Should You Delete, Update, or Republish Your Old Blog Posts?
As a blogger, you likely know that maintaining high-quality content is crucial for your blog’s success. One of the key aspects is dealing with old blog posts. What should we do with them? Give them a new lease of life? Delete them? Should we allow them to rot away in our archives, where nobody sees them anymore?
Many blogging experts agree that outdated articles can harm your blog, especially its SEO (search engine optimisation) rating. Even if you are regularly publishing fresh content, any remaining outdated information can diminish your efforts and lower the rankings of your new posts.
Search engines favour accurate, up-to-date information and often direct readers to sites that provide it. That’s one reason I recommend updating your ‘About Me‘ page every six to nine months (I update mine every three months). This also applies to all posts on your blog—outdated content is pointless and can deter readers. Imagine you’re an author and have new visitors to your blog reading out-of-date information. Are they likely to buy any of your books?
I make it a point to clear out old blog posts at least once a year, usually in December, when the blogging scene tends to slow down.
Before you hit delete: Things to consider
Before deleting old posts, take a moment to assess each one. Should bloggers update, rewrite, or simply delete older posts?
If a post remains relevant, provides valuable information, and includes evergreen content, it is advisable to update it. This is especially true if it contains valid pingbacks to other live posts on your blog, other blogs, or reputable external sites.
If a post continues to receive traffic, it may be worth updating. Did you know that you can check how much recent traffic every one of your blog posts has had? On the ‘Posts’ page of your blog’s dashboard, look for the ‘Stats’ column, and check the numbers.
Also, check for incoming pingbacks from other blogs that are still valid; you’ll find them in the comments section of your posts. For example, I recently had to remove several pingbacks to one of my posts because the original content on other blogs was deleted. Broken links can harm your SEO—too many of them, and readers are likely not to return to your site because links don’t work or lead to a ‘404 Content Not Found’ page.
When is it time to rewrite?
If you have an old post with outdated or low-quality content (including low-resolution images) that you believe still holds value, then it’s time for a rewrite. Just remember to delete the older version before publishing the new one.
While rewriting, consider creating a new title that encourages your readers to learn more. A captivating title can significantly boost your click-through rates.
If a post is irrelevant and can only be salvaged through a thorough rewrite, do it! Your audience will value fresh and engaging content, and many of them will never have read the original post.
This post is a rewrite of a popular post from 2022.
Checking for broken links
After deleting any old posts, take a moment to check your blog for broken links. Using a free broken link checker, such as Brokenlinkcheck.com, can assist you with this. However, if it’s your first time, the initial results may seem overwhelming. I recommend pausing the report after identifying about 20 broken links, fixing them, and then running another check.
WordPress also offers a broken link plugin, available depending on your plan or if you’re self-hosted.
Once you’ve finished a broken link check, I recommend doing it at least monthly or whenever old posts are deleted. Also, remember to remove any pingbacks on posts you’re about to delete, as well as delete any images or photos from your media library that are on the post. This helps free up library space.
Is it worth reading old blog posts?
It depends, but if you hear someone celebrating their 5000th blog post, it’s hard to ignore that many of those posts are likely outdated and probably never received any traffic a few days after publication. They may be keeping them for a reason, but don’t hold your breath for any real engagement on them. Many of the comments will also be outdated and probably from readers who no longer have profiles.
If you have posts you want to keep, consider moving them from your blog to a secure location (such as a memory stick).
Can rewritten blog posts be successful?
Absolutely!
I’ve rewritten and republished several of my earlier blog post tips. Initially, these posts had low views and lacked depth, but I revitalised them with improved procedures and high-quality images. I also added links to some of my most successful posts for context.
Many of these revamped pieces have since become top performers on my blog.
Are there any blogs that don’t require regular updating?
No! Every blog needs to be updated. Although some blogs, such as photography blogs, may not require frequent updates to posts, and some blog owners may not prioritise SEO rankings, the ‘About’ page will always need to be updated and links checked to ensure they still work.
Conclusion:
- Delete any old blog posts that contain outdated information that cannot be salvaged.
