March 20, 2025 • 29 mins
Episode #126: How to Revive Old Content for More Traffic & Sales (5 Easy Steps)
PRO TIP: You don’t always need new content to grow your business… sometimes, your best stuff is already sitting in your archives.
Most entrepreneurs are stuck in constant content creation mode, thinking they have to keep churning out more, more, more to stay relevant.
But what if I told you that updating your old content could actually bring faster, better results than creating something new from scratch?
In this episode of Tech Savvy 101, I’m sharing my 5-step framework for reviving old content, so you can drive more traffic, increase engagement, and boost sales without adding more to your plate.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to:
✅ Identify high-potential content that’s worth updating
✅ Optimize old content for SEO, engagement, and conversions
✅ Repurpose and promote it so it reaches brand-new audiences
If you’ve got existing content that’s just sitting there collecting digital dust, this episode is your roadmap to making it work for you again.
IN THIS EPISODE, I COVER:
➔ Why your old content is a goldmine for traffic & sales (if you know how to leverage it)
➔ The mindset shift from ‘more content’ to ‘better content’
➔ A simple 5-step strategy to refresh and optimize content for bigger results
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
📌 AI Evergreen Content Machine → https://thesarahbaker.com/ai-evergreen-content-machine-waitlist
📌 Google Search Console → https://search.google.com/search-console/about
📌 Google Analytics → https://developers.google.com/analytics
🎙️ OTHER EPISODES OF TECH SAVVY 101 YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
➔ Episode #122: SEO Made Simple: How to Get Found on Google Without Being an Expert → https://thesarahbaker.com/episode-122
➔ Episode #113: Keyword Research Made Easy: A Beginner’s Guide to SEO → https://thesarahbaker.com/episode-113
➔ Episode #114: Evergreen Content: What It Is and Why Your Business Needs It → https://thesarahbaker.com/episode-114
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
01:51 – The Forgotten Goldmine: Leveraging Existing Content
03:14 – Mindset Shift: From Content Hamster Wheel to Strategic Updates
06:16 – The Three-Step Content Audit Process
11:05 – Revitalizing Your Content: A Five-Step Framework
16:58 – Case Studies: The Impact of Content Refresh
21:22 – Quick Wins: Prioritizing Content Updates
22:44 – Efficiency Tips for Content Revitalization
27:04 – Conclusion: Transforming Your Content Strategy
📲 Send us a text! Let us know what AI + Automation Topics you want to learn about next!
LET'S CONNECT
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🖥️ Website
💻 Facebook Group
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah Baker (00:48):
Did you know that according to HubSpot, updating
an old blog post can boosttraffic by over 100%?
Or that refreshed content oftenranks faster on Google than
brand new posts?
And yet, most business ownersand content creators spend their
precious time and mental energyconstantly churning out new
(01:10):
content, while totally ignoringthe potential of the powerhouse
assets that they already have.
Today, I'm pulling back thecurtain on content revival.
Showing you how to update,optimize, and repurpose your old
content, so it works harder foryou.
Without the extra effort.
If you're freaking exhaustedfrom constantly creating and
(01:33):
want smarter ways to grow, thisepisode is for you.
Welcome back to Tech Savvy 101: AI Automation Made Simple. (01:37):
undefined
I'm your host, Sarah Baker, yourTech Savvy Bestie, who's here to
help you simplify your business,embrace automation, and save
hours every week.
Today, we're diving into what Icall the forgotten goldmine.
All that amazing content you'vealready poured your blood,
(01:59):
sweat, and tears into creating.
Yet, it could be working so muchharder for your business.
Because here's the truth.
Creating brand new content isn'talways the best use of your
time.
Sometimes the fastest path tomore traffic, more leads, and
more sales is updating what youalready have.
(02:20):
We don't have to reinvent thewheel! So, let's just polish the
hubcap from time to time.
Did you know that 53% ofmarketers have observed higher
engagement rates after updatingold content and 49% reported
increased traffic?
And it makes perfect sense whenyou think about it.
(02:41):
You're building on a foundationthat already exists, rather than
starting from scratch.
You already did the hard part!By the end of this episode,
you'll know exactly how to audityour existing content, identify
the pieces with the highestpotential, and transform them
into traffic generatingpowerhouses that continue
working for you month aftermonth.
(03:03):
I'll even share a real worldcase study of how revamping old
content dramatically increasedtraffic and generated leads on
autopilot.
Let's dive in.
Let's start with a mindset shiftthat completely changed my own
approach to content creation.
For years, I was caught in whatI call the content hamster
(03:24):
wheel, constantly creating newpieces, publishing them, getting
a brief spike in traffic, andthen watching them fade into
obscurity as I moved on to thenext thing.
Sound familiar?
It's freaking exhausting, right?
And then I had this realization.
I was sitting on a treasuretrove of content that I'd
(03:45):
already created.
Blog posts, videos, podcastepisodes, even social media
posts.
And they were all justcollecting digital dust.
Content that I had put the hardwork into creating, but I wasn't
fully leveraging it.
Once you hit publish onanything, that isn't the end of
the road.
(04:06):
Whether it's a social mediapost, even though that short
form content does have a shortshelf life, you can pull it back
off the shelf and post it againor repurpose it.
Or if it's a long form piece ofcontent, like a blog post or a
podcast episode, Anything can bebrought back to life with a
(04:26):
little bit of TLC.
Think about it this way.
If you have 50 blog posts onyour website, and each one gets
just 10 visitors per month,that's 500 monthly visitors.
