When you blog on a regular basis, it’s easy to forget about your old posts, especially after they’ve been off your main page for a long time. Even though your old posts may not be getting the spotlight treatment on the front page, it doesn’t mean they are going unnoticed. In fact, a great deal of your new visitors may land on your blog’s archived material through search engines or outside back links.

This is why strictly focusing on your main page, in hopes of keeping your returning visitors impressed, is only a small part of building a better blog. Sometimes, it’s worthwhile to go back and dust off your previous work. Here are some strategies for improving your blog’s archives:

Check your analytics. Specifically, look at the keywords and referring sites that have been bringing people to your blog. See what old posts are catching the attention of your new visitors and make note of them. Based on the keywords that led them there, is your post providing the sufficient information?

Provide updates or corrections to old material. If you wrote about an upcoming event or release that has since passed, you may want to provide a quick update so that post doesn’t look too out of date. Link to later posts that currently provide the conclusions or answer questions. If necessary, make a note of your changes in the post to inform your readers. Also look for dead links and fix them. Correct errors and mistakes you may have made as well. For instance, if you made a prediction in an old post that never came true, you may want to admit to it to avoid embarrassment!

Include links to old material in your recent posts and vice-versa. Improve your blog’s structure by linking to your own articles. Flesh out your older material by including links to older posts. Help keep visitors on your site longer by linking to your past work. This will keep your blog fresh and deepen your reader’s visits.

Install a ‘Related Entries’ Plug-In. There are many plug-ins available online that search through the keywords in your posts and link to previous articles that are related. Doing so establishes your authority on the subject matter being discussed and broadens the scope of each post you write.

Delete unnecessary or redundant entries. When going through your archives, you may find posts that are out of context with current trends and may deter people from exploring the rest of your blog. Remove posts that are out of touch with your more recent material or that may be redundant when compared to similar, or more developed posts.

Create a ‘best-of’ post list that reviews older material. When looking through your archives, you may find forgotten gems that you want to revisit or compile in a future post. Creating a ‘best-of’ feature that collects older material can act as refresher on your topic or theme, and shares your blog’s growth with its readership.

Keep track of your improvements! Reviewing your past work may surprise you as you see how far you’ve come in your writing and blogging techniques. Don’t be embarrassed by your past mistakes, but be proud of how far you’ve come. Make notes on which areas you have improved in for future encouragement and recognize the areas where you have yet to grow. Looking to your archives can help you set goals for yourself, so that you can consistently give your blog a sense of direction.

We hope these strategies can help you organize and improve your old material and optimize your blog from various angles. All of your posts, new and old, are integral to the overall experience of your blog, so be sure to review them on a regular basis. Doing so will help you optimize your content for search engines and improve the structure of your content.

Keep coming to Apollo’s Blog for more tips on building a better blog. How often do you go through your archives? What discoveries have you made from reviewing your past work? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!