Super secret tactic for optimizing old posts

I’ll be honest, it’s not really that clever, but it’s working, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Every day, I choose three posts on my blog. You can do it randomly, or start at post one and work forward. It doesn’t matter.

I open the post, and zone in zen-like to another persona. I try to look at it with the eyes of someone who has just arrived on my blog for the very first time. I ask some questions:

1/ Is the post any good? Can I change it, or add something to it?

2/ Are there relevant links to other stuff on my site or elsewhere?

3/ Can I do some work on the layout of the post to improve it?

4/ Can I add some relevant keywords into the text?

5/ Is the post suitable for any affiliate links or links to my own products?

6/ Should it be part of one of my pull-together pages?

7/ Is there any more recent stuff which should link back to it?

8/ Is it interesting enough to send a tweet out to bring people back to it?

9/ Are there some obvious next steps for the new reader? Related stuff?

10/ Is the image interesting? Does it add anything?

I simply work my way down the list and make changes where they’re needed.

Is it a good tactic? Do you do something similar?

Also have a look at:

1/ Strange rumblings in the blogging world

2/ How to be a Twitter expert

3/ Don’t fall into the “cheap” trap