Since I rebranded my blog from Salt to Taste to The Running Chef, I’ve noticed a sharp decline in views. This is likely due to expired links on Pinterest and a drop in search engine rankings. However, before my blog revamp, I had another problem, one that persists, and that’s a lot of old, outdated posts.
Keeping Track of a Lot of Old Posts
When I started my blog, I created a spreadsheet to track all my uploaded posts. It’s a simple document if you understand the basics of Excel, and it helps me keep track of everything I’ve posted. Without it, how else would I know the scale of what has become a lot of old posts?
My spreadsheet has the post name and date of first publication. It shows the number of days that have passed since publication, the number of days since the last update, and the date of the previous update. The days since the last update have been colour-coded to highlight which posts need updating. All these old posts are now in red.
On top of that, it has the SEO and readability scores from my Yoast SEO plugin, which allows me to see which posts might require a few tweaks in future. However, I try to minimise this during the editing and publishing stages. Some post scores are listed as unavailable and have become what I term the Old Guard. These are posts that required updating immediately when my blog was still Salt to Taste, but I never got around to it.
The Old Guard
These are the original posts uploaded when I first started my blog. They included, up until recently, my first blog post, a beef stroganoff. However, I’ve since revamped that post and the recipe to fit my new niche as the running chef. As of writing, these posts total around 28.
I’ve given these a nickname that separates them from other Salt To Taste articles because SEO and readability scores are unavailable. These posts were the very first and were published before I installed the Yoast SEO plugin. I’d updated one or two of these old blog posts before I took my long hiatus, but since I’ve returned with a new niche, they’ve taken on a more urgent place on my to-do list.
These blog posts need SEO, meaning many contain no summaries or key information, only basic recipes. Not only are some of these recipes now outdated, but they also don’t have recipe cards, as they were published before I installed that plugin. These posts needed urgent updating under the banner of Salt To Taste. Now, I can update all the essential stuff, such as the content, SEO, and pictures taken before I had my wooden table backdrop in place.
Still a Lot of Old Posts
While I may have optimised the SEO scores and recipe cards shortly after launching Salt To Taste, many older posts still require updating. These posts aren’t as urgent as the old guard, as they contain recipe cards and good SEO scores. However, they need a little attention to ensure they’re still accurate and fit the new theme of my blog. As of writing, these posts number well over 100.
Most of the 100+ recipes will stay the same, such as this beef and red pepper chilli. However, I still need to rewrite the post content to explain the nutritional benefits and why it’s suitable for runners. Moving forward, I’ve slowed down my development of new recipes to focus on updating the old guard and these older posts.
The biggest area of concern for me with these posts is outside of my website. The traffic generated while I was away came from Google, Pinterest, and other sources. While Google may have reindexed my site, the links on all the Pinterest pins that generated the most views are now dead links. This loss of traffic is significant, as salttotaste.uk no longer exists. Restoring that lost traffic is now key to developing a sustainable blog as the running chef.
Maintaining the New Batch
Sorry for the convoluted section title, but hopefully, it shows my intentions. I may have slowed down with recipe development, but I haven’t stopped. I still need new content alongside my mass updates. However, what’s important moving forward is preventing all my latest articles from becoming another batch of a lot of old posts.
My new posts will need regular attention to prevent them from becoming outdated. Sometimes, I might need to re-edit some as I may have missed something during my final edits—after all, I’m only human. Readers may point out issues, and I’ve learned to improve things over time. Maybe I’ve found a new plugin or upgraded to a paid version, which I plan to do soon. There’s always a reason to update or refresh an old post. Once I’ve worked my way through my 100+ list of outdated posts, I’ll have a whole lot of new posts to work through. It never ends.
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