- Before deleting, deactivate any incoming and outgoing pingbacks associated with the post.
- Delete images from your blog’s media library from posts you are about to delete to free up space.
- Conduct a broken link report on your blog at least once a month or following the deletion of old posts.
- SEO benefits rely on your blog’s capacity to provide updated information; lack of it can hurt your new posts.
- If a post remains relevant and useful with evergreen content, be sure to update it, especially if it contains valid links to other relevant content and continues to receive traffic.
- Rewrite posts that feature outdated or poor-quality content but still hold some relevance and give them a fresh title.
- Always remove older versions of rewritten posts before going live with the new content.
- Every blog needs regular updates, especially the ‘About’ page and a check for broken links.
What criteria do you use when deciding whether to update or delete an old blog post? Have you ever resurrected an old post? What changes did you make to breathe new life into it? How often do you check your blog for broken links, and what tools do you find most effective? Have you ever regretted deleting a post? What would you have done differently?
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
The featured image in this blog post is taken from Pixabay. AI checked spelling and grammar mistakes.
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Updating is a constant chore with me. I am going to use the broken link tool you gave us in this article. I’m sure it will be overwhelming. Thank you for all your work to keep us up to date, Hugh. Your are my first line of defense with anything WordPress or blogging in general.
Ooo, that word you used, Marsha – ‘Chore.’ It’s a word I learned years ago that, in the blogging world, means that the person using it might be under pressure, overwhelmed, or feeling guilty about what they haven’t managed to do. Do what you can, when you can. If it’s a chore, set aside 20 minutes a day to tackle the tasks that need doing. Don’t try to do it all at once. Some people take a break from blogging and find it very helpful when feeling overwhelmed. The time away helps them accomplish tasks, and they always return feeling refreshed. I’ve taken quite a few blogging breaks over the years and can highly recommend them. In fact, I’m looking at taking one in the next few weeks so I can catch up on a few things.
The other thing is that chores are tedious and not creatively rewarding. We’ve talked about some of these chores by email.When the blogger is as loquacious as I am, and hates the “chores” they are overwhelming. The video I found to check for broken links recommends once a month. I guess once every 13 years is not quite as effective. Just a guess!
Lol, Every 13 years is better than never.
I’m not so sure! :)
Thanks, Hugh. I’ve been struggling with this very thing lately. I’ve been going through old posts and deleting, updating, reposting, etc. You always share the best information!! :)
You’re welcome. I’m delighted my posts are of help to you.
A most excellent and comprehensive post and reminder Hugh. 🥰
I appreciate it. Thanks, Debby.
This was good reading. I used to go back and rewrite/re-edit old post particularly for grammar mistakes and spelling errors. I had not thought to delete any, even the ‘bad ones’ as hey it’s my writing. I might consider rethinking this: keeping the ‘quality’ posts and eliminating the rubbish ones.
I’m glad it has helped, Michael.
I discovered that, for some reason, I was not subscribed to your blog. Now, I could say what most of those who never blame themselves say — that WordPress unsubscribed me —but I rather think it was probably me who unsubscribed when I was cleaning out the blogs I follow. I unsubscribed by mistake. But I’m back now.
Helpful and informative post, as always. You reminded me that it’s time to do some blog housekeeping. I wasn’t aware that you can check recent post traffic – very useful, I think. Thanks, Hugh.
It’s a recent new feature WordPress added, June. It’ll certainly highlight those posts not getting any traffic.
I’m glad this post helps.
Great post, Hugh! I love declutterring, but with blogs and websites it sure takes a lot of time! :)
Since I only write about my personal experiences, I don’t think any of it will become outdated. I do admit that I should run the “broken” links tool more often, but it is, like you say, overwhelming and I feel it’s opening a can of worms. But, yes, I do need to work on that. I try to update my “About me” page once a year. I should probably review that one soon as well.
You’re so right, it can take a lot of time, Liesbet. That first declutter can take ages and make you feel overwhelmed by it all. Then somebody told me to do a little bit every day, which made it feel so much better. And, of course, the key is to then stay on top of it so that it doesn’t pile up again. However, do keep an eye on any links to your book to ensure they direct readers to the correct location.
