Here is a quick and simple way to increase traffic to your website or blog that will require very little work. If you run a website or even blog, you most likely have noticed that you get a traffic boost when you post new content. This traffic then slowly dies down. The reason for this traffic boost is normally due to the promotion you have done for the new article you have posted. You most likely tweeted your article, as well as posted it to several social bookmarking sites. This is what gets you that initial boost for your article.
The problem is, most webmasters and bloggers do this process once then move on to trying to come up with their next article or new content to get that boost again. My question to them is…why stop?
If you are like me, you have many articles and pages that you have put a lot of work into, however they have fallen off your homepage and deep, deep within your site’s navigation. The only way they are found is through Google. My tip to increasing your traffic is as simple as going into your site and digging out this old content and posting it your Twitter account and your social bookmarking websites. Yes, it really is that simple.
How to Tweet Old Content The Right Way
The key is not to come across spamming. You want to pull an article or two a day out and retweet them. Here are some tips on how to perform this already simple task:
- No more than 2-3 articles a day per twitter account
- Tweet during a time that will get you the best visibility (best time to publish)
- Write catchy tweets to go along with your link so your not tweeting the same old message as before with your link
- Track your clicks using bit.ly or any other link tracking software
- Use WordPress Plugings to tweet old content for you
- Use twitter tools such as TweetingMachine to schedule your tweets
WordPress Plugin for Tweeting Old Content
You can use a free WordPress Plugin called Tweet Old Post which can do most of the work for you. This plugin will randomly choose old articles and re-tweet them to Twitter for you at a specified interval. This plugin allows you to choose how old the content has to be in order to be re-tweeted, what categories you want it to pull from and how you want the tweet displayed. It is simple to setup.
Schedule Your Tweets with a Twitter Tool
This is the method I choose to use. This allows me to hand pick which articles I want to re-tweet, create a custom message, add which bit.ly link I want to use and choose what time I want to send it. I use TweetingMachine to schedule my tweets (if you have not heard of this product, read my review on TweetingMachine). With the twitter tool I use, TweetingMachine, I am able to create a CSV file and bulk upload my tweets into their tweet scheduler. This process takes a little more time than using a plugin, however it allows me more control on what I send out.
Choosing Your Tweets
If you are manually scheduling tweets, you will want to hand pick the right tweets. Go through your older posts and see what hit hard the last time you posted it on Twitter. Which articles received the most RTs? Which articles received the most clicks? You also want to look at what is a trending topic that day or month. For example, I tweet my article on Follow Friday every Friday. Obviously I receive the most hits on Fridays to that article than if I were to post it on Monday or Tuesday.
Track Your Links
Make sure you track all your links to identify which tweets are bringing in the most traffic. This is done using UTM codes. Many of the tools above offer the abilty to add UTM codes to your tweets, however, you can also manually create these tracking URLs using a URL UTM Builder.
What Are Your Tips and Methods?
Leave a comment below and let all of us know what you do to keep your articles fresh on Twitter.
Interesting post … you can also breathe new life into older posts by referencing them in a new post in the form of a ‘sneeze page’ (and as a side benefit, it’s a really easy post to create).
For example sometimes you’ll notice you have half a dozen or so posts dealing with a similar topic/sub-topic, or which are all complimentary, and a new post can simply do a round-up of them all with say a brief summary of each, and consolidate that content into a single new post.
Content is new if the reader hasn’t seen it before. Many of us spend a lot of time researching, writing and posting valuable content that, although not always ‘evergreen’, provides a contribution to the community.
I recently interviewed an attorney specializing in business valuations and mergers and acquisitions on my site (Website Factors in Business Valuations). How much do you think an hour of his time is worth?
Is it worth less (avoiding a pun here) because he consulted with a client on the same subject before?
I noticed an article on Mark’s site, “To Blog or Not to Blog.” IMHO this post is an ‘evergreen’ to anyone new to this subject.
New to Twitter having avoided it like the plague (sample Tweet: I am having coffee at Starbucks now) I saw it used at trade shows and events as a professional networking tool and realized the value proposition.
Great way to wake up while I am having my morning coffee. But I’ll save my Tweets for sharing relevant date-centric or content-centric information as I find it!
Good morning Chris –
Just so I didn’t come off the wrong way, *in theory* you make some good points and there are parts of me who agree with you. However…
From the receivers’ perspective, I believe that quite often the expectation is for new and more. Like it or not, there is an unnatural and unhealthy obsession with quantity and immediacy. The average Joe / Jane trusts (if not demand) more’er & newer. I don’t see much value in violating that trust.
You’re right, there is always some gold in past posts. But if I’m looking for today’s wine and you’re selling last year’s best beer in the world, it still doesn’t matter. I want wine. Now damn it! 🙂 I’m not suggesting that we must pander to the audiences’ every whim. I’m simply pointing out that there are certain expectation that come with any forum. Twitter’s being one of immediacy and freshness. If you want to swim against that tide, more power to you. But the marketer in me assures you that it’s important to be aware of that context and the risks involved. (Which your original post does not mention, correct?)
I leave you with this then…if someone feels compelled to tweet again something older, then my recommendation is that fact be made obvious in that tweet. For example…”Blast from the past…” or “Did you catch…” or “I wanted to share again…”
Moi? I’d just add a “Fave Posts” widget in the side bar and once they visit they can hopefully explore that as they see fit.
Hey thanks again for the reply. Happy New Year!
I’ve read this tip quiet a few times now. Please pardon me for repeating myself but let me get this straight…the answer to more traffic is to submit old news to a forum obsessed with the immediate?
Instead of focusing on more traffic, why not focus on better traffic? My point being, every time you pull in someone with old news, the less likely they are to pay attention to you going forward. I believe the scientific term is called shooting yourself in the foot.
Mark,
I see your point and agree but also disagree. I agree in more traffic is not always better unless you turn that traffic into visitors. When I talk about posting older articles, I do not mean pulling in old news. In the world of SEO, things that worked 6 months ago will still work today. My point was not to post things that are not relevant but to post quality content once more. Your followers on Twitter change. I can tell you that I have over 2,000 new followers than I did a month ago. The key is to attract those that missed your article the first time to your site that second time. If your article was about something that only worked a certain time, then no… that should not be reposted.
I use Tweet Old Post on all my blogs and it does tweet content to accounts but Twitter isn’t the great traffic source that it once was.
I do agree with you on the fact that Twitter no longer delivers as much traffic as it used to, however it does drive traffic. The key is hoping that someone else reads that article and makes a mention of it in one of their articles. I know about half of the links I mention in my article were links I found through Twitter. The rest come from RSS feeds.