What trouble from Google?
I‘ve heard it a few times lately that adding new links to your old content can somehow hurt your search engine rankings.
First of all, why would you want to do that, right?
Here are a couple of scenarios for you:
1. Deep linking.
So you wrote a post and now you are starting your link building campaign in order to rank it for a specific keyword.
What’s the easiest way to build a few links to the post, possibly even from well-ranking pages? By using your own blog and building links from older related posts to the new one - this is called deep or internal linking.
2. Updating a post.
Imagine you have a post that is already ranking highly on search engines, but the content is a bit outdated.
What happens when the search engine traffic visits that post?
They see that the info is not up-to-date and leave your site to look for a better answer. You miss out on converting that traffic to potential loyal readers and subscribers, plus increase your bounce rate.
The simple answer is to update that post with more current information, add a few links to current resources on the topic if needed and the post is as good as new.
Will it hurt your rankings?
I was always of the opinion that adding links to an already published post doesn’t carry negative consequences from Google.
Now I have 132 of the world’s best SEO experts supporting me on this… well, most of them, anyway - according to Rand Fishkin’s of SEOmoz.org 2011 Search Engine Factors report.
What it comes down to is weighing the potential benefit of adding new links to a published post against some vague threat from Google.
Ping Your Post
A couple of weeks ago we talked about pinging: what it is, how to take advantage of it, and how to avoid being labeled as a “pinging spammer”.
Assuming that you actually took my advice and are now using a plugin that prevents WordPress from automatically pinging your posts each time you edit them (bad for business), you now need to make sure to ping your newly updated post by hand.
This way you’ll notify the search engines that there is new info on the page and, hopefully, trigger a new crawl.
Marketing Takeaway
I do tend to update my higher ranking posts every once in a while to ensure that the content is fresh and relevant.
I am yet to see any problems from Google for doing that - and hope it stays that way. 
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Ana is the founder of Traffic Generation Cafe and wants you to know that her 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination free SEO report = SEO Made Simple. Don't forget to pick up your own copy today - just click on the link above!
Ana has written 253 great posts for Traffic Generation Cafe.
A wife to a great husband, a mother to a beautiful and, no doubt, genius little girl, and a successful internet entrepreneur. I also devoted my life to Jesus Christ many years ago, and He remains my true priority, focus, and hope.
{ 90 comments… read them below or add one }
In my opinion, it may harm only if you will add irrelevant link. It will not harm if you are updating article and providing fresh staff there.
Alex invites you to read: The Best Forex Trading Hours
I am not truly sure about adding irrelevant links, Alex - after all, why would you do it on your blog anyway, right?
Hi Ana,
Thank you for writing this post. I remember asking you about this a while back.
I like the idea of manually repinging the post
Great stuff,
Jeff Faldalen
Jeff Faldalen invites you to read: Do You Know What Education is Really Teaching?
I guess adding new links for your published pages is part of updating your content. And can be very beneficial to your site.
Noel Addison invites you to read: Selling Ice Cubes to Eskimos
Thanks for the tips Ana. In the eyes of google it never hurts to freshen content even if it is links.
Like other people on here have said, I agree that Google would not punish you for adding new links to an old page so long as the link points to a trusted source. If you posted some links to spam sites then they might handle it differently.
Quite a nice blog you have Ana. I am enjoying it.
Ted invites you to read: Do You Realize How Much Power You Have As A Blogger?
Beyond the benefit that a site owner can get in adding new links with the old posts or vice versa, the strategy can also be helpful to readers. At least they can be directed to other places within your blog that you personally choose to be useful to their research.
Maria Pavel invites you to read: How to Pass the CNA Test
Very good point, Maria.
It is OK to update old posts, it is time consuming but it’s just part of being a BLOGGER. In fact, it will increase the ranking of your website.
Nicole invites you to read: kids bedroom furniture
That’s a good point. Adding links to your site is essential to good rankings, it’s just links, it won’t hurt your rankings, just in my opinion.
Vanessa invites you to read: OxyELITE Pro
In my opinion, you will be rewarded for refreshing existing content every once in a while. Google knows that posts are often time-sensitive content and there is certainly some findings that suggest that additional weight is given to new posts with fresh content.
What would be a cool way for Google to go is to have some sort of method that would be able to rate a post in terms of being either evergreen/time-sensitive and give it weight based on date/time published/updated based upon it.
