How to Update Blog Posts for SEO: A 7 Step Guide

Updated on 30/07/25

You’ve put your heart into your blog, but has it slipped down to page 2? In reality, 3 in 4 of us never go past the first page of search results. That means, if you want organic traffic to your blog, it’s time to update it.

Read on to learn how to update your blog posts for SEO in six steps:

1. Choose the Blog Post You’re Going to Update

If you have a stash of blogs on your website (and well done for writing them!), it’s well worth taking a look at your analytics once every few months to see if any posts are dropping in ranking or straggling behind. At Lumen SEO, we’ll update blog posts on a regular basis for ourselves and our clients – in a ‘meta-update’, even this blog has revisions.

• Take a look at your Google Search Console account. Go to ‘Search Results’ under ‘Performance’. Click ‘add filter’ and ‘page’, then add in the URL of the blog you want to check out. You’ll be able to see traffic and clicks over time, as well as the keywords you’re getting traffic for.
• Or, on Google Analytics, find the ‘Landing Page’ report under ‘Reports’. Add a filter ‘Page path and screen class > Contains’, then write ‘blog’. That way, you’ll see landing page traffic for all your pages with ‘blog’ in the URL, making it easier to narrow down on a low performer.

2. Review and Replace Outdated Information

Begin by identifying outdated facts or statistics within your blogs, replacing them with accurate and current information. This is important as having outdated information in your blogs can mislead readers and harm your credibility.

• Check all of your statistics by conducting thorough research to find the most recent data and studies. Replace any outdated statistics with their updated version.

• If any of your blog titles include a date, such as “Ultimate SEO Guide 2025”, ensure that you update these to the current year. Google always want to show the freshest content meaning anything flagged as seemingly outdated will be pushed further down in search results.

• Verify that your sources are still credible and relevant. Certain guidelines that you have written about may have easily changed. For instance, within an SEO blog, there may have been information about Google’s Core Updates, that has been altered and hence, needs to be updated within the blog.

3. Fix Broken Links

One of the fastest ways to frustrate a visitor is broken links. This can harm your SEO as it often leads to higher bounce rates, as users become irritated and click off your page. 

• Use tools like Google Search Console to check for broken links. Replace broken links with updated URLs or remove them if no longer relevant.

• Add more internal links. These are links within your blog post that link to other blogs or pages on your website. They greatly help Google find, index and understand all of the pages on your site.

• Check your external links and ensure that they are taking readers to high-quality, authoritative websites in order to boost your search rankings.

If you would like some support with updating your blogs or creating new ones, our team of expert blog writers are happy to help! Feel free to contact us for more information.

4. Incorporate New Keywords

Altering your blog posts presents you with a chance to incorporate new keywords. Keywords are vital for SEO as they help you understand what your audience is searching for. Adding these to your blogs, especially recent keywords that are ranking highly within your readers’ searches, will satisfy your visitors’ needs and lead to higher rankings.

• Use tools such as Semrush to help you conduct keywords research in order to understand what language your audience is using to search. Since voice search has become increasingly popular amongst users, long-tail keywords that represent a conversational style of searching are used more frequently. Ensure that you include these to target those using voice search.

• Identify keywords with high search volume and low competition. Use these within your text and as a way to include extra detail in your blog.

• Integrate these keywords into your title, headings, subheadings, and body content without overstuffing. Remember to also include them within your meta description as each meta description should include the page’s primary keyword—the main search query you want the page to rank for. This can greatly increase the amount of users who click on your blog.

5. Update Visuals and Media

Visual content plays a crucial role in engaging readers therefore, keeping it up to date is key. It is important to update any outdated images, infographics, or videos to ensure they align with current standards and trends. Furthermore, high-quality visuals can enhance the appeal of your blog post and improve reader engagement.

• Look through your blog and replace any low-resolution or outdated images with high-quality alternatives. This may include changing the image format to JPEG or resizing your images.

• Infographics are a brilliant way to present information in a captivating way. Ensure they are updated with current data and design trends. The data they are showing will have often changed over time so it is vital for this to be up to date. This way, users will gain valuable information from your content.

• Videos are another helpful way to display guidance for your readers and they provide you with the opportunity to include a more detailed explanation of a topic. Embed new videos or create updated versions of existing ones to keep your audience interested.

6. Improve Readability and Structure

One of the most difficult parts of writing blog posts is finding ways to keep users attentive. The structure of your blogs plays a major role in this. Readers want your content to be easy to read and to appear well-structured.

• Include a clear and compelling title, incorporating subheadings to break up text and guide readers. Use headings in a sequential order so that your blog remains logical – H1, H2, H3.

• Break up large chunks of text into smaller sections by using short paragraphs and sentences.

• Use bullet points and numbered lists to highlight key points. Emphasise key points by making them bold or using italics.

7. Optimise Meta Descriptions and Titles

Meta descriptions and titles are critical for SEO and click-through rates. They help users and ensure they are compelling, accurately reflect the content, and include relevant keywords. Updated meta descriptions and titles can attract more clicks from search engine results.

• Rewrite meta descriptions to be concise, informative, and engaging.

• Include primary keywords in your meta descriptions and titles.

• Ensure your titles are attention-grabbing and accurately represent the content.

How Does Updating an Old Blog Post Help With SEO?

• Demonstrating EEAT: Presenting expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness (EEAT) in your blogs, is a brilliant way to signal to Google that your content is valuable. Updating old content provides you with many opportunities to demonstrate these aspects of your business. Search engines favour fresh and relevant content, resulting in more organic traffic being driven to your website and higher visibility on search.

• Increasing Conversion Rates: Readers are more likely to become customers or subscribers when the material is new and relevant. By addressing new trends, including updated calls-to-actions and aligning your content with the current needs of your target audience, you can improve your conversion rates. This is because prospective clients will feel that you are knowledgeable and your content will match their demands.

• Boosting User Experience: Information that is current and accurate is valued by readers. You can improve the user experience by updating out-of-date content, replacing broken links, and making sure your facts are accurate. As a result, readers are more likely to interact with your content, stay on it longer, and come back often. This decreases your bounce rate and increases your dwell time, which are both vital factors in Google’s analysis of your website.