But, what if you could revampthose posts so each one brought
in 100 visitors per month?
(04:47):
Suddenly, without creatinganything new, you are at 5,000
monthly visitors.
Okay, now let's do some quickmath.
Let's say you've got a strongcall to action in every blog
post, driving your reader to oneof your offers.
If you're converting at 3%,which is industry average, 3% of
(05:10):
your previous 500 visitors permonth would be 15 sales per
month.
Now, with your increase intraffic, 3% of 5,000 is 150
sales per month.
You just 10x'd your saleswithout creating a single new
piece of content.
This approach isn't just moreefficient, it's also strategic.
(05:34):
According to RightSourceMarketing, repurposing content
allows businesses to extend thelife of their original material,
ensuring it remains relevant andcontinues to drive traffic over
time.
It's about maximizing the valueof what you've already created.
And let's be honest, creatingnew content from scratch is time
(05:54):
consuming and expensive.
Remember, your time has valuetoo.
Refreshing existing content isoften more cost effective and
provides a higher return oninvestment.
You've already done the hardwork of creating the initial
framework.
Now you're just optimizing itfor optimal results.
(06:16):
So, the million dollar question,how do you find the golden
nuggets in your content archive?
Well, it starts with a strategiccontent audit.
And here is my simple three stepprocess.
Step one is what I call theperformance review.
This is where you look at howyour existing content is
(06:38):
currently performing.
If you have Google Analytics setup on your website, this is
pretty straightforward.
You're just going to look at thelast 6-12 months of data and
identify which pieces arealready getting traffic.
Which pieces have the highestengagement, time on page, low
bounce rate, and which pieceshave already generated leads or
(06:59):
sales?
If you have a YouTube channel,you're going to look at things
like watch time, retention rate,which percentage of the video
people are typically watching,and click through rate from
impressions.
If you have a podcast, you'regoing to look at things like
download numbers, completionrates, if your platform provides
(07:19):
this, and episodes thatgenerated the most feedback or
engagement.
The goal here, regardless ofwhat type of content you're
looking at, is to create aspreadsheet with all your
content pieces ranked by currentperformance.
This will give you a baseline towork from.
Step two is the potentialassessment.
(07:40):
This is where you're going toevaluate which pieces have the
highest potential forimprovement.
Here, you're going to look forcontent that addresses Evergreen
topics.
This is problems people willalways have.
I've talked about this inprevious episodes and I will
link those episodes in the shownotes.
You want to find content thattargets keywords with good
(08:04):
search volume and lowcompetition.
You want your content to haveclear connection to your
products or services.
And you want it to have beenwell received when it was
initially published, but havesince declined in performance.
A really great tool for this isGoogle Search Console.
It is free.
(08:24):
You should have it installed onyour website if you don't
already.
And it will show you whatkeywords your content is already
ranking for, even if you're notcurrently on page one.
Content that's ranking on pagetwo or three for juicy keywords
often has really high potential.
It means that you're in therace.
You just need a boost to crossthe finish line.
(08:46):
According to marketors,addressing what they call
content decay is crucial formaintaining long term SEO
success.
Content decay happens when youronce high performing content
Starts getting less traffic overtime.
You're starting to drop.
Monitoring this and catching itearly can prevent major drops in
(09:10):
your overall site visibility.
This is why it's important totrack your data.
Step three is the gap analysis.
This is where you're identifyingwhat's missing from your high
potential content.
Now, for each piece, you'regonna ask yourself the
questions (09:26):
Is my information outdated?
Are there any new developmentsin this topic area that I'm not
addressing?
Is this content comprehensiveenough?
Does this include relevantkeywords in strategic places?
And does it have a clear call toaction?
It would shock you how manytimes I read an article, listen
(09:49):
to a podcast episode, watch aYouTube video, and get to the
end and there's no call toaction.
People shouldn't have to searchfor the next step.
You also want to make sure ifit's a blog post or something
that people are reading, thatit's formatted for easy reading
and scanning.
You don't want to have bigchunks of text, especially if
(10:11):
it's on mobile.
Make sure that everything isformatted.
for mobile because Googleprioritizes mobile friendly
formatting.
If it has images, you want tomake sure that it includes
images that are relevant.
And by the end of your threestep audit, you should have a
prioritized list of contentpieces that are ranked by both
(10:33):
current performance and futurepotential.
Now, I know what you'rethinking.
Sarah, this sounds like a lot ofwork.
And you're right.
It can be time consuming to doit manually, especially if you
already have a lot of existingcontent.
This is why I created an AIpowered content audit template
(10:54):
as part of my AI EvergreenContent Machine course.
It streamlines this entireprocess, making it possible to
audit dozens or even hundreds ofcontent pieces in just a few
hours.
Once you've identified your highpotential content, it's time for
the revitalization process.
Think of it like a makeover foryour content.
Here's my easy, you.
(11:15):
five step framework for bringingyour old content back to life.
Step 1, update it for accuracyand comprehensiveness.
This is the foundation ofeverything else.
First, you're going to gothrough your content, verify
that all the facts andstatistics are current, Update
any outdated information, addany new developments or insights
(11:38):
that have emerged since youpublished it, expand any
sections that feel a little thinor could provide more value, and
remove anything that's no longerrelevant.
For example, if you wrote a blogpost about Instagram marketing
strategies in 2019.
Holy outdated Batman, you'regoing to want to update it with
(11:58):
information about reels, newalgorithm changes, and current
best practices.
