2,500.
That whole relevant thing is the tricky part though. You can’t just add more random words about the PB&J sandwich you’re currently obsessed with.
(Unless you run a PB&J blog, in which case shoot me your URL!)
No, you’re gotta keep it on-topic.
5 – Check for broken links (and remove them)
Head to https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/ , which is my preferred free method for scanning your blog for broken links!
If the software spits anything back at you–just head into that content and fix/remove the broken links!
Psst – If you just want to check your old blog post for broken links specifically–you can use the free Chrome extension Check My Links ?
Use “Cmd/cntrl-F” to search your content for old dates, etc.
- Mac = Command-F
- PC = Control-F
This brings up the “find” function, and you can use it to search for outdated information–such as “2018” if you want to update the year, etc.
My challenge to you…
Do this this weekend, but set a timer.
Give yourself 30 minutes MAX.
(To be fair, let’s say 30 minutes AFTER you’ve found a post you’re ranking for in the top 30-40).
Also–if you enjoyed this post, you might wanna check how this one: SEO Category Pages – What are they and how to update them!
44 Responses
Wow, this is so simple, yet I never thought of doing it lol. I’m glad it’s easy to understand and I can do maybe 1 post a day for a week or so and see how it goes? I use semrush to get the top 10 keywords with the highest ranking for my site. But it was more of a cool amusement factor than trying to improve it haha. I have about 20 keywords that are in the first 2 pages, but I guess I just assumed they’d rank higher eventually if my site got more views? Clearly, I am so wrong and know nothing about SEO.
If it goes well, maybe I can use the paid subscription of your tool :). 30 minutes a day doesn’t sound terrible if I can rank in the front page.
CLEARLY NOTHING. No, just kidding of course.
Any given ranking could go up over time as your traffic increases, but if it’s been out a while already, it’s unlikely to jump up magically; you’d have to go back and update the content a bit!
Definitely do this for a few posts and let me know how it goes. I’d be super curious to know 🙂
Thanks for this information Pete! I am going back to some of the posts I’ve written lately to re-vamp my SEO readiness!!
Jessica ||Cubicle Chic
Well you are more than welcome! 🙂
Great article Pete!
I know what I’m going to spend the weekend doing…
Golfing?
Wow… seems like such a “DUH” concept now that you’ve put it so simply. I love things that are right in front of your face. Thanks for breaking it down so nicely.
Thanks for sharing lovely and appreciative comments 🙂
Hi Pete, great article. I’m just about to break for the summer holidays (I’m a teacher in England). My blog has only been running for 3 months, am trying to learn as much as I can about SEO. I have 2 questions that I’m struggling to find answers to.
1. I use Yoast as a guide for SEO and it always wants a focus keyword which I research and put in but should I be putting other keywords within the body of my blog posts?
2. Should H2 subheadings be keywords I’ve not used as my focus keyword?
Sorry if these seem amateurish but I want to get my posts working the best the can.
Could I drop my url here for some feedback?
Thanks. I love the podcasts!
1 – Probably, but it needs to be 100% organic and natural writing. Check out LSI Graph to find some related KWs.
2 – For H2, you can include your main keywords (once maybe), some LSI KWs (see above), popular questions about your topic (found by searching google or from Answer the Public (google it)), etc. These should hit the major sub-topics and questions about your primary focus keywords–if that makes any sense.
Hope that helps!
OOOhh, this is a good strategy. Planning on trying this next blogging batch schedule instead of producing fresh content. Thanx for the tip!
You’re more than welcome!
hello .
i have a question . i have published a post about 10 days ago . and after that started to link building in social networks like twiter, linkdin and … .
after 10 days in destination keyword its appear in last result of page 5 . do i need to wait for more days ?
and after that if my post did not appear in first 3 page, what is the plan B ?
THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING ME
Plan = get more links! 🙂
I loved reading it! My blog section was almost died, I’ll be working with these tips to give it a new life. BTW, Pete, a quick question, as you’ve written in this article that if you’re not ranking on the 2nd or 3rd page of Google then don’t bother.
What if my main keyword is “Marketing Strategies” and I am nowhere on this keyword but I am ranking on a 2nd/3rd page for other long tail keywords such as “Marketing Strategies that you should follow” with less volume.
Should I still be working on improving these articles? Hope I am making sense lol!
Thank You
Great question–totally your call!
