Ah, the power of social media. For good or bad, it is a common source of news, entertainment, and a great traffic referral source for many businesses. It’s an easy way to discover and share news, articles, and information to help prospective customers along in their journey to purchase your product or service.
That may change. In late June, Facebook announced a new update to its user interface that is positioned to have an adverse effect on traffic to old web pages.
How Website Traffic From Facebook Will Be Affected
If your business is the kind that takes to Facebook to share new content consistently and updates old content so that it remains relevant and up-to-date, you likely won’t be affected. However, let’s say you’re a home remodeling company that takes to Facebook to share blogs on project trends and project ROI, you may see an impact if the content you are sharing is no longer relevant.
Why is that? Going forward, Facebook will notify users when they’re about to share an article that’s over 90 days old or more.
Why is Facebook Doing This?
John Hegeman, Facebook VP of Feed and Stories, says several months of internal research finds the timeliness of an article is key when users decide what to read, trust, and share.
While the update will without a doubt benefit users, it is one many publishers must be mindful of when producing content to share on social media.
What About Blogs That Are Evergreen?
Evergreen blogs are search-optimized and continually relevant for readers over a long period of time – as the name implies. For example, a tree company may have content on their site pertaining to the proper way to trim fruit trees. The blog may have been published five years ago and routinely shared on Facebook to drive traffic to the company’s site, raise awareness, and improve local SEO efforts.
It is unlikely that the company’s Facebook audience will see the notification and decide not to share the blog because the subject is timeless.
How To Bring Old Blog Posts Back to Life
If a webpage has matured over time, is keyword optimized, has attracted links, and continues to receive relevant organic traffic, it is more valuable than a recently published blog post on the same subject. Rather than re-invent the wheel, use what you have, and improve it.
Update the topic. If your blog is about “The Best Women’s Watches for 2015”, it probably began receiving a decline in traffic around 2016. By keeping dates out, expanding on the information you recently provided, and routinely updating it and re-publishing it, you can continue to share that piece on Facebook and users will not receive the “This article is over X old “ notification from Facebook.
You can also use anchor text (links to other pages on your website) to funnel readers to relevant content that they would likely be interested in. It will not only help you improve your search ranking but it will create a good user experience and may help decrease your bounce rate as your website visitors will stay engaged on your site longer if they find your content resourceful.
To ensure that you are reaching a new target audience, revisit your Search Engine Optimization keyword strategy, and add any new services or industry-specific keywords that will drive new traffic.
By staying up-to-date on the latest digital marketing changes, you can continue to thrive!