According to Snap Agency,updating old posts ensures that
readers receive current andaccurate information, which
enhances your credibility andimproves user satisfaction.
And ultimately, satisfied usersare much more likely to become
(12:20):
customers.
Step 2.
Optimize it for SEO.
Even if your content wasoriginally optimized for search,
SEO, just like everything else,evolves over time.
So make sure that your title tagand meta description are
updated.
Include your target keyword inthe first 100 words.
(12:42):
Add relevant secondary keywordsthroughout the content, and make
sure that you're breaking up thetext with optimized subheadings
in H2 and H3.
Add internal links to and fromother relevant content on your
site.
I've talked about this inprevious episodes, but make sure
that you're not leading yourreader to dead ends.
(13:03):
Because dead ends leads to themleaving your site.
Make sure you always answer yourown question, where to next?
Where do you want your reader togo next if it's a blog post?
Make sure you're optimizing yourimages.
Another really powerful approachis to look at what's currently
ranking on page one for yourtarget keyword.
(13:27):
What topics did those piecescover that yours doesn't?
What format are they using?
What questions do they answer?
This can give you a little bitof a blueprint for what Google
considers comprehensive for thattopic.
Refreshing your outdated contentis going to allow you to
incorporate better keywords,potentially improving your
(13:48):
search engine rankings.
Research from Orbit Media andThe Blogsmith found that
bloggers who regularly refreshtheir content are twice as
likely to report strong resultscompared to those who don't.
Step 3 is to improve readabilityand user experience.
Google increasingly prioritizesuser experience in its rankings.
(14:12):
Make your content more readerfriendly.
I touched on this earlier, butyou want to make sure you're
breaking up those longparagraphs.
Nobody wants to read a wall oftext.
Add bullet points, numberedlists, break up text with
images, diagrams, or videos.
add a table of contents, if youhave a very, very long piece, so
(14:35):
that people can jump to thesection that they are looking
for.
And make sure your content ismobile friendly.
All of these user experienceimprovements signal to Google
that your content is valuable,which can boost your rankings
even further.
Step 4 is to enhance your valueproposition.
(14:57):
This is where you're making yourcontent not just informative,
but truly valuable.
Consider adding things like aninteractive element, or like a
quiz, or a calculator.
Add a downloadable resource likea template or a checklist.
Insert an expert quote orinsights.
(15:18):
Add in original research ordata.
Include step by step tutorials,including screenshots or videos.
Make your content helpful anduseful to your ideal customer or
reader.
And step 5 is to strengthen yourcall to action.
A lot of your older contentpieces probably either
(15:39):
completely lack a call to actionaltogether, Or they might have
one that's no longer relevant.
You may even be pointing to anoffer you no longer have or
another piece of content that isno longer relevant to your
reader.
Make sure you're updating yourcontent to include a relevant
and compelling call to action.
add a content upgrade thatdirectly relates to the topic,
(16:03):
and include multiple call toactions if you want for
different stages of the buyer'sjourney.
You can also test different callto action placements and
formats.
For example, you could have callto actions at the top of your
article as well as the bottom.
Once you've completed these fivesteps, it's time for the final
piece, which is republishing andre promoting.
(16:26):
When you republish, Updatedcontent, make sure to update the
last modified date if yoursystem allows it.
Consider adding a noteexplaining that the content has
been updated.
Share the revitalized contentacross your social media.
Share it in your emailnewsletter.
You could even consider runningpaid promotion to give it a
(16:48):
little Boost.
This republishing processsignals to both readers and of
course search engines that yourcontent is fresh and relevant.
Now let's look at some real datathat shows just how powerful
content revitalization can be.
I want to share some fascinatingcase studies from Neil Patel's
website.
If you're not familiar with NeilPatel, he is one of the most
(17:11):
respected names in digitalmarketing.
He's the co founder of NPDigital.
Entrepreneur magazine says hecreated one of the 100 most
brilliant companies.
He is the co founder of toolslike Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and
Ubersuggest, and he consults formajor companies like Amazon,
NBC, and GM.
His blog gets millions ofvisitors every month, so when he
(17:32):
shares data about what's workingin content marketing, it's
definitely worth payingattention to.
Recently, Neil's team repurposedsome of their older content and
published the results.
They took three older blog postsand refreshed them using many of
the same strategies I justwalked you through.
The results were absolutely mindblowing.
(17:53):
Let me share what happened withtheir first article about shadow
banning.
They updated the metadata tobetter match user search intent,
refreshed the content withcurrent terminology.
It was previously called ghostbanning, which is now called
shadow banning, and refinedtheir keyword targeting.
Just one day after their refreshclicks jumped from 134 to 245,
(18:19):
which was an immediate 83%increase.
But the longterm results wereeven more impressive.
When they compared the fivemonths before the update to the
five months after, they saw awhopping 96% increase in clicks,
from about 27,000 clicks to over53,000 clicks.
(18:43):
Not only that, but their keywordreach exploded, too.
Before the refresh, the articleranked for about 1,900 keywords,
with only 53 in the top threepositions on Google.
After the refresh, theyeventually reached over 2,500
total keywords with 152 in thosetop coveted three spots.
(19:07):
Now, obviously, not everycontent refresh will have the
same dramatic results.
Neil's team tried this with asecond article about TikTok's
For You page.
And while they saw an immediatebump in traffic after the
refresh, Overall clicks actuallydeclined by about 20% comparing
(19:27):
the two five months Periods.
But really, here's theinteresting part about this
article.
Their research showed thatinterest in the topic itself had
declined.
