Every month, there are 70 million blogs posted. (Hosting Tribunal). That means each blog post you publish is fighting tooth and nail for attention on the internet. And for most people, it's a losing fight.

More than 100 people never see 89% of blog posts, and only 1% receive views of more than 1,000 people (CoSchedule).

So how do you make sure your post is one of the 1%? Well, one way is by refreshing and updating blog posts that you've already published.

Why Blog Posts Need Continual Updates

You might think the idea of updating an old blog post seems kind of pointless. No one's going to see the old stuff you posted months or even years ago.

Nope! Actually, due to the nature of search engine optimization, someone searching in 2020 could find your 2016 blog post on the first page of their SERP. That's mostly why we do content marketing--because of the SEO opportunities. So if you want to keep your content evergreen and get the most bang for your content strategy buck, you need to make sure even your old posts are polished up.

By A/B testing things like headlines, content length, and CTAs, you can find the blog post update combo that will boost your post's Google rankings--all without writing a new piece of content. Work smarter, not harder!

What Blog Features To Optimize and Tweak

Headlines

Your blog's headline is the hook. It's what draws people in and makes them want to know more. If your headline is lackluster, no one is going to care what you have to say. That's why a simple blog post update like tweaking your title can majorly boost your clicks.

Here are a few quick tips for writing catchy headlines:

• Frame it in a lens of helping. When people are searching on Google, they usually have a problem they need to solve.
• Suggest a better way of doing something. Headlines with the words "better" and "best" tend to receive more clicks. (CoSchedule)
• Our brains like numbers, so, if it makes sense, include them in your article. If you're writing a list, tell the reader how many things are on it. You can also have a statistic to back up your claim. For example: "This Crazy Norweigan Running Technique Will Make You 138% Faster!" (Smart Blogger)
• Don't be afraid to get emotional. Studies show that headlines with emotional content get shared more (CoSchedule).

One word of crucial advice--if you're going to update the title of a post, make sure you don't remove or change any of the keywords in your title. If you do, your SERP ranking might suffer.

CTA's

Suppose you want to use your content strategy to convert visitors into customers (which I'm assuming you do). In that case, you need to have a killer call to action (CTA). Whether it's embedded in the article's text or is a separate button, having the right CTA can dramatically change your conversion rate. When it comes to updating your blog's CTA, you can change the copy, color, font, shape, and size.

Here are some tips for updating your CTAs:

• Use action words like "click", "sign-up", "register", "start", or "download." These terms tell people exactly what they get from clicking on your CTA.
• Make sure the graphic is big enough. According to Apple, a button should be no smaller than 44 megapixels, or it will be too difficult for people to click with their fingers on a touch screen. 
• Align the CTA offer with the blog post content. If the blog topic isn't related to the offer, there's no incentive for someone to convert.

At the end of the day, content marketing is about getting these conversions. Switching up your CTA is a quick and easy blog post update to keep things relevant.

Content Length

SEO experts will probably never stop arguing about how long a blog post or website page needs to be to rank well. In the end, while length matters, there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and there are other things that matter more.

But if you see a blog post struggling and you've already tried tweaking the title and CTAs, it might be a good idea to try switching up your content length. If you usually stick to 300 words (the absolute minimum), try to beef it up to 600-800 words. And don't be afraid to have a few posts that are much longer, between 1,500 and 2,000 words. 

On the flip side, if you've got many lengthy pieces, consider republishing some of them in a shortened version. Attention spans are small these days, so that that brevity can be a virtue.

Stay On the Cutting Edge of Marketing

You're not done with a blog post after you hit "publish." There's always room for experimentation and improvement. With just a few simple blog post updates, you can dramatically improve your content marketing ROI. 

That's true on a much bigger scale, too. If you want real improvements in your business growth, you need to stay on the cutting edge of digital experimentation. Rizen can help you get there. Contact us today to learn more about partnering with us to power your growth.