Blog Statistics Week 34 – Old Blog Posts Keep Working

It is Thursday again, which means it is time for Blog Statistics Week 34 from Malix.se. This week, I am looking at both Jetpack and Google – and discovering that old blog posts can continue to live long after the day they were published.

🇸🇪 Svenska – Läs inlägget på svenska → Bloggstatistik vecka 34 – gamla blogginlägg fortsätter att arbeta
🇬🇧 English – you are here

I still find statistics interesting. Not because they tell me exactly how many people are sitting somewhere reading what I write – because they don’t always do that – but because they can show movement.

What are people finding?
What are they reading?
Which old posts are still alive?
And what can I learn from it?

This week, I was reminded of one thing in particular:

A blog post doesn’t stop working just because its publication day is over.

Blog Statistics Week 34 – This Week on Malix.se

When I look at Blog Statistics Week 34, I see both expected and slightly strange numbers.

Among the most viewed pages and posts are:

Everyday Life, ADHD and Presence – 34 views
Too Many Thoughts at Once – and a Solution to the World’s Foolishness – 11
Life in the Small Things – When Everyday Life Is Actually Enough – 10
Don’t I Have ADHD Anymore – or Have I Just Found My Wholeness? – 7

It makes me happy to see the Everyday Life, ADHD and Presence page at the top. I have spent a lot of time trying to bring more structure to Malix, so that old and new posts are connected and readers can find their way to more content.

But there are also much older posts among the most-read content.

And that is where today’s Blogging School begins.

Google Shows Me Something Different from Jetpack

When I open Google Site Kit, I get a different picture.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Blog Statistics Week 34 is what Google tells me about my older posts.

Over the past 28 days, Malix has had approximately 1,800 impressions in Google Search, an increase of 30.9 percent compared with the previous period.

Those impressions resulted in 29 clicks from the search results.

These are not enormous numbers, but to me, the development is more interesting than the size of the numbers.

Google is showing my pages more often.

And when I continue into Search Console, it gets even more interesting.

During the three-month period I looked at, Google had registered as many as 219 different search queries in which Malix appeared in the search results.

What Are People Searching For?

This is where my old blog suddenly becomes very visible.

Among the searches are:

malix
bogesunds bil ulricehamn
bogesunds bil ulricehamn reviews
gluten-free bread skrädmjöl
the green time
belittling someone
skrädmjöl gluten-free recipe
competition between maternal and paternal grandmothers

It is almost a little funny when you see them listed one after another.

Cars. Bread. Relationships. Green time.

And it is all here.

At the same time, it says something about what happens when you have been blogging for a long time. I have written about life while it was happening. Because of that, there is now quite a large archive of posts from different parts of my life.

Someone searches for gluten-free bread.

Someone else is wondering what it means to belittle another person.

A third person is looking for information about a car dealership.

And someone is actually searching for the green time, a concept that is still part of what I work with and write about today.

Those people do not have to be interested in the same things at all.

But they can still find their way here.

Blogging School – Old Blog Posts Keep Working

When you publish a new blog post, it is easy to think something like this:

I write.
I publish.
I share it on Facebook.
People read it.
Then I move on to the next post.

But a blog post doesn’t really work that way.

An old post can be found months or even years later.

That is one of the big differences between a blog and many social media platforms.

A Facebook post disappears down the feed fairly quickly. A blog post remains at its own address and can continue to be found through Google, links, categories and other posts on the blog.

1. Don’t Delete Old Posts Just Because They’re Old

The first thing I take away from this is:

Old doesn’t mean worthless.

A post that almost nobody read when it was first published may start appearing in searches much later.

That doesn’t mean everything has to be kept forever. But before deleting an old post, it can be worth checking whether Google is still showing it or whether people are still finding it.

2. Help the Reader Find Their Way Forward

If someone comes to Malix through an old recipe, they don’t necessarily have to leave the blog after reading that recipe.

I can help the reader continue by linking to other relevant recipes.

The same applies to an old post about relationships, ADHD, everyday life or something else.

Internal links don’t just make the blog easier for Google to understand.

More importantly, they make it easier for people to use.

3. Old Posts Can Be Updated

I don’t have to write a completely new post every time.

Sometimes an old post might simply need:

a clearer title,
a few new paragraphs,
better subheadings,
a relevant internal link,
a new image or alt text,
or a check to make sure old links still work.

That can give an old post new life without having to start all over again.

4. Look at What Google Is Already Trying to Tell You

This may be today’s most important tip.

Open Google Search Console and look at which search queries are already causing your blog to appear in search results.

You don’t have to start by guessing what people might be searching for.

Google is already showing you what is actually happening.

Is there an old post receiving many impressions but hardly any clicks?

Take a look at it.

Could the title be clearer?
Does the post still answer what people seem to be looking for?
Is there anything that needs updating?

There may be much more to gain there than from constantly chasing the next new post.

My Own Archive Is Beginning to Mean Something Different

Sometimes I have seen all my old posts almost as a problem.

There is a lot to sort through.

A lot to review.

A lot of old material that doesn’t always fit perfectly with what Malix looks like today.

But perhaps I also need to look at it from the other direction.

It isn’t just an old archive.

It is many years of writing that has already been published and that Google can still find.

When someone, several years later, searches for something I happened to write about on an ordinary day, that post can suddenly become relevant again.

I find that quite fascinating.

📚 Blogging School – Don’t Forget Your Old Posts

A blog post doesn’t have to be finished just because it is old. In my Search Console, I can see searches leading to posts about everything from gluten-free bread to relationships and green time.

This week’s tip: Take a look at your older posts. Is there a post that is still getting views from Google? Update it if necessary and link from it to something newer. An old post can continue working for your blog long after its publication day.

Between the Lines – Blog Statistics Week 34

This week’s statistics made me think less about how many people are reading today and more about how long a piece of writing can live.

When I wrote many of those old posts, I obviously had no idea which searches would lead people to them several years later.

I wrote about what was happening in my life at the time.

Today, I am beginning to understand that a large blog archive doesn’t just tell the story of where I have been.

It can also be a way into what I am writing about now.

When I sum up Blog Statistics Week 34, the most important lesson of the week is therefore not one particular number. It is the discovery that old posts can still find new readers.

This Week’s Question

Do you have a blog?

Go back and take a look at some of your old posts.

Is there a post you had almost forgotten about that is still getting visits?

Perhaps it doesn’t need to be replaced by something new.

Perhaps it just needs a little care.

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🇬🇧 English – you are here

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Carina Ikonen Nilsson

Yesterday has already settled into history, tomorrow is waiting further ahead. But right now – this is where life happens.

Carina Ikonen Nilsson, Malix.se