How to Know Which Old Blog Posts Need to Be Updated First

If you have dozens of blog posts, deciding where to start can feel overwhelming. You know updating old content can improve rankings, traffic, and conversions, but not every blog deserves the same amount of attention.

Strategic blog updates help you focus on the posts most likely to generate meaningful results. Let’s talk about how to identify which old blog posts are worth updating first and which ones can wait.

Why Updating Old Blog Posts Matters

Google loves fresh, accurate content. Freshness itself isn’t a ranking factor, but Google does reward content that remains accurate, useful, and relevant.

And that doesn’t always mean you need a brand-new post to stay fresh. You can take old content and update it.

Blog updates are usually faster than writing new posts. You’re taking a pretty good blog and making it better. It doesn’t take as long as outlining, researching, writing, and publishing a new one.

Remember, what Google cares about the most is providing a positive user experience, whether you write something new or make sure your old posts are still relevant.

8 Signs a Blog Post Should Be Updated

Before you just start from your oldest post and work your way down the list, it’s worth knowing what actually makes a blog a good choice. 

While every website is different, these common signs can help you identify which posts have the greatest potential to improve your traffic with a strategic blog update. 

1. It’s Ranking on Page Two of Google

Positions 11–20 are sometimes the biggest opportunity. They’re thiiiiiis close to ranking on page one, which will drive a lot more traffic. Not many people take the time to click on page two of search results. Even small improvements can be enough to bump it up a few positions.

2. It Used to Get Traffic but Doesn’t Anymore

Before you freak out that a blog isn’t getting traffic anymore, look in Google Search Console and see if this dip in traffic is seasonal. A dip doesn’t always mean something is broken.

But if it’s an actual loss in traffic, it probably means:

• Competitors are overtaking you
• The search intent changed
• You have outdated information

Real losses in traffic are worth an update.

3. The Topic Is Still Relevant to Your Business

Some topics become outdated, while others stay valuable for years.

I often find that when business owners start blogging, they fall into one of these categories:

• The topics they choose are way too broad. 
• They haven’t nailed their niche, so the topics aren’t relevant to what they’re doing now.
• They write about personal topics.

I commend them for actually blogging and committing to it! But now that they’re taking blogging more seriously, these older topics from when they started out are worth revisiting.

4. The Information Is Outdated

Not everything we write about is evergreen. Things change so quickly (remember the days before AI?), and we need to make sure our content is relevant to TODAY. Just because we wrote something 5 years ago doesn’t mean someone can’t find it from search results today.

5. The Blog Generates Leads (or Used To)

Sometimes a post doesn’t get huge traffic, but it converts extremely well. That’s WAY more valuable. These deserve high priority, especially if it used to convert and isn’t anymore. The potential is there!

6. It Has Valuable Backlinks

If other websites already trust this content, protect that authority. Updating keeps those links valuable and reduces the chance that the website linking to you will remove your link.

7. The Keyword Is Still Worth Targeting

Sometimes search volume changes or business priorities change. Are the keywords you’re targeting in your blogs still worth it?

Ask:

• Do I still offer this service?
• Is this audience still ideal?
• Does this keyword still have opportunity or did it get too competitive?

8. You Cringe Thinking About It

Honestly, if you just cringe thinking about the blog and secretly hope no one sees it, that’s a clear sign that it deserves your attention. We want to be proud of the work we put on our website!

How to Find Your Highest-Priority Posts

Maybe you resonated with a few of the signs you need to do some blog updates. Now how do you prioritize?

1. Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console is your best resource for finding blog updates.

Look for:

• High impressions + low CTR
• Rankings between positions 8–20
• Declining clicks
• Queries you’re almost ranking for

2. Review Your Content by Topic

Rather than updating randomly, group posts into categories. Use your content pillars as a starting point.

This often reveals:

• Content gaps — are you not talking about something enough?
• Cannibalization — are you talking about something too much?
• Internal linking opportunities

Which Blog Posts Can Wait?

Not every post deserves your immediate attention.

Examples:

• News-based content
• Topics no longer relevant 
• Posts targeting services you no longer offer
• Very low-quality posts with little search potential

Instead of a full blog update, sometimes it’s better to:

• Consolidate
• Redirect
• Delete
• Rewrite completely

Before you consolidate, redirect, or delete…

Check to see if the post is getting any traffic. Deleting content that still drives traffic can hurt your website.

For example, I wrote a blog about the best and worst places to find clients online back in 2020 when I was a virtual assistant. I have no business talking about that now because it has very little to do with blog writing. 

I thought about deleting it (because it was very cringy), BUT it still drives significant traffic to my website. Ugh. 

So I did a major blog update to it and completely changed the angle. Instead of recommending Facebook groups and Fiverr, I talk about the different ways blogging can help you get more clients.

Now, it’s more relevant to my services and worth keeping on my website.

If you decide to consolidate two posts that are pretty much the same, keep the one that’s driving more traffic. And don’t forget to create a redirect for the one you choose not to keep!

What to Update Once You’ve Chosen a Post

Once you’ve picked a blog to update, here’s what you need to update to ensure it remains a valuable resource for your audience.

• Refresh outdated information
• Improve the introduction
• Better satisfy search intent
• Add new sections
• Optimize headings
• Update keywords naturally
• Improve internal links
• Add FAQs
• Replace outdated screenshots
• Fix broken links
• Add recent examples
• Improve calls to action

Here’s the full list!

Should You Republish an Old Blog Post?

When you make new updates to a blog, also update the publish date. I’ve heard there’s some debate over this because people worry about deceiving their audience. 

In my eyes, after you make an update, it IS new content. That’s how meaningful your updates should be. 

It’s not just updating a link. It’s adding new sections and headers, updating your perspective, and giving more value.

That’s why I think it’s fine to update the publish date to the day you update it.

Your Best SEO Wins May Already Be Published

Your next traffic boost could be hiding in a blog post you published years ago. By prioritizing blog updates based on traffic, rankings, relevance, and conversion potential, you can make smarter use of your time and maximize the value of the content you already have. 

Start with your highest-impact posts, make meaningful improvements, and let your existing content work harder for your business.

And if you’d rather I do this for you, take a look at my Blog Update package. I’ll update your blogs for both search engines AND your readers. Traffic is great, but conversions matter more. Book a call to talk more!