That would be an innovative way forward for Google to determine relevancy and I’d hazard a guess, they have someone working on integrating these factors in their indexing algorithm.
Wayne Lambert invites you to read: Blogging Strategy: How to Blog Strategically
Agreed and yes, it would be cool. If they don’t have someone working on it, we should suggest it as it will certainly be great. LOL!
Those points will be more helpful to all the people in the wide too
Great tips on here 
I’m glad I came across this, I have always wondered this since I am a wordpress user that if I update a post a few times if my ranking would be effected. I guess I have the answer to that now thanks! It makes sense that it shouldn’t hurt you if you are updating information with the reader in mind. I will look into that plug in that stops wordpress from pinging. Thanks for the great advice once again.
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What you say makes perfect sense Ana and I see no reason why Google would dislike you updating a post and including links in the update. After all, they are all about fresh and current content aren’t they?
Hey Ana! Great Article! This is the first I’ve heard about updating older posts and how it can affect SEO.
Man there is SO much to learn and so little time
If only we can sacrifice sleep and still be productive!
@Hi Kerry -You have a very good point here: “adding links to your site is essential to good rankings, and it really does not matter when you add the links. The key is that when you do link out, you must link to relevant content and avoid linking to any spammy sites. Google holds you responsible for where your site links.” I totally agree with you.
@Hi Ana - This is a very informative post! I really learned a lot just reading all your blog post. Thank you Ana.
Vanessa invites you to read: OxyELITE Pro
You are welcome, Vanessa - thanks for coming by.
Nice tips ana. Read all and didn’t miss a single words of your article. Its inspire me to work harder to be able to get and post a new one in our site. We are just doing link building campaign too.
Vernon invites you to read: Twelve Sky 2 Review
Thank you, Vernon. All the best!
Thanks for something I’ve been working on lately.
Question: How many added links on one page would be safe if the relevancy is good?
Thanks.
Rob invites you to read: How to Get Anything You Want Out of Life?
The fewer, the better, Rob. You don’t want to dilute your possible page authority with too many links.
Hi Ana,
I think adding link to updated post doesn’t have to affect your blog ranking. Instead it should enhance it since you’re only trying to add more info to the post.
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Sure. It provides readers with more information, which helps readability.
You know, Ana, it not only doesn’t hurt but if you are smart, you can use an aged page to your benefit if you are writing seasonal posts. For instance, your top 20 blogs for 2011 can easily be changed to the top 20 blogs for 2012. Wrap your head around that one.
Leo Dimilo invites you to read: How to Build a Social Media Profile for Your Market in 3 Short Steps.
Great idea, Leo! Thanks for sharing.
Nice post Ana ! I was really thinking about putting a link into one of my posts that is already published but wasn’t sure whether I should or not publish .I think that Google wants pages to be updated with time to time .
Nicholas Scott invites you to read: Offline Work Through OST Files
Yes, so do our readers. Nothing is worse than outdated information and if it can improve readers’ experience, why not!
I have also heard that adding new link to allready published pages are proves beneficial and it not get any negative effects by search engine as we have added something new, informative and useful only.
Anyway thanks for this as till now I have not done any such experiments but sooner I am going to TRY this also…
And also in matter of pinging its better to do manually as many are badly affected by automated pinging services.
Take care and have a wonderful day. Bye for now…
Thanks for coming by, Meg.
Hi Ana,
You shouldn’t be worried about adding links or even small pieces of content.
Google mostly mess up ranking when the title tag changes or a great portion of the page’s content.
Jason
Jason invites you to read: firestone coupons
True, Jason. Thanks for stopping by.
Very timely post. I was actually just thinking about inserting a link into one of my posts that is already published but wasn’t sure whether I should or not.
I would think that Google wants pages to be updated. I think Wikipedia is a good example. Tons of pages get updated ALL THE TIME and they usually rank very well.
Eugene invites you to read: Measuring Social Media ROI: Your ROI Checklist
Good to know. Bearing in mind that Wikipedia has a good ranking to start with.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: Google Plus Social Network: Bite-Sized Tutorial for the Busy Marketer
I don’t see how adding links to older posts can hurt… as long as you are updating these posts with new and relevant information it can only help your traffic!
That’s correct.