Fewer people were researchingfor TikTok For You Page.
So even though clicks went down,their impressions and keyword
(19:48):
ranking went up.
So this tells us that thecontent refresh worked to
improve visibility.
They just happened to pick atopic that was trending downward
in popularity.
Their third article refreshabout growing YouTube
subscribers saw a 38% increasein clicks over the five month
(20:08):
comparison period.
So before the refresh, clickshad been steadily declining, but
afterward, they shot updramatically, reaching as high
as 729 clicks in a single day afew months later.
Alright, so what's the takeawayfrom Neil's experiments?
Content refreshes work, but somework better than others.
(20:32):
One article saw clicks almostdouble, another saw a 38%
increase, and one saw adecrease.
Although, only because interestin the topic itself had
declined.
Even the article that didn't seean increase in clicks still
benefited from more impressionsand better keyword rankings,
(20:52):
meaning that the refresh stillimproved its visibility, which
is half the battle.
So what really jumped out to mefrom Neil's data is how quickly
some of these results happened.
In all three cases, they sawimmediate improvements the very
next day after publishing theirupdates.
(21:13):
This isn't a strategy where youhave to wait months to see
results, although the long termbenefits still continue to grow
over time.
Now I want to address a questionI get all the time, which is,
how do I know which content toupdate first?
And the answer is to focus onwhat I call the quick wins.
(21:34):
Content that already has sometraction, but isn't reaching its
full potential.
These pieces typically havekeywords that are ranking
anywhere on pages 2 to 5 ofGoogle, and you can check this
by checking on Google SearchConsole.
Topics that are evergreen,meaning they're not tied to a
(21:55):
specific date or event.
And higher than averageengagement metrics.
You want them to also have aclear connection to your
products or services.
If you're not sure where tostart, here's my recommendation:
look for your top 5 posts bytraffic and your top 5 posts by
(22:16):
conversions.
Then, check when they were lastupdated.
If it's been more than a year,they are prime candidates for
revitalization.
Another strategy is to useGoogle Search Console to find
keywords where you're rankingbetween positions 11 to 30.
This is going to put you roughlyon pages 2 to 3 of Google.
Improving content that's alreadyranking on page 2 often takes a
(22:40):
lot less effort than getting newcontent to rank from scratch.
Let me share a few final tipsfor making this content
revitalization process even moreefficient.
First, create a contentrevitalization schedule.
This is where using a projectmanagement tool like Asana or
Notion can be incrediblyhelpful.
(23:02):
Personally, I use Asana.
I have projects set up for allof my podcast episodes, my blog
posts, and my YouTube videos,basically all of my long form
content.
It allows me to see in onecentral hub, the core
information about each piece ofcontent, like the title, the
link to that piece of content.
When it was posted and I set atask for myself or my VA to go
(23:25):
in and update that content on aregular recurring schedule.
Asana has an easy to use mobileapp so I can access all of the
details about all of my contenton the go too.
Which is really helpful for mesince I'm pretty much always in
the car as a super busy mom ofthree.
And then plan to update yourmost important pieces at least
(23:46):
Once or twice a year, and moreoften if it's a topic that
changes frequently, such asInstagram, where the algorithm
and recommended best practicesseem to always be changing.
Second, use AI tools to speed upthe process.
Tools like ChatGPT can help youidentify outdated information
Suggest new sections to add andeven draft updated paragraphs
(24:10):
based on your guidance.
If you have the paid plan ofChatGPT, you can literally just
drop the entire copy in and askChatGPT to identify what
information should be updated.
However, as always, remember toalways fact check and add your
own unique perspective.
AI is Chad, your unpaid intern,and you are the CEO.
(24:33):
Third, build internal linkingbetween your revitalized
content.
When you update one piece, lookfor opportunities to link to and
from other related content onyour site.
This creates a powerful networkeffect that boosts the SEO value
of all of your content.
I spoke about this concept morein episode#122 SEO made simple
(24:57):
how to get found on Googlewithout being an expert.
If you'd like to learn more,I'll include a link to this
episode in the show notes.
Fourth, don't just update thetext, also refresh images,
videos, and other media.
Visual content can become datedreally quickly and updating
these elements signals freshnessto both readers and search
(25:19):
engines.
Include original images whereverpossible instead of relying on
stock images.
Fifth, don't limit yourself tojust refreshing the original
format.
Research shows that repurposingcontent into different formats,
like turning a blog post into avideo or infographic, allows you
(25:39):
to reach new audiences whoprefer different content
consumption methods.
This approach maximizes thevalue of your original work.
by helping it reach an entirelydifferent segment of your
potential audience.
This method is exactly what Iteach inside my AI Evergreen
Content Machine course, how toutilize AI tools to turn one
(26:01):
piece of core content intodozens in a matter of hours,
allowing you to maximize yourreach across platforms without
burning out.
If you'd like more informationabout this course, I'll link to
it in the show notes.
And finally, don't forget totrack your results.
Data is king.
(26:21):
Keep a record of which contentyou've updated, when you updated
it, and how the performancechanges over time.
Going back to what I mentionedearlier, this is another great
way to use your projectmanagement tool like Asana or
Notion.
Keeping all of your dataorganized in one place.
Inside your project managementtool will allow you to quickly
and easily access it when youget ready to plan future
(26:43):
content.
By tracking the data, you areable to see what is performing
well and therefore create morecontent like that.
This is what your idealcustomers are responding to.
This helps you refine yourprocess and focus future efforts
on the approaches that areworking best for your specific
audience and topics.
