Thankfully, Blogger has made things a lot easier in the four months since my original post, and it's pretty simple to tweak your old blog posts to maximise their effectiveness (I'm using Blogger in Draft; so for some of you these tweaks might not be applicable). What these tweaks will do is help people find your posts better and improve your traffic (and your comments, likes, shares, and general awesomeness as a blogger).
Fix broken images
This is such a big thing. People are far more likely to read your post if you have a picture to go along with it (even if the picture isn't 100% relevant/interesting). A lot of my older posts have broken images because I've just pasted in the image URL from some other site. Once that other site takes the picture down, you lose it too. Always upload images to your own blog. Credit sources where you need to, but always, always host them yourself.
Blogger also lets you add alt text to describe your images too, which helps when people use Google image search to find pictures, leading them to your blog. Type into Google Image Search "blogger logo with wrench" and the first result is the picture you see above, leading you to my original tweaking post.
Inter link
This is a great way to send some traffic back and forth between posts and to increase their presence. This post is a great example. As you saw, I linked to my original post at the top because it's relevant. What I'll do once this is published is go back to my original post and link to this. Not only will visitors be able to travel back and forth between the two, but giving the older post a link to this new one (which could be more popular because I have more readers now than I did then) will give it extra authority in the eyes of The Internet Gods, making your blog better as a whole.
This also works with links to labels/tag/categories. If I'm doing a general blog post about Terry Pratchett, for example, I'll link to my label so people can read everything I've written a bout him. Doing this enables people to navigate deep into your blog and find good posts that they wouldn't have otherwise seen.
Get with the now
How many times have you changed your blog's colour scheme/template/layout? If you're like me, several times. What I didn't realise is that it can seriously mess up the way your old posts look to the reader. This happened to my Jason Engle fantasy art showcase; it was a mess. Pictures everywhere, broken links to other sites, it looked horrible. So I cleaned it up, edited my text a little to make it sound a little better and I think it's had a positive effect.
[Headshot image source]
[Headshot image source]
Do you have any tips for tweaking old blog posts? If anyone wants any more or more in depth info about tweaking (the bigwigs call it 'optimizing') then let me know!
I've always uploaded images. Haven't linked to older posts though. Need to do that more often. Fortunately my current layout has remained the same for almost the entire duration of my blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. Can I put Natalie on my blog post tonight? She'd like it there...
ReplyDeleteA Really good idea when uploading images is to give the files meaningful names......Natile Porter.jpg will get a higher hit rate that the same file that is called D2310_101.jpg
ReplyDeleteJust a suggestion.
Shaun July Giveaway @ ValleysShutterBug
Oh interesting, I hadn't thought of doing someof these things--especially checking old links. I'll need to do that.
ReplyDeleteJaims, I'm contemplating a switch to WordPress. What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI have to get around to doing this. I know there are a lot of old posts with images I have to fix . . . but I always procrastinate.
ReplyDeleteI should probably interlink a little bit more, but I am more likely to link to other people. However, I am trying to make my blog look more friendly, including adding a picture to most posts. On the other hand, I haven't changed my layout at all since I started blogging.
ReplyDeleteTrue, your style has stayed consistent throughout. It might just be that I'm indecisive :)
ReplyDeleteSo long as you bring her back before midnight :)
ReplyDeleteGood point - this works especially well with pictures of book covers and movie posters. I usually combine the file name with the alt tag to give a full description of the image to maximise the chances of someone finding it.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how many links in my old posts had died, so people were being led off a blogging cliff, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThat's a tricky one - I know bloggers who've made the switch from Blogger to WordPress, and vice versa, and both swear by their decision. Apparently WordPress have started charging for a lot of their services so you might get caught out further down the line.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both :) Once you do, it'll make things work a lot better for you,, especially if you link back to your old posts so we know they're there :)
ReplyDeleteLinking to other people us useful too, but both that and interlinking can be a bad thing if overdone. A few here and there will make things a little better all around :) Always make a point of adding at least 1 image to every post; it'll make things more engaging. Seeing a block of text and nothing else makes people go "TL;DR" and click off.
ReplyDeleteOh, yikes. I know I probably should do this, but I'm afraid I'm just way too lazy! Now I feel guilty... great tips, though, for when I do get up off my arse!
ReplyDeleteGood advice and good site,
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I know what you mean; I tend to only rework the older posts that Blogger throws up as being the most popular since I know people are still looking at them. One day I'll redo my old reviews and make them work properly ... one day.
ReplyDeleteThanks David :)
ReplyDeleteNot just broken images - copyrighted ones too! Actually, you're just the person who can answer my question: if I go back and edit an old post, it stays where it is, right? It doesn't suddenly jump to today's date?
ReplyDeleteI really like the tip about linking to your own categories. I forget about that option frequently, and it would be so useful!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, while I try to keep my old posts cleaned up, mostly I don't take much advantage of optimizing. :/
Also thanks for the tip about alt-text. I didn't know I could do that! Been having some fun with that in my archives.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Deniz :) I learned a lot later about using other people's images - I still need to go back and re-credit. If you go back and change a post, it still keeps the original date, so it won't pop up again in someone's feed or anything (you can change the publishing date though)
ReplyDeleteIf you've a lot to say on a subject (e.g. this place and zombies, I seem to ramble on a lot about them) then the category link is useful.
ReplyDeleteHa, I had quite a bit of fun with it when I first discovered I could add it easily on Blogger too :)
ReplyDelete