I create static websites and I am always updating every aspect of the webpages including the links. In my recipes website, whenever I add a new recipe, I go to the pages of all the related recipes and add a link from those to the new page. If anything, what this has done is to improve the search engine rankings of that website.
Google actually encourages us to do this because it is the fastest way for their spiders to discover new pages on static websites; much faster that submitting a sitemap. Also creating new links from old pages to new ones improves the overall “web” structure of the site. If we don’t do this, the new page will be a stand-alone page in the eyes of the spiders or at best have only one-way links to your older pages.
Should it be different for blogs? I don’t think so
Just imagine a website with links going only from new pages to old pages and NO links pointing from old pages to new ones, Google spiders will definitely think there is something wrong with that one-way-traffic website IMO
So I don’t think adding links to your old posts or updating the content for that matter adversely affects the search rankings. I guess what happens is that it will take time for Google to start ranking the page based on the new information (in cases of a complete makeover or re-SEO).
Very well-explained point, Flo - thanks for taking your time.
Yeah to me it certainly seems that it does not really affect the rankings of a page negatively when you re-edit a page in the future. If anything in my opinion making it more relevant is only going to help in the long run.
It is rather annoying that it does autoping whenever I hit update but I have not seen me having a negative effect from it.
-Jean
Yes, it is irritating. Once in a while should have no negative effects.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: The Slow Rotting of the Web and Blogosphere
Excellent tip Ana
Common questions I see around this topic involve whether changing the title of the post impacts how the post looks in search engine search listings. For example, I use the Thesis theme and when writing a post, there are two slots where a post title can be added, up top and toward the bottom along with the other “meta tags”. Many ask me how changing this info impacts the SERPS. Changing the title in the post changes how the link appears on search listings. Great point on going back to modify these for SEO purposes.
As to the question regarding permalinks - changing these is not advisable as one may loose all the PR built to date. If you have linked to it internally, you will have to change that as well.
If you don’t auto ping your posts, will modified/edited posts eventually be crawled anyway by engines given a Google XML Sitemap plugin? If so, when?
As to the comment on adding paid links, what if the links are added with the “no follow” tag. Are / can penalty implications still be the same in your opinion?
Good stuff…
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Many people have no idea what the difference between the actual blog title and SEOed blog title like you see in “SEO Details” Thesis section is, Sunil.
Definitely agree on permalinks - changing them should be done in extremely rare cases and with proper redirection.
As far as paid links are concerned, yes, all you need to do is to make sure to nofollow them.
it was really great to know your opinion regarding this matter, and i really agree with it.. adding links can really affect your ranking but in a good way i think..
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Absolutely. Thanks for stopping by, Rolly.
Hey Ana,
I am of the opinion that, adding new links to an old post, will not hurt your rankings. Depending on the links, I believe it could actually help your rankings, especially if you are linking to a page with a higher PR than the page you are linking from. I have personally not seen any of my older posts fall in the SE’s after adding new links. In fact I have seen some of them rise. Now, that could be due to time, but I think the links also helped.
Thanks for sharing Ana and have a great day!
Ian Belanger invites you to read: How To Improve Your Page Rank In 8 Steps
Perhaps it’s a combination of links and time.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: How Google Works: Why Does Crappy Website Rank Higher Than Mine?
Another reason for adding links in a already published article is “Sponsored Links”. There are companies buying text links in already published posts as they carry more link juice.
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I guess that is an option, provided you vet the links beforehand. You want to be sure that you don’t send your readers to unsuitable sites.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: Friday Tips for Keeps: Does It Hurt to Add New Links to Published Pages?
Hi Ana
Thanks for showing the 132 SEO experts approving.
I continually revamp old posts by adding SEO, more recent information, and adding relevant links in or out.
I actually have to commit myself to do at least two repair or update jobs a day as there is no point having old info.. Like you said it does increase your bounce rate when your information is out of date.
My kindda girl, Mitz. LOL
Might depend on what the link is going to, and what the pagerank of the current page is that you would add a link to. If you are trying to add a link to your page that has decent pagerank it might be regarded as an attempt to pass pagerank. Will Google think that for sure? I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. I probably wouldn’t go around and add tons of links to a bunch of old posts. A couple here and there you could probably get away with. Just my thought or opinion.
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I appreciate it, Ray.
As you can tell, I have no problems with it. If I want to give away my PageRank, it’s my site, right?