(27:04):
And there you have it, thecomplete framework for
transforming your forgottencontent goldmine into a powerful
traffic and sales generator.
To recap what we've covered,start with a strategic content
audit to identify high potentialpieces.
Update your content foraccuracy, comprehensiveness, and
(27:24):
of course, SEO.
Improve the user experience andenhance the value of your
content.
Don't forget to strengthen yourcall to action.
And then republish and promotethe revitalized content.
And of course, track yourresults and continually refine
your approach.
(27:44):
This approach is just onecomponent of what I teach inside
my AI Evergreen Content Machinecourse, where I show you my
complete system for creating andoptimizing content that
continues to drive traffic.
leads, and sales for months oreven years after you publish it.
Content revitalization is acritical part of that system
(28:05):
because it maximizes the ROI.
On all the hard work you'vealready done instead of
constantly creating new contentthat may or may not perform your
strategically leveraging assetsthat you already own.
If you'd like to learn mycomplete content machine system
for creating content that worksfor your business around the
(28:25):
clock, head to the show notesfor the link to the course.
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Tech Savvy
101.
If you found this helpful, I'dlove it if you could subscribe
and leave a review.
It helps other tech curiousentrepreneurs find the show.
I'll see you really soon.
Did you know that according to HubSpot, updating
an old blog post can boosttraffic by over 100%?
Or that refreshed content oftenranks faster on Google than
brand new posts?
And yet, most business ownersand content creators spend their
precious time and mental energyconstantly churning out new
(01:10):
content, while totally ignoringthe potential of the powerhouse
assets that they already have.
Today, I'm pulling back thecurtain on content revival.
Showing you how to update,optimize, and repurpose your old
content, so it works harder foryou.
Without the extra effort.
If you're freaking exhaustedfrom constantly creating and
(01:33):
want smarter ways to grow, thisepisode is for you.
Welcome back to Tech Savvy 101: AI Automation Made Simple. (01:37):
undefined
I'm your host, Sarah Baker, yourTech Savvy Bestie, who's here to
help you simplify your business,embrace automation, and save
hours every week.
Today, we're diving into what Icall the forgotten goldmine.
All that amazing content you'vealready poured your blood,
(01:59):
sweat, and tears into creating.
Yet, it could be working so muchharder for your business.
Because here's the truth.
Creating brand new content isn'talways the best use of your
time.
Sometimes the fastest path tomore traffic, more leads, and
more sales is updating what youalready have.
(02:20):
We don't have to reinvent thewheel! So, let's just polish the
hubcap from time to time.
Did you know that 53% ofmarketers have observed higher
engagement rates after updatingold content and 49% reported
increased traffic?
And it makes perfect sense whenyou think about it.
(02:41):
You're building on a foundationthat already exists, rather than
starting from scratch.
You already did the hard part!By the end of this episode,
you'll know exactly how to audityour existing content, identify
the pieces with the highestpotential, and transform them
into traffic generatingpowerhouses that continue
working for you month aftermonth.
(03:03):
I'll even share a real worldcase study of how revamping old
content dramatically increasedtraffic and generated leads on
autopilot.
Let's dive in.
Let's start with a mindset shiftthat completely changed my own
approach to content creation.
For years, I was caught in whatI call the content hamster
(03:24):
wheel, constantly creating newpieces, publishing them, getting
a brief spike in traffic, andthen watching them fade into
obscurity as I moved on to thenext thing.
Sound familiar?
It's freaking exhausting, right?
And then I had this realization.
I was sitting on a treasuretrove of content that I'd
(03:45):
already created.
Blog posts, videos, podcastepisodes, even social media
posts.
And they were all justcollecting digital dust.
Content that I had put the hardwork into creating, but I wasn't
fully leveraging it.
Once you hit publish onanything, that isn't the end of
the road.
(04:06):
Whether it's a social mediapost, even though that short
form content does have a shortshelf life, you can pull it back
off the shelf and post it againor repurpose it.
Or if it's a long form piece ofcontent, like a blog post or a
podcast episode, Anything can bebrought back to life with a
(04:26):
little bit of TLC.
Think about it this way.
If you have 50 blog posts onyour website, and each one gets
just 10 visitors per month,that's 500 monthly visitors.
But, what if you could revampthose posts so each one brought
in 100 visitors per month?
(04:47):
Suddenly, without creatinganything new, you are at 5,000
monthly visitors.
Okay, now let's do some quickmath.
Let's say you've got a strongcall to action in every blog
post, driving your reader to oneof your offers.
If you're converting at 3%,which is industry average, 3% of
(05:10):
your previous 500 visitors permonth would be 15 sales per
month.
Now, with your increase intraffic, 3% of 5,000 is 150
sales per month.
You just 10x'd your saleswithout creating a single new
piece of content.
This approach isn't just moreefficient, it's also strategic.
(05:34):
According to RightSourceMarketing, repurposing content
allows businesses to extend thelife of their original material,
ensuring it remains relevant andcontinues to drive traffic over
time.
It's about maximizing the valueof what you've already created.
And let's be honest, creatingnew content from scratch is time
(05:54):
consuming and expensive.
Remember, your time has valuetoo.
Refreshing existing content isoften more cost effective and
provides a higher return oninvestment.
You've already done the hardwork of creating the initial
framework.
Now you're just optimizing itfor optimal results.
(06:16):
So, the million dollar question,how do you find the golden
nuggets in your content archive?
Well, it starts with a strategiccontent audit.
