Reviving a Dead Blog: SEO Optimization Tips for Existing Content

Hey there,

I run a YouTube channel in the drawing niche and also have a blog that went inactive for several years due to theme issues. The last post was in 2018, and the site was practically a black page until I hired a developer to bring it back last year. Unfortunately, since the relaunch, there has been almost no traffic.

The Problem: When I relaunched the site, I pointed my old domain (which had ranked blog posts) to a new subdomain for my academy site. This move caused both sites to vanish from Google search results—now, only my YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are visible.

I’m hiring the original developer to restore the site to the old domain, but I have a few concerns:

  1. New Folder Structure: With the new blog design, the folder structure will change. Could this cause issues with Google seeing it as duplicate content?
  2. SEO Optimization: I plan to optimize all my posts by combining new material with rewrites of existing content. My traffic was never strong with the older site, and I want to improve this. Do you have any tips or things I should be cautious about, especially considering Google’s Helpful Content Update?

My Main Goals:

  • Boost brand awareness and ad revenue through my YouTube channel.
  • Increase organic traffic to my site.
  • Eventually sell online courses.

I’m not an SEO expert, so some of my questions might seem basic, but I’m serious about reviving this blog and providing value to my readers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!