That’s what I say too. If I want to link to something, then I will. Whether Google thinks I should or shouldn’t is another story. Not everything that gets posted is all about passing pagerank. Most people don’t even follow it that much. I would guess that some people may add a link because they have a newer article that the older post relates to. So they might add a link in the older post to the newer post for additional reading and reference, not necessarily to pass pr. I don’t do much adding links in older posts. If anything I tend to remove some usually when I find a dead link.
Ray invites you to read: Another WordPress Plugin Yikes
Indeed. Sometimes it benefits the readers more than it benefits PR and that’s fine too.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: How to Build Your List the Way No One Else Does It
Hi Ana,
I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I have been fearing that Google will hurt the pages that I edit (adjust content and links). My “problem” is that I have several posts that are doing very well at Google, but they’re not doing anything for my blog. They are not related to what I blog about (because I wrote them a long time ago), but they bring traffic. So, I have been thinking about adding links to content that’s more related to my blog and that the visitors might find interesting.
I haven’t done anything about it, because I thought I might end up losing several hundred visitors a day
Thanks a lot for sharing Ana, and have a great weekend.
Jens
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I understand your predicament, Jens.
A couple of months ago my blog was ranking #10 for a “you spin me right round” song by Dead or Alive - simply because I used the words in the title of a post.
https://trafficgenerationcafe.online/get-top-google-ranking/
That keyword brought me close to 40% (!!!) of all my search engine traffic.
I deleted all mentions of the song in that post and very slowly it was de-ranked.
I didn’t want to have that traffic because it didn’t have anything to do with my site and messed with my Analytics.
The blog post that’s brining me a lot of traffic is Download Facebook Banners. I have the banners, and it’s great that people come to my blog to download them, but it’s not really related to my blog. But, I have been thinking if it’s a way to get people interested
… but I guess that I should do what you did, and just get rid of the traffic, because it messes not only with my analytics, but with my mind
Jens P. Berget invites you to read: I Expect People Will Open My Emails When I Use This Trick
Yours is much better than Dead or Alive song, Jens. LOL
Might not be such a bad thing; you might be actually getting some internet marketing crowd, don’t you think?
Hi Ana,
I have always wondered whether or not we should update a post with new links added to it, as there have been many stories about it online. But, as you say you have been doing it and never had any problems with it, I would surely go ahead and try it out as well! Should the title of the post remain the same, or should we change that also?
Thanks for sharing!
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I change post titles all the time, Harleena.
For instance, if I notice a post starts ranking for a keyword I didn’t optimize for, I’ll go ahead and change the title and maybe even the body to make the post more relevant to the search.
That is interesting Ana! But then what about the original content that is changed? Do you remove that post or let it remain, as the new updated content would be similar to the older one?
Harleena Singh invites you to read: Flat-Rates vs. Hourly-Rates: Pros and Cons
If I understood our original comment correctly, Harleena, you are not actually moving the post anywhere; just editing it. Did I misunderstand?
I think the best way to look at this is if you have a website (blog) that has some pages (posts) that have outdated information. You want visitors that come to your page (post) through a search engine to find the most up-to-date information, so you up date the page (post). Google does not view websites and blogs as two different entities, they are both just websites.. You can change a blog post to whatever you like whenever you like. Google won’t care if it’s a post from 2001 or 2011, or if a link was added or taken away. As long as it thinks your page is the best answer for the search query, it will rank it high. If you put the users experience first in your decision making, then you will automatically follow Google’s guidelines for good rankings.
I find it to be a bit idealistic, Lionel, but hopefully true in most cases.
Ana - I just LOVE your pictures, where do you find them all? Too cute. Thanks for the tips, too, appreciated as always
Laurie
Take a look at this post, Laurie: https://trafficgenerationcafe.online/blog-post-images/
Doubt it hurts. The panda update is actually pretty bad from a user standpoint. In most page 1 search results now I get results sometimes as far back as 2000 or 2001. I hate it and actually wish it did priorotize somewhat based on time relevance better.
At the same time it took out all the useless Ezine articles; I was all for that.
Ana - Database driven websites are constantly changing links, and these site updates do not hurt rankings in the least, and may actually help by indicating to the search engines that the pages have updated content. It would seem bizarre to me if Google had different rules for blogs, although I don’t have evidence to support this hunch. And further, if a blogger never updates dead links, they could get dinged.
