3 Quick And Easy Ways To Promote Your Old Blog Posts

Are there easy ways to promote your old blog posts, and should you feature them on your blog again?

Can old blog posts bring in more visitors, followers and comments?

The answer is YES.

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Have you killed off your old blog posts?

One of the biggest mistakes many bloggers make is forgetting their old blog posts. They publish posts and quickly forget about them.

Yet, If they’ve been regularly publishing blog posts, their blog archive will be a treasure trove of opportunities waiting for them to bring posts alive again. Just think about all those followers, readers and visitors who have never seen those posts.

Rather than ignoring these old blog posts, there are ways to bring them back to the attention of your audience.

These old blog posts probably never got anywhere near as many views and comments as your recent blog posts, but did you know that they could quickly bring you many more views, comments and followers?

My three quick and easy tips for bringing these old blog posts back to life are easy to follow and will deliver results as soon as you implement them.

1. Display ‘related’ posts at the end of all your blog posts. 

I’m always surprised by how many WordPress bloggers don’t have this feature switched on.

Here’s a screenshot of the related posts that featured at the end of one of my recent blog posts. 

Image highlighting 'related' blog posts at the end of a blog post.
Promote similar older blog posts at the end of new blog posts.

WordPress automatically chooses which of your posts to display. 

If you’re not already showing related blog posts at the end of newly published blog posts, follow this guide.

  • On the dashboard of your blog, click on Settings and Reading
Image highlighting 'Settings - Reading' on the dashboard of a WordPress blog.
Select ‘Settings’ – ‘Reading’
  • On the Reading Settings page, look for Related Posts and ensure ‘Show Related Content After Posts’ is switched on.
Image highlighting the 'Show related content after posts' option on WordPress
Switch on ‘Show related content after posts.’
  • Choose which other settings options you want to use.
Choose which settings options you want to use.
  • At the bottom of the screen, click on the Save Changes button.
  • Future posts will now display three related posts from your archives, resulting in those posts being seen again. 

2. The ‘Blog Posts’ Block

Those using the Block Editor can use a terrific block called the’ Blog Posts’ block. It allows bloggers to choose which of their previous blog posts to promote on newly published posts.

  • Insert the ‘Blog Posts’ block in the place where you’d like to feature it on your upcoming new post. You’ll find the ‘Blog Posts’ block under the ‘Widgets’ section, or you can search for it by entering ‘Blog Posts’ in the search bar.  
Image highlighting the search box when searching for a block, and the Blog Posts block.
Select the ‘Blog Posts’ block
  • The Blog Posts block defaults to showing the last three blog posts you published, but you can change this. You can leave it as it is or switch to other settings.
  • Today, I will show you how to choose the blog posts you want to display.  
  • When you insert the block, a toolbar will open on the right-hand side of the page. Under Display Settings, look for Choose specific posts and slide the button to the ‘on‘ position. 
Image highlighting the 'Choose Specific Posts' option on WordPress
Switch on the ‘Choose Specific Posts’ option
  • In the ‘Posts‘ box, type in the blog post title you want to display. As you type, suggestions for blog posts with the words you are using will appear. 
Image highlighting the search box in the Blog Posts block on WordPress
Search for the posts you want to promote on your new blog post.
  • Select the blog post you want to feature.
  • If you’re going to add more blog posts, search for them by typing in more words in the Posts box.
  • I recommend that you add no more than three posts. 
  • The Blog Posts block has many other settings, which you can read about here.

3. Add pingbacks to previous blog posts. 

If you’re unsure what a pingback is or how to add it to blog posts, my post, ‘The Power Of Pingbacks: How To Create One,’ will help.

There’s nothing wrong with adding pingbacks and linking back to your previous blog posts. Lots of bloggers do it.

In fact, I recommend that you include at least a couple of pingbacks in all your blog posts. However, you should always ensure that what you’re writing about is connected to the post you’re linking back to.

Pingbacks can also be added to images, pictures, and photos in blog posts and captions.

Let’s wrap it up!

