Updating Old Blog Posts

Updating Old Blog Posts Can Add Value to Blogs.

(UPDATED: October 23, 2011)

For those who have blogged for a long while, you sometimes look back on your old posts. Some are still vastly viewed, and some others are basically dead. A bunch of my past posts don't mean anything anymore and are outdated. So how do you deal? Among most bloggers, the ability to update old content is paramount to further success and usefulness of blog posts. On the other hand, some old blog posts (or at least those with topics of certain value) actually become a target for spammers. As a confession, I have not done as many "Car Style" blog posts because of spam concerns. I fear people only find the posts just to post an innocent comment that links to some spam site. You'll understand if you actually try to track the progress of your blog as I usually like to do. For spammers, it basically works like this for old blog posts: plug in a certain search term, somehow come across any blog or site, post a comment, and you been spammed by a non-genuine commenter. Try that crap here, and I'll just shoot down the suspicious comment and blacklist the supposed spammer. You're welcome to my blog, but there are rules here.

This blog post is basically an announcement regarding some of my oldest blog posts, but it also provides some advice on if you should update your oldest blog posts.

LATEST UPDATE(S):

OCT 23 2011 - comments disallowed (anti-spam measure)

--- Updating Old Blog Posts ---

I am announcing that some of my old blog posts will face one of three different fates. I will also provide some blogging insight for those of you who have blogged for a good amount of time. Please have a good read of my material to understand where I'm coming from.

The Fate of Ill-Viewed Blog Posts of Mine.

So if you have somehow seen some of my oldest blog posts, some of them will face certain fates. What kinds of fate? Any of the following:

• be deleted for good.
• be taken and revamped as new blog posts.
• remain on the blog, but have updated dates and content to appear new.

Why am I taking these measures? I want to make and maintain this blog of mine. Back in the past, I had only so many blog hits. Nowadays, I'm getting about 1,700 to 2,000 blog hits daily (I want to get back to the days of 3,000 blog hits daily). This is a chance for some of my newer blog readers to see some of my very old blog posts be given new life.

Being able to take old blog posts to be worked on privately is an advantage to using NoteTab. I can save copies of past blog posts (including those I've already released) and put them in text files to be edited. That's how I am able to take blog posts and then edit them again and again to enhance my content. The end goal is to please you- the reader. To read more about how I blog using NoteTab [Light], please visit my blog post, "NoteTab" here on John's Blog Space.

Adding New Life to Old Blog Posts.

Some blogging pros even recommend you take some of your oldest posts and give them new life. That's either by updating your posts, or you can delete old posts and make brand-new ones. One of my most popular blog posts has had a resurgence because of taking an old post and making a new one. What post in particular, you ask? It was "Dresses with Cowboy Boots," my blog post about the unusual combination of pairing girly sundresses with cowboy boots. It is a popular post because people are sharing it and that I've mentioned Taylor Swift as inspiration for that post. You may never know how popular certain old posts can become. I try to keep my material as useful down the road as I can.

You would think that "anything and everything" means that I would never run out of things to discuss in my blog. However, you'd be wrong. Some of my oldest blog posts have very little views. In rare instances, there were recent posts about topics... I blogged about a long time ago. Yes, there is a such thing as posting a new blog post on something you had already posted a long time ago! Even my sometimes photographic memory runs out of exposures at times (so to speak). There are many topics that I'm surprised doesn't have as many views as they could have now that I've gotten much greater support and a bigger audience now than I have had in the past. So to reflect these changes, I must work to improve my past posts and re-invent my content.

What Does This Mean to You?

It means that you will get to see more posts from me, especially from old blog posts that seldom have any number of views to even be considered acceptable. Only some of my poorest-viewed content will be brought back and with perhaps a new style to help boost viewership of my blog.

And really, most of the "useless" posts are a lot of my very old Gran Turismo-themed posts. Many of them don't mean anything anymore since they were in speculation of Gran Turismo 5. This was before I eventually decided to make my "John's Gran Turismo Space" blog as my Gran Turismo-exclusive blog. In addition, a lot of my past Fashion and Style posts have very poor view counts. I may work to enhance those with more content as well. Some of my least-viewed Fashion and Style posts (believe it or not) mostly pertain to fashion accessories I've mentioned. There were also some fashion topics that just didn't get as much attention. Those will be re-worked or updated to try to get some more views.

A lot of my old blog posts have the same closing to try to get more readers. Many of them have to be updated at the end. For example, I once had "Subscribe to the all-new Gran Turismo Space" be replaced with "Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space," for example. My edits range from simple to complete overhauls. It is all in pursuit of the best-possible reading experience for all who visit.

What I am Careful of in Updating...

I don't want to update any post just because it's old. Some of my most-viewed blog posts are old, like my posts on long hair, gaucho pants, and others. I do not just want to make new versions just to get more people to view. I also do not want to delete old posts just to make way for updated content. Some of my oldest posts are kept active for archiving. Some of those archived posts, however, will have to be updated to be consistent with how I do posts now compared to posts then. So I have a tough decision to try to give new life to old blog posts.

Should You Update Your Oldest Blog Posts?

It depends. If you feel you have content that can be of use even in this day and age, feel free to edit your most special blog posts. Make a push to enhance past blog posts or even reward your current readers with updated content. Either update or re-release past posts. This helps you to get a little more viewership.

(IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED) One of the latest services I'm using to update blog posts is dlvr.it. When you post a new blog post or update certain blog posts, your changes are often reflected using dlvr.it. You can feed your latest posts through Facebook, Twitter, or whatever other online media you use. A recommendation I make is to put in update information. All of my updated posts have an "(UPDATED: (month) (day), (year))" section at the top to reflect an old blog post that was updated. Any old blog posts that I deleted and then made updated copies of have information on the blog's original date in the introduction. So I recommend "dlvr.it" if you plan on feeding your latest blog posts to others. It helps you feed your material through some social networking medium to enhance exposure.

--- Updating Old Blog Posts: Resources ---

So do you want to update some of your old blog posts with new content? If so, here are some resources on updating old blog posts:

• Updating Old Posts On Your Blog
• 4 Reasons To Update Old Blog Posts
• Reward Your Readers: Update Old Blog Posts

More resources may be added in future edits.





Because I want to increase viewership of my blog and get more people to read lots more of my content, I am taking these steps to help keep "John's Blog Space" relevant. I won't just update ANY blog post, however. I only will update certain posts one at a time just to enhance viewership. I am just doing this on a casually professional basis. This is my blog, but I am not doing this on any sort of business. I am not crazy about the whole SEO (search engine optimization) thing or anything like that.

So thank you for reading! You may see some posts from the past be given new life or brand-new blog posts of old posts. PLEASE do me a favor (or multiple favors) if you love my blog:

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
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