What is historical optimization?
Simply put, historical optimization is the process of revisiting and updating your old content to make it fresh again. The goal is to get it to once again start generating a fresh wave of traffic.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: What does historical optimization entail?
Historical optimization entails two basic components:
- Conversion optimization
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
Let us go over each one in more detail:
First, conversion optimization, as the name suggests, refers to the process of revising your old content to boost its conversion rate. It is best used for content that gets a lot of traffic but not a lot of conversions. The goal is to capitalise on the sizable audience by tweaking the content so it provides visitors with a more compelling reason to sign up, download, make a purchase, or take whatever other action you need them to take.
Second, SEO, as you may have already guessed, refers to the process of updating your old content to improve its ranking in search. Unlike conversion optimization, it is best used for high-converting posts that do not get a lot of traffic. The goal is to capitalize on the high conversion rate by tweaking the content so it shows up more often and at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), allowing more people to see it.
But how exactly can you do this?
Well, SEO involves too many steps and techniques to cover here, but, at the very least, you should do keyword research and add the right keywords to the posts you are looking to optimize.
Keep in mind, though, that there is such a thing as using certain keywords too much, so you may want to consider using an SEO tool to figure out the right keyword density for each post.
Question #2: What are its benefits?
As we have seen in the previous section, the biggest benefits of historical optimization are increased conversion rates and more traffic from content that you have already published before.
This is great because it eliminates the need for you to do trial-and-error. Since it involves working with old posts, it provides you with concrete data to draw valuable insights from. This means you will know exactly which posts to work with and what changes you need to make.
In addition to this, however, historical optimization also allows you to get a steady stream of traffic and conversions from both old and new content instead of only seeing returns every time you publish something new.
Question #3: What are the disadvantages of doing this?
The biggest disadvantage of doing historical optimization is that it takes extra time and effort. Again, it involves revisiting and revising content that you have already produced and published before—which is work that goes on top of having to constantly produce and publish new content. Despite this, however, the returns it brings if you do it correctly still make it well worth doing.
Again, would you rather just get traffic and conversions every time you publish new content or get them from both your old and new content?
Question #4: Should I do historical optimization for all of my content?
No, you should not do historical optimization for all your content. As we have seen earlier, this technique is best used for content that satisfies one of two conditions:
- It gets a lot of traffic but not a lot of conversions
- It gets a lot of conversions but not a lot of traffic
While you can, in theory, do historical optimization for every single piece of content you have ever published, it would be extremely inefficient. Focusing only on posts that satisfy one of the two conditions above would allow you to spend significantly less time and effort for significantly better results.