And here is my simple three stepprocess.
Step one is what I call theperformance review.
This is where you look at howyour existing content is
(06:38):
currently performing.
If you have Google Analytics setup on your website, this is
pretty straightforward.
You're just going to look at thelast 6-12 months of data and
identify which pieces arealready getting traffic.
Which pieces have the highestengagement, time on page, low
bounce rate, and which pieceshave already generated leads or
(06:59):
sales?
If you have a YouTube channel,you're going to look at things
like watch time, retention rate,which percentage of the video
people are typically watching,and click through rate from
impressions.
If you have a podcast, you'regoing to look at things like
download numbers, completionrates, if your platform provides
(07:19):
this, and episodes thatgenerated the most feedback or
engagement.
The goal here, regardless ofwhat type of content you're
looking at, is to create aspreadsheet with all your
content pieces ranked by currentperformance.
This will give you a baseline towork from.
Step two is the potentialassessment.
(07:40):
This is where you're going toevaluate which pieces have the
highest potential forimprovement.
Here, you're going to look forcontent that addresses Evergreen
topics.
This is problems people willalways have.
I've talked about this inprevious episodes and I will
link those episodes in the shownotes.
You want to find content thattargets keywords with good
(08:04):
search volume and lowcompetition.
You want your content to haveclear connection to your
products or services.
And you want it to have beenwell received when it was
initially published, but havesince declined in performance.
A really great tool for this isGoogle Search Console.
It is free.
(08:24):
You should have it installed onyour website if you don't
already.
And it will show you whatkeywords your content is already
ranking for, even if you're notcurrently on page one.
Content that's ranking on pagetwo or three for juicy keywords
often has really high potential.
It means that you're in therace.
You just need a boost to crossthe finish line.
(08:46):
According to marketors,addressing what they call
content decay is crucial formaintaining long term SEO
success.
Content decay happens when youronce high performing content
Starts getting less traffic overtime.
You're starting to drop.
Monitoring this and catching itearly can prevent major drops in
(09:10):
your overall site visibility.
This is why it's important totrack your data.
Step three is the gap analysis.
This is where you're identifyingwhat's missing from your high
potential content.
Now, for each piece, you'regonna ask yourself the
questions (09:26):
Is my information outdated?
Are there any new developmentsin this topic area that I'm not
addressing?
Is this content comprehensiveenough?
Does this include relevantkeywords in strategic places?
And does it have a clear call toaction?
It would shock you how manytimes I read an article, listen
(09:49):
to a podcast episode, watch aYouTube video, and get to the
end and there's no call toaction.
People shouldn't have to searchfor the next step.
You also want to make sure ifit's a blog post or something
that people are reading, thatit's formatted for easy reading
and scanning.
You don't want to have bigchunks of text, especially if
(10:11):
it's on mobile.
Make sure that everything isformatted.
for mobile because Googleprioritizes mobile friendly
formatting.
If it has images, you want tomake sure that it includes
images that are relevant.
And by the end of your threestep audit, you should have a
prioritized list of contentpieces that are ranked by both
(10:33):
current performance and futurepotential.
Now, I know what you'rethinking.
Sarah, this sounds like a lot ofwork.
And you're right.
It can be time consuming to doit manually, especially if you
already have a lot of existingcontent.
This is why I created an AIpowered content audit template
(10:54):
as part of my AI EvergreenContent Machine course.
It streamlines this entireprocess, making it possible to
audit dozens or even hundreds ofcontent pieces in just a few
hours.
Once you've identified your highpotential content, it's time for
the revitalization process.
Think of it like a makeover foryour content.
Here's my easy, you.
(11:15):
five step framework for bringingyour old content back to life.
Step 1, update it for accuracyand comprehensiveness.
This is the foundation ofeverything else.
First, you're going to gothrough your content, verify
that all the facts andstatistics are current, Update
any outdated information, addany new developments or insights
(11:38):
that have emerged since youpublished it, expand any
sections that feel a little thinor could provide more value, and
remove anything that's no longerrelevant.
For example, if you wrote a blogpost about Instagram marketing
strategies in 2019.
Holy outdated Batman, you'regoing to want to update it with
(11:58):
information about reels, newalgorithm changes, and current
best practices.
According to Snap Agency,updating old posts ensures that
readers receive current andaccurate information, which
enhances your credibility andimproves user satisfaction.
And ultimately, satisfied usersare much more likely to become
(12:20):
customers.
Step 2.
Optimize it for SEO.
Even if your content wasoriginally optimized for search,
SEO, just like everything else,evolves over time.
So make sure that your title tagand meta description are
updated.
Include your target keyword inthe first 100 words.
(12:42):
Add relevant secondary keywordsthroughout the content, and make
sure that you're breaking up thetext with optimized subheadings
in H2 and H3.
Add internal links to and fromother relevant content on your
site.
I've talked about this inprevious episodes, but make sure
that you're not leading yourreader to dead ends.
(13:03):
Because dead ends leads to themleaving your site.
Make sure you always answer yourown question, where to next?
Where do you want your reader togo next if it's a blog post?
Make sure you're optimizing yourimages.
Another really powerful approachis to look at what's currently
ranking on page one for yourtarget keyword.
(13:27):
What topics did those piecescover that yours doesn't?
What format are they using?
What questions do they answer?
This can give you a little bitof a blueprint for what Google
considers comprehensive for thattopic.
Refreshing your outdated contentis going to allow you to
incorporate better keywords,potentially improving your
(13:48):
search engine rankings.