‘About’ pages are so important to keep updated and often get overlooked. It’s good that you review yours at least once a year.
Wow, what a useful post, Hugh. I’ve not given much (any) thought to my old posts. I’ll start checking them out today!
Thank you so much.
Decluttering always gives me a sense of achievement after I’ve finished it. I hope you find it useful, V.M.
Wow! Perfect timing, Hugh. I’ve been doing a blog audit (as I refer to it), which I perform about every 3 months. I check for missing images, and missing links. Most older posts, I revamp and republish, some I delete and others I copy the content to be altered at another time. Since my blog consists of mostly poetry, I find some lines can be used again in a different context.
I resize and compress all images, even those offered from bloggers for their prompts. Amazing, some of their images are huge, and I can’t imagine what that does to the storage space in their media library.
Great tips, as always, Hugh, and thank you for sharing.
It’s great to hear that you already do blog audits, Eugi. Many bloggers never consider it, viewing it as a dreadful task. To me, that suggests they have little regard for their audience.
I see posts all the time from bloggers asking for help when they run out of media storage space and don’t want to delete older images/posts or take the time to resize them. Needless to say, many stop blogging and abandon their blog.
I think many aren’t aware of the impact of resizing and compressing images. Not only does it eat up storage, but it can cause slow loading. A blog needs maintenance like most anything in life.
Yes, I agree entirely, Eugi. After all, we look after ourselves, so why not our blogs?
This is so helpful, Hugh. I used the link to check for broken links on my blog. I downloaded the list of 228 broken links! Now I don’t see it in my downloads so I’ll try again. I notierced some common problems. Images from the web, old book reviews I posted on Amazon, comments on my posts from other people and reference or citations I added to posts. Example: I’ve been writing about art and artists. The reports said some artists’s bio information has broken links and even history and location of the painting. This is one painting I like. The report noted several issues,
Homeless by Thomas Benjamin Kennington 1890 Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia.
Libraries and museum wesites have a lot of errors! For now, I am going to delete old book reviews and save them in my files. Thanks.
It can seem quite overwhelming to see all those broken links, Kay. I stop the download at 20, fix the links, and then rerun the report. Plus, if you run the report at least once a month, you’ll soon find yourself on top of them.
Authors and artists, in particular, need to keep their websites updated; otherwise, who will return if there are too many broken links or outdated information?
It’s great to hear you have begun the process of fixing, updating and deleting.
I will use your advice to download a short list of broken links. That will be easier to manage, Hugh. Thanks.
Thanks for this, Hugh. As I mainly write posts either on my books, or on our walks, I’ve never really considered myself as a ‘good’ blogger, and I’ve merrily just left old blogs where they sit … for years.
So – I’ve printed this off (mainly because I won’t remember everything) – thank you again – and will work my way through the posts.
Some bloggers forget about older blog posts, Judith. However, as someone pointed out to me on social media, too many posts can also harm websites and slow them down if they become too large. And given that people claim to have less time these days, many of those are not going to wait around for a blog post to download. You don’t need to declutter everything all at once. Do it one or two a day, and you’ll soon find yourself on top of it all.
Thanks, Hugh, I was feeling a little overwhelmed; I’ll do that. Cheers.
You’re welcome, Judith.
Thanks This gives me something tothink about 🤣😎🙃
Good. I hope you act upon whatever those thoughts are.
Thanks for the annual reminder, Hugh. I feel funny about deleting old posts, but I will remember to check my links, as it has been far too long.
Some bloggers don’t have the heart to delete their old posts, which I understand, Pete. I’m more about getting rid of anything that no longer serves a purpose, so I can be brutal with what I delete. Plus, decluttering always gives me a great sense of accomplishment after it’s done.
I have rewritten old blog posts more often than I’ve deleted them. Generally I make a copy and rewrite the copy and then I delete the original. I don’t do it nearly as often as I should though!
Rewriting old blog posts comes in very handy when we don’t have anything new to write about. And the longer you have blogged, the more you will have to fill in the gaps.
