Remember ye olden days? Way, way back, in our early blogging days, when we were trying to figure it all out? It got kind of lonely out there, didn’t it? We’d sit, we’d write, we’d worry, we’d post… and then we’d hope and pray that someone, somewhere would bother to read those incredible pieces we just slaved over.
It seems like a long time ago — and yet, for me, it’s only been about a year and a half since my first baby steps into the wonderful world of blogging. It definitely took me a while to find my feet and start expanding my reach. Meanwhile, there were some days that felt kind of soul-crushing, to be honest. Who doesn’t remember the feeling of writing something and feeling really proud of it, putting it out there… and then seeing, day after day, that no one actually read it? Oh, the sadness of low stats!
While thinking about how to approach some year-end posts, I went back and looked at my “year in review” post from December 2012… and was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked it quite a bit (if I do say so myself). Which then led me to skimming through other post from my early blogging days — say July through September of last year — and finding that I had some other posts in there that were kind of fun or interesting or just in general a little bit smile-worthy.
Of course, I also found a few that made me itch for a rewrite, or that provoked a “what was I thinking?” reaction… but that’s part of the learning curve, I suppose.
But still, looking at some of the older posts that I felt good about also made me a little sad, because in my early days, visitors to my blog were few and far between. If I write a good post and nobody reads it, does it matter? Like the proverbial tree falling in the forest, my early posts just didn’t make any sound.
It got me wondering: What do you do with your older posts? Do you go back into your archives and re-run pieces that still feel relevant? Do you ever do nostalgia pieces, maybe highlighting an older post as an example of “hey, look how I approached this topic way back when” or “look how much I’ve changed”? Or do you just leave the past in the past?
I know I still occasionally refer back to some older posts, particularly the ones I especially like or which have sentimental value for me. An early post I wrote about the role books played in my romance with my husband is a special favorite, and I do tend to link up to it from time to time when it relates to my current topic. In a more obvious approach, if I’m reviewing a new book by an author I’ve discussed before, I’ll usually link back to my reviews of earlier works by the same author.
But I still fell bad sometimes for my orphaned posts — those poor, lonely pieces that maybe only 3 or 4 people ever took the time to read. Now that I’ve been blogging longer, would the same pieces generate more comments or discussion? Would they help me engage with other bloggers in different ways? I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a “From the Stacks” or “Old Post Love” type of post from time to time, maybe reviving something older that I’ve written and perhaps adding commentary to update it, but so far, it’s just an idea, not an action plan.
So what do you do with your older posts? Leave them in the past, because hey, that’s where they belong? Repost them every once in a while? Bring back an older piece and update it? None of the above? All of the above?
Older posts: Love ’em or leave ’em? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Good topic! I auto tweet previous reviews several times a day just to get them attention, since they are still relevant. I haven’t linked or otherwise revisited old posts though unless it was like you mentioned, when reviewing another book in that series. I haven’t been at it as long as you but it is a curious topic and I don’t think I have an answer yet heh.
Well, but you auto tweet, and I have no idea how to do that! Any tips? How does it work?
I’ve started linking some older posts on Twitter now and then, but it’s a lot of work for not a lot of reward, and I don’t know that people are really that interested.
Right, I can imagine that would be true — although there are certain older reviews that I see getting page views for months after I’ve posted them. I suppose if I were more diligent, I’d go back and make an effort to retweet the ones that seem to consistently be of interest. But you make a good point — just because I’m amused to see what I wrote about over a year ago, it doesn’t mean that anyone else would actually care!
It kinda sucks because it feels like all those words are just going to waste… but as far as I can tell I get a couple clicks, if that, on those old links when I do post them. If I had a plug-in that did it automatically, I’d probably keep it up… it’s not hurting anything. But doing it manually, I just don’t know that it’s worth the time and effort, small though it is.
Well I’m still in my early blogging days and I can definitely relate to the sadness of low stat days after slogging away on a post! I think your idea of updating some of your earlier posts is a good one though and it might be helpful for us newbies to see more of your journey as a blogger.
Thanks for your perspective! I guess we all have those “slogging away” days, don’t we? What I’m finding funniest of all is coming across old posts that I’ve just completely forgotten about — it’s weird being surprised by something I wrote myself! I think this is probably a question I’ll keep coming back to, but I appreciate your thought about updating older posts. I’ll keep it in mind, if some seem appropriate! Thanks. 🙂
I actually went back and looked at my first posts from when I was a baby blogger recently! 🙂 I formatted a few of them, since in the beginning, I had no idea how to align anything and my posts looked weird. I’ve been a bit torn between wanting to edit or add to some of them because they’re listed in my review archive and might get views, or leaving them as they are so I can keep looking back and see how much I’ve changed.
Great discussion topic! 🙂
That’s a really great point! My formatting is definitely wonky in my earlier posts, especially since I changed layouts a few times before settling into my current theme. I know I also didn’t include some of the details about each book (publisher, date, genre, etc) that I do now, so some day when I have time, perhaps I should go back and at least make them consistent. As you said, older reviews do still get views from time to time, so while I wouldn’t change content necessarily, format and layout issues might be worth revisiting. Thanks! 🙂
I’m still a new blogger, so I’m not getting the amount of views that more established people have. I’d like to think that when I start getting more views and more traffic, I’ll either tweet older posts again, or do a feature where I dig through the archives and focus on an old post.
Maybe I’ve been around a little bit longer, but I’m still not getting the huge amount of views that more established people have either! 🙂 I think your idea is a good one, to go back and tweet some older posts, at least for starters. I just need time! Or maybe better technology. Thanks for commenting!