Randy Pickard invites you to read: Why Domain Names Stuffed With Keywords Have Declined in Value
It makes complete sense, Randy.
Almost everyone here appears to be in agreement that adding links for better user experience or to keep the post updated should do no harm. Here is my question to Ana and everyone.
What about Changing Post Permalinks for better user experience ? Like Changing ‘Man Bites Dog’ to ‘Dog Dares Man To Bite Again’
Sam invites you to read: 17 Day Diet Review
Are you talking about post titles, Sam, or post permalinks?
Sounds like it’s the titles you are asking about.
It’s no problem to change the title of the post after the fact.
I meant both, I have read somewhere that changing post permalinks is not liked by the ‘Big G’.
Sam invites you to read: 17 Day Diet Review
I’m of the believe that linking to a published work doesn’t
raise a red flag on Google. However, we should do it naturally,
gradually and if need be (necessary), updating the post first before
adding extra link is ideal. Thanks for sharing on this top Ana.
God bless you!
Michael invites you to read: How To R.A.N.K On Google Top 10 in 30 Days
I don’t believe that kind of caution is necessary, Michael, but of course, it couldn’t hurt.
Anna, adding links to your site is essential to good rankings, and it really does not matter when you add the links. The key is that when you do link out, you must link to relevant content and avoid linking to any spammy sites. Google holds you responsible for where your site links.
Remember that in order for others to have backlinks, someone has to link out to them. That’s the concept of an editorial link. Webmasters should look for sites that add value to their site and link to them. New links serves to give the search engines what they want…updated content and activity on your site.
What you are linking to is far more important that when you add the link!
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Thanks for your input, Kerry - all valid thoughts.
It’s a possible signal that you may be selling text links. It doesn’t mean it WILL hurt your rankings, no. But it could be a potential trigger for a paid links check (whether that’s algorithmic or manual). Whether or not you care if Google dings you for selling links is up to you.
As with most things, if it makes sense to do something with your website, and it’s good for users, go for it. But being aware of possible spam flags is something to keep in mind as you go about doing things. (Just an opinion from someone who was one of the first to ever be slapped with a paid link penalty).
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I had no idea you took some spanking from Google, Donna - I would say that definitely qualifies as knowing what you are saying more than anyone else around here. LOL
I haven’t thought about the paid link scenario since this wasn’t what I had in mind when writing the post. Good thing to keep in mind though.
Thanks for coming by!
Way back when I still owned SEO Scoop, I wrote a post about it, and Matt Cutts made some important comments that helped everyone understand how to deal with penalties. I’ve since sold that blog to searchenginepeople, so you can still see the post there at http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/matt-cutts-why-am-i-still-being-punished.html And be sure to read the comments there. That was one heck of an interesting conversation that everyone had.
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I always add links to important pages when I find out more linking methods and it always increases my results.
I actually keep a notepad file of pillar posts that I need to stay on top of the search engines and add links as I go. I went from page four to page one for one of my keywords when I found this thing called TribePro.
Thanks for the awesome post,
Gabriel Johansson
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You’re welcome, Gabriel and thanks for sharing your strategy.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: How to Build Your List the Way No One Else Does It
I think links never hurt your ranks, they only can be penalyzed sometimes but just temporaly. That’s at least what I have personally seen.
And in the case of adding new links to old content I think it doesn’t affect negative neither temporaly.
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That was precisely my point, Pau.
Unless something has changed, I too am of the opinion that putting new links in an older and high ranking page does not hurt your rankings. Actually I do believe it is the opposite as by doing so, you trigger signals that the article is being updated regardless of when it was posted…
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Yes, that’s my feeling too.
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Maybe it depends on what ‘significant time’ means. If you add content and a link 2 days later, google could see it as a contextual link that was bough recently bought after someone read the post.
Yes. With significant time I meant a few weeks or months.
Ana | Traffic Generation invites you to read: Google Plus Social Network: Bite-Sized Tutorial for the Busy Marketer
Ana, it only makes sense that adding useful links to an old post is a good thing (or at least not a bad thing).
The idea is to provide a good user experience. If you update the post and add/change links, you are making your content more useful to the people who visit your site.
Cathy Stucker invites you to read: Buy Kindle Ebooks Without a Kindle
Agreed, Cathy. User experience is key after all.