Thanks to you, I run the link checker ever six months, I update my About page at least annually, include Alt Text for pictures. On any given day at least 50% of my viewers find me via a search engine. All the best.
Search Engines bring my blog the most traffic, Danny. However, I know that some bloggers don’t care much about SEO and web traffic, especially personal bloggers who tend to write for themselves rather than for an audience.
That is the thing, I write for me. Viewers are simply a form a gratification. An acknowledgment I am doing something right.
Bloggers who receive engagement are doing it right, Danny. I see so many blogs with empty comment sections.
Wow! This is great. I just ran the broken link checker (I stopped it at 1000 pages, for now, with 7 broken links) and I have rewritten two posts, but for whatever reason, I didn’t delete the old ones. I’ll do that. Plus, I’m going to look and see if more can be updated. I like that idea. Thanks, Hugh, for a very productive tech Monday. 😊
7 broken links isn’t at all bad, Melanie. However, it’s good that it stopped at 1000 pages, as some people become overwhelmed by the number of broken links on their blogs.
Updating posts, especially those that continue to receive significant web traffic, is crucial. The majority of people will not return if they encounter numerous broken links and outdated information.
Thank you for the inspiration, Hugh! I’ve been meaning to update a post from 10 years ago that is always searched for and read even today. I just updated it into the block editor and fixed an image problem. It’s here:
https://secondwindleisure.com/2015/02/28/desiderata-you-are-a-child-of-the-universe/
I’m sure you have many posts that are old but seem to come up in google searches consistently. Thank you again for helping us bloggers with these tips! Hope you are having a great week!
I took a quick look at the post and its comments section. Terri, I didn’t recognise many of those who left comments back then, although it was good to see some familiar faces. As someone else mentioned to me on Bluesky, if a post is still receiving lots of traffic, it doesn’t matter how old it is — keep it updated and on your blog. My oldest post, which still gets a lot of traffic, was published in August 2016, so it’s now nine years old.
I’ve had lots of engagement on this post on Bluesky and Mastodon. It surprised me, and dare I say, it reminded me that some bloggers are now claiming to receive significantly more engagement on social media compared to their blogs.
I appreciate you reading and that the update passed the test, Hugh 😁 I should read your Bluesky post! Thanks again!
I’ve had more responses on Mastodon than on Bluesky, but they all make interesting reading, Terri. There seems to be a breed of bloggers on Mastodon who believe that engagement in the blogging world is now dead. That made me feel sad, but given the very short comments I see so much of now, I think they have a point.
During January and February I try to mak time to go through my old posts. It took me a few years, but meanwhile I arrived at September 2021. I deleted a lot of posts that don’t fit the way I want my blog to appear or are literally “outdated”. Others get checked and “renovated”. It is quite some work after 11 years and until I found a clear line. But it is worth it!
Good to hear, Erika. And I agree that it’s all worth it. A clean, fresh, and up-to-date blog is much better than one that shows signs of wear and creaks at the edges because it’s full of outdated posts and information. I didn’t realise this, but another blogger (who is a professional at blogging) informed me that too many posts can also slow down the speed of a blog.
Really? I had no idea either. But I deleted hundreds of posts (also due to the data they caused because of the images) and it seems I intuitively fixed that problem.
I’ve not thought about this much, Hugh, so it’s really interesting that you’re bringing this to our attention. Food for thought.
Glad it’s given you food for thought, Esther. It’s certainly kicked up a lot of conversation on my social media accounts.
Cheers Hugh! You always create good reminders for me to take on board. I love seeing people viewing my older posts, sometimes they are so random that I wonder how the reader even came about discovering them.
The ‘Referrers’ information on your blog’s dashboard will tell you where most of your blog traffic comes from, Wayne. For me, it’s ‘Search Engines.’ However, I agree that it’s great when older blog posts get viewed. Although, unless they also leave an engaging comment, there’s no way to know how long they were on that post. Sometimes, they can get there by mistake.
Yes I think most of mine come from the WordPress Reader. I love seeing the stats, I always find it fascinating.