Why Businesses Hire Someone Just to Update Old Blogs

A lot of people assume a blog is a “publish it and move on” marketing channel, but older posts can lose traffic, become outdated, compete with newer content, or stop matching what people are actually searching for.

That’s why some businesses hire someone specifically to manage and update their existing blog content rather than create new posts. Blog outsourcing helps businesses keep existing content updated without adding another task to their plate. 

Updating old blogs isn’t just proofreading. It’s an SEO and content strategy designed to get more value from content you’ve already invested in.

What Does It Mean to Update an Old Blog?

A blog update involves so much more than changing a few sentences.

When I’m doing a blog update for a client, I’m reviewing:

• Outdated information, statistics, examples, and links
• Broken links
• New internal linking opportunities
• The content (what can be removed or added)
• Heading content and text tags
• SEO titles and meta descriptions
• Formatting (breaking up long paragraphs, adding bullet points, adding headers, etc.)
• Grammar and spelling
• Old or broken images
• Brand voice
• Indexing

Most of the time, I also make the post longer. The point of a blog update is to provide better value to the reader, which means adding missing context.

Why Do Old Blog Posts Need to Be Updated?

Refreshing old content is almost as valuable as posting an entirely new blog. Google values older posts that have been steadily earning search traffic. Those pages already have some credibility, so you usually see traffic improvements faster.

Google wants to see that you post new, fresh content, and that doesn’t necessarily mean a brand new blog. It absolutely means making sure all the content on your website is updated and current. Even if a blog is ten years old, someone is clicking on it TODAY, which means it needs to be relevant to TODAY. 

Information changes, search intent changes, your competitors are publishing new content, your business changes… A content refresh is needed for user experience and search success.

Does updating an old blog help SEO?

Blog updates can improve relevance and usefulness, but a refresh doesn’t guarantee higher rankings or traffic. It gives you a better chance, but no one can hack the Google algorithm and guarantee rankings. 

I had a client see a 143% increase in traffic just one month after I made SEO updates, so this does work!

Why Hire Someone to Update Old Blogs?

At first glance, blog outsourcing for updates probably feels silly, but once you understand the strategy that goes into it, you might change your mind.

Here’s why some of my clients have hired me to update their old blogs:

Know What to Look For

If you read through your old content, you probably think it sounds fine (or maybe you’re too scared to go back and read old posts because you know it’s bad).

I can look at everything from an outside perspective and make unbiased recommendations. All I’m trying to do is make the post better for your business. Sometimes that means tearing the blog to shreds (sorry not sorry), and sometimes that means adding more value.

Here’s what my client Sara has to say about this:

“She’s so great about noticing the little things I’d never even realized, like broken links or outdated info, and I LUVVV working with her.”

Can Find the Posts Worth Updating

Not every old blog deserves a refresh, but it’s hard to decide which ones to start with when they’re all old.

Here are some ways I decide if a blog is worth updating:

• It’s ranking on page two of Google
• It used to get traffic but doesn’t anymore
• The topic is still relevant to your business
• The information is outdated
• The blog generates leads (or used to)
• It has valuable backlinks
• The keyword is still worth targeting
• You cringe thinking about it

Can Update Without Starting From Scratch

A refresh can preserve the useful parts of an existing blog while improving the sections holding it back. This can be more efficient than creating an entirely new piece of content every time there’s an opportunity. A blog that’s built out with tons of great information does better in search results than smaller pieces that just touch the surface of a topic.

Can Handle the SEO Details

Updating an old blog can involve dozens of small decisions that are easy to overlook.

I handle:

• Keywords
• Headings
• Metadata
• Internal links
• Image optimization
• URLs

This is usually where I spend most of my time. I find that people usually have a lot of great information to share in their blogs, but they don’t know SEO. So they post the content without optimizing it, then wonder why it’s not performing in search results.

Keeps Your Business Relevant

I even cringe thinking about what I used to write before I transitioned from a VA to a blog writer. 

My top-performing post (yes, even still 🙄) is The Best and Worst Places to Find Clients for Your Online Business.

Before I updated it, I was talking about Facebook Groups, Fiverr, and referrals, which is how I got VA clients. 

But after I transitioned to a blog writer, I updated it to better match my expertise. Now, it talks about using SEO, emails, and blogging as strategies to get more clients. 

How Often Should Businesses Update Old Blog Posts?

If you haven’t reviewed a blog post in over a year, it’s worth taking a look at. I bet you have more to add, or at least a new link to include.

For the blogs that drive a lot of traffic for you, I think it’s worth looking at every 6 months. Instead of updating posts just because they’re old, prioritize them based on performance, relevance, and opportunity.

Is Updating Old Blogs Better Than Writing New Blogs?

Sometimes, but not always. New content helps you build topical coverage and target new opportunities. Updates help maintain and improve the content already working for you.

The best blog strategies include both. Many people look into blog outsourcing to update neglected content before publishing more new posts.

Is updating an old blog the same as rewriting it?

No. I take what you already have and make strategic changes to improve its search rankings. Some blogs need more updates than others, but I don’t start fresh with blog updates.

When Should You Hire Someone to Manage Blog Updates?

If you’ve never updated old blogs, that’s a good place to start 🙃

Some reasons people ask me to update old blogs are:

• Have years of blog content but don’t know what is worth revisiting.
• Organic traffic has declined.
• Don’t have time to maintain older content.
• Industry changes frequently.
• Can create new content but don’t have the bandwidth for ongoing optimization.
• Know your old blogs need work but keep pushing updates to the bottom of the list.
• Want someone to monitor performance and proactively identify refresh opportunities.

Can I do this myself?

Of course you can. You built this entire business by yourself, so no one’s stopping you from reviewing old blog posts right now and making some updates. 

But… will you actually do it? And consistently? Will you know all the things to update? 

Many people turn to blog outsourcing when they have a backlog of old content but don’t have the time or expertise to maintain it. I’m here to make this part of your business easier so you can focus on the things you love. 

Don’t Let Your Best Blog Content Collect Dust

You might feel some pressure to constantly crank out new content, but sometimes you just need to get more out of the ones you already have.

An old blog isn’t automatically dead content. If it has traffic, rankings, backlinks, or a valuable topic, it’s worth improving.

Hiring someone to manage blog updates gives you a way to keep that content accurate, competitive, and connected to your current SEO strategy without adding another ongoing task to your plate.

And I’d be happy to do it for you! See what’s included in my Blog Updates package, and let’s get your old blogs out of 2018 and into the present day.