  • Your blog’s archives are a treasure trove of blog posts that can attract new visitors, comments, and followers.
  • Don’t allow old blog posts to remain idle and not work for you. Use them.
  • Your previous blog posts may not have been read by new followers. Introduce them to your new audience.
  • People who may have read your older posts are often thankful for the opportunity to read them again, especially if the post includes tips and advice.
  • Ensure you keep old blog posts up to date.
  • WordPress has made several blocks available on the Block editor to promote old blog posts. The ‘Blog Posts’ block is just one of those blocks.
  • Consider switching it on if you’re not already using the ‘Related Posts’ feature.
  • Remember that you can create pingbacks to old blog posts from any images or photos in future blog posts.

Do you promote your old blog posts? If not, why not? How do you promote them? What way(s) of promoting old blog posts have worked best for you? Have you had much success promoting old blog posts?

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Any questions about this post? Leave them in the comments box.

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Why I’m Delighted WordPress Has Fixed This Annoying Bug

In my recent blog post, Experiencing Problems With Leaving Comments On WordPress? This Is What I Found. Read This Post Now, I shared details of two problems I was experiencing connected to comments on WordPress.

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If you don’t report problems to WordPress, how will they know about issues with their platform?

I am thrilled to inform you that the issue I reported regarding the ‘Email me new comments‘ checkbox when leaving a comment has been successfully resolved by WordPress.

Image highlighting the 'Email me new comments' button on WordPress
Click the ‘Email me new comment’ button to get an email notification of when somebody has replied to a comment you left them.

So here’s what happened: When you checked the ‘Email me new comments‘ box, things went a bit haywire. You not only started getting email notifications for comments on that specific post, but you also got bombarded with notifications for comments on other posts on that blog, even if you hadn’t left a comment or picked the ‘Email me new comments‘ option. Your inbox was basically drowning in a sea of WordPress emails. Crazy, right?

Now, when you select the ‘Email me new comments‘ option, rest assured that you will only receive email notifications for comments posted on the exact same post where you have left a comment.

Why do I tick the ‘Email me new comments’ box?

Not only do I get informed via email when I get a reply to a comment I’ve left, but reading other blog posts’ comments always helps me with ideas for new posts. Sometimes, comments can be as interesting as the post they’ve been left on.

I can also definitely lend a helping hand when bloggers reach out for assistance in their comments. Moreover, I take great pleasure in rectifying any misinformation that comes my way. Just the other day, I came across a comment where a blogger erroneously mentioned that having a WordPress account is a prerequisite for leaving comments. Allow me to assure you that this information is not accurate. Indeed, anyone can participate in the discussion without the need for a WordPress account.

One problem remains

The problem I reported concerning no longer getting email notifications when somebody leaves a comment on any of my posts has still not been fixed. However, WordPress has assured me that they’re still working on fixing it.

I’d be interested in knowing if anybody else is experiencing problems with not getting email notifications when comments are left on their posts. Please let me know in the comments section.

Are you experiencing any problems with leaving or receiving comments on blog posts? What are they, and have you reported them to WordPress?

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This Is How Easy It Is To Centre Captions Underneath Images And Photos On WordPress

Once upon a time, getting captions to centre underneath photos and images on blog posts involved adding complicated CSS code to your blog.

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t look right to me whenever I see uncentred captions. It gives blog posts a messy look.

However, WordPress now makes it much easier to centre captions under blog posts, images and photos.

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Are your captions centred?

Here’s my simple guide to centring captions.

  • Add an image or photo to a blog post.
  • Click on the image to open the image toolbar.
Image of a photo on a WordPress blog highlighting the image toolbar
How to centre a caption

You’ll see that the caption is aligned to the left under the above photo. Arghhhhh!

  • On the toolbar, click on the ‘Align‘ button and on the dropdown menu that appears, click on ‘Align Centre.’
Image highlighting the Align Centre button on WordPress
Click on the Align Centre button.
  • The image or photo will now be centred on your blog post, as will the caption.
Image showing a centred caption under an image on a WordPress blog.
The caption is now centred underneath the photo.

How easy was that? No more ‘Arghhhhhs.’

The example I have given above works on the Block editor.

Of course, if you prefer captions on your blog posts to be aligned to the left or right, you can ignore everything I’ve said in this post.

If you have any questions about centring captions, leave them in the comments section.

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