Research from Orbit Media andThe Blogsmith found that
bloggers who regularly refreshtheir content are twice as
likely to report strong resultscompared to those who don't.
Step 3 is to improve readabilityand user experience.
Google increasingly prioritizesuser experience in its rankings.
(14:12):
Make your content more readerfriendly.
I touched on this earlier, butyou want to make sure you're
breaking up those longparagraphs.
Nobody wants to read a wall oftext.
Add bullet points, numberedlists, break up text with
images, diagrams, or videos.
add a table of contents, if youhave a very, very long piece, so
(14:35):
that people can jump to thesection that they are looking
for.
And make sure your content ismobile friendly.
All of these user experienceimprovements signal to Google
that your content is valuable,which can boost your rankings
even further.
Step 4 is to enhance your valueproposition.
(14:57):
This is where you're making yourcontent not just informative,
but truly valuable.
Consider adding things like aninteractive element, or like a
quiz, or a calculator.
Add a downloadable resource likea template or a checklist.
Insert an expert quote orinsights.
(15:18):
Add in original research ordata.
Include step by step tutorials,including screenshots or videos.
Make your content helpful anduseful to your ideal customer or
reader.
And step 5 is to strengthen yourcall to action.
A lot of your older contentpieces probably either
(15:39):
completely lack a call to actionaltogether, Or they might have
one that's no longer relevant.
You may even be pointing to anoffer you no longer have or
another piece of content that isno longer relevant to your
reader.
Make sure you're updating yourcontent to include a relevant
and compelling call to action.
add a content upgrade thatdirectly relates to the topic,
(16:03):
and include multiple call toactions if you want for
different stages of the buyer'sjourney.
You can also test different callto action placements and
formats.
For example, you could have callto actions at the top of your
article as well as the bottom.
Once you've completed these fivesteps, it's time for the final
piece, which is republishing andre promoting.
(16:26):
When you republish, Updatedcontent, make sure to update the
last modified date if yoursystem allows it.
Consider adding a noteexplaining that the content has
been updated.
Share the revitalized contentacross your social media.
Share it in your emailnewsletter.
You could even consider runningpaid promotion to give it a
(16:48):
little Boost.
This republishing processsignals to both readers and of
course search engines that yourcontent is fresh and relevant.
Now let's look at some real datathat shows just how powerful
content revitalization can be.
I want to share some fascinatingcase studies from Neil Patel's
website.
If you're not familiar with NeilPatel, he is one of the most
(17:11):
respected names in digitalmarketing.
He's the co founder of NPDigital.
Entrepreneur magazine says hecreated one of the 100 most
brilliant companies.
He is the co founder of toolslike Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and
Ubersuggest, and he consults formajor companies like Amazon,
NBC, and GM.
His blog gets millions ofvisitors every month, so when he
(17:32):
shares data about what's workingin content marketing, it's
definitely worth payingattention to.
Recently, Neil's team repurposedsome of their older content and
published the results.
They took three older blog postsand refreshed them using many of
the same strategies I justwalked you through.
The results were absolutely mindblowing.
(17:53):
Let me share what happened withtheir first article about shadow
banning.
They updated the metadata tobetter match user search intent,
refreshed the content withcurrent terminology.
It was previously called ghostbanning, which is now called
shadow banning, and refinedtheir keyword targeting.
Just one day after their refreshclicks jumped from 134 to 245,
(18:19):
which was an immediate 83%increase.
But the longterm results wereeven more impressive.
When they compared the fivemonths before the update to the
five months after, they saw awhopping 96% increase in clicks,
from about 27,000 clicks to over53,000 clicks.
(18:43):
Not only that, but their keywordreach exploded, too.
Before the refresh, the articleranked for about 1,900 keywords,
with only 53 in the top threepositions on Google.
After the refresh, theyeventually reached over 2,500
total keywords with 152 in thosetop coveted three spots.
(19:07):
Now, obviously, not everycontent refresh will have the
same dramatic results.
Neil's team tried this with asecond article about TikTok's
For You page.
And while they saw an immediatebump in traffic after the
refresh, Overall clicks actuallydeclined by about 20% comparing
(19:27):
the two five months Periods.
But really, here's theinteresting part about this
article.
Their research showed thatinterest in the topic itself had
declined.
Fewer people were researchingfor TikTok For You Page.
So even though clicks went down,their impressions and keyword
(19:48):
ranking went up.
So this tells us that thecontent refresh worked to
improve visibility.
They just happened to pick atopic that was trending downward
in popularity.
Their third article refreshabout growing YouTube
subscribers saw a 38% increasein clicks over the five month
(20:08):
comparison period.
So before the refresh, clickshad been steadily declining, but
afterward, they shot updramatically, reaching as high
as 729 clicks in a single day afew months later.
Alright, so what's the takeawayfrom Neil's experiments?
Content refreshes work, but somework better than others.
(20:32):
One article saw clicks almostdouble, another saw a 38%
increase, and one saw adecrease.
Although, only because interestin the topic itself had
declined.
Even the article that didn't seean increase in clicks still
benefited from more impressionsand better keyword rankings,
(20:52):
meaning that the refresh stillimproved its visibility, which
is half the battle.
So what really jumped out to mefrom Neil's data is how quickly
some of these results happened.
In all three cases, they sawimmediate improvements the very
next day after publishing theirupdates.
(21:13):
This isn't a strategy where youhave to wait months to see
results, although the long termbenefits still continue to grow
over time.
Now I want to address a questionI get all the time, which is,
how do I know which content toupdate first?