I’d say “yay” or “nay” based on the combined traffic of those long-tails (ideally grouped together).
If you don’t have access to that info (via ahrefs or SEMrush or something)–go back and update/make better anyways 😉
Thanks, Pete for replying!
I found what I was looking for in this article. Very concise. Thanks.
De nada 🙂
thanks a lot .. was going to buy PBN for my site to improve my position for one keyword..but likely Your site give my post the required push.. Now I am at 6th position for a keyword.. quite competitive.. from few days traffic has increased to 450 visitors from just 80 visitors before.. got couple of sales too.
Huge! Nice work Chris.
And please don’t buy PBN links. Not worth it at all–Glen Allsopp and I even talked about this in our chat. [SEO Legends] Glen Allsopp on Reviewing 500+ Websites and the Future of Link Building
I’ve updated one of my posts when I read this article. It was on the second page of Google, specifically at the #21 spot.
I just rechecked the Google (after 10 days), and I’m on the first page of Google, spot #10! The update took me like 30 minutes at max!
Thanks, Pete!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad to hear it 🙂 🙂
I’ve been blogging for the past 200 years, and have been pretty much run out of ideas. Your post is the first in a long time to give me a new direction. Thanks.
200 years??? 🙂
blogging for the past 200 years. Who I am talking too?
After i uptade the published date on wordpress, should i send the same url to google search console again?
If you want! It can help speed the process up, but it still won’t be instant 🙂
This is super helpful! I do have a question about images though. I have a post that is ranking on page 2 of google for my keyword and the images from that post were on the first page of the image search results for that keyword. I went through to update the post and make it better, partly by editing my images and compressing them to speed up the site. But now those images are no longer ranking in google because the original ones are gone. Should I not edit photos that are ranking or should I edit them to improve the post and risk losing the image ranking? Also will that affect my post ranking too? Thanks!
This seems 50/50 to me–and the real (but unhelpful at this point) answer is: compress all images automatically upon upload (using ShortPixel or something).
Now that I think about it a little more–I think I’d be more comfortable temporarily losing image ranking if it’ll help the post rank better.
Hopefully that helps. Get the post to rank on page 1 🙂
Thanks so much! I’ll go ahead and update my images then and not worry about the image ranking. Really appreciate your help, and love your podcast by the way!
Very Very interesting love it
Great article!
This is great I have 3 articles in mind that I want to apply this for but at the beginning you said you did a “fetch as google” how do you do that?
Use this! 🙂 🙂 https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/googlebot-fetch?pli=1
I have an article that is very specific for the year OF 2019 ” best of 2019 …-article”. I have a good amount of backlinks to that post already. I’m doing a similar post for 2020 where the structure is going to be exactly the same, but the content needs to be updated (99% of it) to make sure it will be relevant for 2020. Is it better to create a separate post for the new article or can I update the old article and just use the same URL where I have the links already?
That is super hard, only because you mentioned 99% needs to be updated.
Does it really though? Is the content substantially different? Seems odd, but I suppose it’d depend on the topic 🙂
If it is THAT different, I’d make a new post (but definitely link to the new post from the old one!)
Hi Pete,
Great post.
And, as others have found, it works!
I recently tried it with my very first post (https://richiesroom.com/collecting-a-new-puppy-make-it-a-happy-experience/ ) and gained a few places (up from first on page 2 to 7th on page 1). For such a small amount of effort its amazing the difference it makes.
Cheers,
Richie
This is really amazing Post Pete ❤️
Can you suggest any plugins to update my old post.
Hey Pete! Cool post. What do you recommend for a post that’s doing well? Say it’s at #1 or #2 and you see it could do even better? Some say it’s too big of a risk to add to a post that’s doing well and you should keep the changes to a minimum. But what does “minimum” even mean? Suppose you see it could be improved by ranking for adjacent search terms and really raking in a lot more traffic? How much can you change it and not lose rank?
That’s impossible question to answer, I’m afraid.
Nobody knows but the Google overlords IF and HOW MUCH your rankings might change.
Personally, if something’s at the #1 or #2 spot for the “parent” keyword (most searched for), I’d leave it well alone!
If it starts dropping, update. Ideally–you’d never lose rankings from genuinely making a post better.
This is an awesome and in-depth guide for all the SEO experts who thinking of updates their old contents.
Thank You very very much for those informations
Great post!