Should I write new sequel to existing hub or update old one?

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   Daniel Mollatposted 7 years ago

   I have an article that is 4 months old and generating a fairly decent amount of views every day. It contains 1,350 words. I now find that I could write a sequel to that article that would most likely prove as interesting to readers as the original. I could write the new article to a length of about 1,500 words.
   
   Which would work out better in terms of traffic generation? Edit the old article to include the new 1,500 words sequel thus producing a new hub with nearly 3,000 words? Or should I write a totally new article with a title that appears to be a sequel to the original one?

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      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      If you choose to write a sequel, keep in mind that it must work as a stand alone piece and not be obviously part of a series if you wish the new article to make it to a network site.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Personally I would simply add the new content to the original article because I've found it is too easy to duplicate wordage when doing this.  I've also found that adding new content makes for a better article and increases readership.  Additionally, if you're not careful,you could find that the two articles will be competing with each other for readership!

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      nomadspiritposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Would the sequel target the same keywords as, or expand on the information in the first?
      If so I wouldn't write a sequel as it would make sense to beef up the old article you are already ranking for with more content thus adding more value and pushing it up further on the SERP. End result: more traffic. Further it takes a lot of effort and time to rank a new article. IMO, this effort would be better spent improving an older oneand potentially pushing it into #1 on the search engines. But this is only if the sequel deals with the same topic and keywords as the first.
      
      If the sequel deals with a completely different angle than the first then it may make sense to write a new one/

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   Jeremy Gillposted 7 years ago

   I'd suggest doing the sequel. I myself do them with regularity, and while they typically don't get quite as much traffic, if people are searching for the original, they'll likely be interested in follow-ups.
   
   That said, I've never gone back and edited an article to the point of doubling its content, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

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3. 54

   Daniel Mollatposted 7 years ago

   Thanks Jeremy.
   Yes, that is also my thinking. If the reader finds the original article interesting enough he/she may want to go on and read a sequel to it.

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   Daniel Mollatposted 7 years ago

   Okay, so now I have two different takes on my question from two respected hubbers. One says I should do a separate stand-alone hub sequel and the other says I should add the sequel to my existing hub. Of the two options which would have greater potential for generating more traffic? Wouldn' two hubs produce a total of more traffic than one hub can produce?

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      theraggededgeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      It depends on the topic. You decide
      
      Personally, if I could get two hubs out of it with different keywords, I'd do that. I'd make them completely stand-alone and make sure I focussed on different aspects of the topic.

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   Polly Cposted 7 years ago

   I have only tried a sequel to a hub once, a long time ago, and my personal experience was that no one read the second one, even though there was a clear link to it. But I never really understood why, because I click on related articles all over the internet all the time. Because of my experience, I would be put off doing it again unless it is a stand alone article in its own right.

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6. 54

   Daniel Mollatposted 7 years ago

   I like the arguments in favor of a stand-alone sequel especially about using different keywords for the new hub.
   
   Thank you all for your valuable contributions.

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