And the answer is to focus onwhat I call the quick wins.
(21:34):
Content that already has sometraction, but isn't reaching its
full potential.
These pieces typically havekeywords that are ranking
anywhere on pages 2 to 5 ofGoogle, and you can check this
by checking on Google SearchConsole.
Topics that are evergreen,meaning they're not tied to a
(21:55):
specific date or event.
And higher than averageengagement metrics.
You want them to also have aclear connection to your
products or services.
If you're not sure where tostart, here's my recommendation:
look for your top 5 posts bytraffic and your top 5 posts by
(22:16):
conversions.
Then, check when they were lastupdated.
If it's been more than a year,they are prime candidates for
revitalization.
Another strategy is to useGoogle Search Console to find
keywords where you're rankingbetween positions 11 to 30.
This is going to put you roughlyon pages 2 to 3 of Google.
Improving content that's alreadyranking on page 2 often takes a
(22:40):
lot less effort than getting newcontent to rank from scratch.
Let me share a few final tipsfor making this content
revitalization process even moreefficient.
First, create a contentrevitalization schedule.
This is where using a projectmanagement tool like Asana or
Notion can be incrediblyhelpful.
(23:02):
Personally, I use Asana.
I have projects set up for allof my podcast episodes, my blog
posts, and my YouTube videos,basically all of my long form
content.
It allows me to see in onecentral hub, the core
information about each piece ofcontent, like the title, the
link to that piece of content.
When it was posted and I set atask for myself or my VA to go
(23:25):
in and update that content on aregular recurring schedule.
Asana has an easy to use mobileapp so I can access all of the
details about all of my contenton the go too.
Which is really helpful for mesince I'm pretty much always in
the car as a super busy mom ofthree.
And then plan to update yourmost important pieces at least
(23:46):
Once or twice a year, and moreoften if it's a topic that
changes frequently, such asInstagram, where the algorithm
and recommended best practicesseem to always be changing.
Second, use AI tools to speed upthe process.
Tools like ChatGPT can help youidentify outdated information
Suggest new sections to add andeven draft updated paragraphs
(24:10):
based on your guidance.
If you have the paid plan ofChatGPT, you can literally just
drop the entire copy in and askChatGPT to identify what
information should be updated.
However, as always, remember toalways fact check and add your
own unique perspective.
AI is Chad, your unpaid intern,and you are the CEO.
(24:33):
Third, build internal linkingbetween your revitalized
content.
When you update one piece, lookfor opportunities to link to and
from other related content onyour site.
This creates a powerful networkeffect that boosts the SEO value
of all of your content.
I spoke about this concept morein episode#122 SEO made simple
(24:57):
how to get found on Googlewithout being an expert.
If you'd like to learn more,I'll include a link to this
episode in the show notes.
Fourth, don't just update thetext, also refresh images,
videos, and other media.
Visual content can become datedreally quickly and updating
these elements signals freshnessto both readers and search
(25:19):
engines.
Include original images whereverpossible instead of relying on
stock images.
Fifth, don't limit yourself tojust refreshing the original
format.
Research shows that repurposingcontent into different formats,
like turning a blog post into avideo or infographic, allows you
(25:39):
to reach new audiences whoprefer different content
consumption methods.
This approach maximizes thevalue of your original work.
by helping it reach an entirelydifferent segment of your
potential audience.
This method is exactly what Iteach inside my AI Evergreen
Content Machine course, how toutilize AI tools to turn one
(26:01):
piece of core content intodozens in a matter of hours,
allowing you to maximize yourreach across platforms without
burning out.
If you'd like more informationabout this course, I'll link to
it in the show notes.
And finally, don't forget totrack your results.
Data is king.
(26:21):
Keep a record of which contentyou've updated, when you updated
it, and how the performancechanges over time.
Going back to what I mentionedearlier, this is another great
way to use your projectmanagement tool like Asana or
Notion.
Keeping all of your dataorganized in one place.
Inside your project managementtool will allow you to quickly
and easily access it when youget ready to plan future
(26:43):
content.
By tracking the data, you areable to see what is performing
well and therefore create morecontent like that.
This is what your idealcustomers are responding to.
This helps you refine yourprocess and focus future efforts
on the approaches that areworking best for your specific
audience and topics.
(27:04):
And there you have it, thecomplete framework for
transforming your forgottencontent goldmine into a powerful
traffic and sales generator.
To recap what we've covered,start with a strategic content
audit to identify high potentialpieces.
Update your content foraccuracy, comprehensiveness, and
(27:24):
of course, SEO.
Improve the user experience andenhance the value of your
content.
Don't forget to strengthen yourcall to action.
And then republish and promotethe revitalized content.
And of course, track yourresults and continually refine
your approach.
(27:44):
This approach is just onecomponent of what I teach inside
my AI Evergreen Content Machinecourse, where I show you my
complete system for creating andoptimizing content that
continues to drive traffic.
leads, and sales for months oreven years after you publish it.
Content revitalization is acritical part of that system
(28:05):
because it maximizes the ROI.
On all the hard work you'vealready done instead of
constantly creating new contentthat may or may not perform your
strategically leveraging assetsthat you already own.
If you'd like to learn mycomplete content machine system
for creating content that worksfor your business around the
(28:25):
clock, head to the show notesfor the link to the course.
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Tech Savvy
101.
If you found this helpful, I'dlove it if you could subscribe
and leave a review.
It helps other tech curiousentrepreneurs find the show.
I'll see you really soon.
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