Mea culpa! When I initially announced this series, I believed I would be creating roundup posts. At the time, I defined these as posts that showcase your top content related to a specific subject, wrapped up in a single post.
However, as I delved deeper into my research and preparations for this post, I realized that my initial understanding of roundup posts was, in fact, incorrect.
Roundup posts
Roundup posts are a type of blog content that curates and aggregates information from various sources on a specific subject. These posts typically compile the best or most relevant articles, expert opinions, case studies, interviews, or resources related to a particular topic. There are three main types of round-up posts:
Expert roundups gather insights, opinions, or tips from multiple experts in a specific field, providing readers with a range of perspectives and expert advice.
Content roundups compile and showcase a variety of articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, or other content formats related to a specific theme or topic, offering readers a curated list of valuable content.
Product roundups review and compare a selection of products within a specific category, helping readers make informed purchasing decisions by providing a comprehensive overview.
The goal of any roundup post is to offer readers a valuable overview of top content in one place, saving them time and effort in searching for information. These posts often include brief summaries or highlights of each source, along with links to the original content, making them a rich resource for diverse perspectives and in-depth knowledge.
Unlike a typical blog post with just one author’s perspective, roundups get information from multiple sources.Raquel
“If I’m not writing roundup posts, what am I writing instead?”
“Based on your description, the term you’re looking for might be ‘consolidation posts’ or ‘compilation posts.’ These terms describe posts that combine several related articles or parts into a single comprehensive post.”
Through our insightful conversation, Copilot explained the differences between compilation and consolidation posts, helping me realize that my true intention was, in fact, to write consolidation posts. These posts are designed to merge multiple related articles into one cohesive and comprehensive piece, allowing readers to find all relevant information in a single, streamlined post. This is what this post is about: effectively transforming my series into a single, unified article—one post to rule them all.
Which of my posts need consolidation?
Initially, when I added this task to my “blog post housekeeping” to-do list, my goal was to compile blog entries on specific themes. This could technically be considered content roundups, even though the source material would be solely from my blog. However, my devoted readers will likely agree that my somewhat fragmented “part 1, part 2…” series fits perfectly with the revised goal of consolidation posts. Moreover, as described below, there is a third category of posts that could benefit from consolidation as well. In all cases, the aim is to enhance the overall reading experience and make information more accessible.
The Ugly
These would be the posts that have been split into multiple parts due to various reasons, with time constraints being the most common culprit. Committed to publishing a new post every week, I often found myself rushing to meet these self-imposed deadlines 1. As a result, these fragmented series have unfortunately plagued my blog. Not only do they interrupt the flow of information, but their content is often thin, failing to provide the depth and richness my readers deserve. This disjointed approach leads to a less cohesive and enjoyable reading experience.
There are instances where the division of posts into multiple parts was not due to time constraints, but rather because each segment covered distinct events or updates occurring at different times. For example, my series on SiteGround New Client Area and Site Tools was divided into parts to provide detailed insights on each new development. Despite my best efforts to provide links to the next part at the end of each segment, this fragmentation still detracted from the overall cohesiveness and accessibility of the content.
By consolidating these multipart series into single, unified articles, I aim to provide my readers with a more streamlined and enjoyable reading experience. This transformation will allow readers to grasp the full narrative in one go, enhancing the overall cohesiveness and accessibility of the content.
The Bad
These would be the posts split into continuations, often labeled as “cont’d.” Unlike the “ugly” posts, which were fragmented due to time constraints, these posts were divided because of their excessive length. My articles grew so lengthy that I had to break them up to avoid overwhelming my readers with a single, massive piece. To be honest, the time required to write, edit, and publish these posts was also a contributing factor to their division.
Furthermore, unlike the thin content of the “ugly” posts, these “bad” posts are burdened with an overabundance of narrative details. Although the detailed content offers valuable insights, it often detracts from the overall coherence and flow. The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming, making it difficult for readers to retain the key points and understand the main message. A good example would be my series on external links best practices.
Consolidating these lengthy posts into single, streamlined articles will be beneficial. While the content in these posts is rich and informative (unlike their “ugly” counterparts), the multiple continuations and, more importantly, the fact that the valuable information is buried within less relevant details, make it challenging for readers to grasp the full picture in one go. By trimming unnecessary narrative details and focusing on the most important aspects, I aim to provide a more cohesive and enjoyable reading experience. This transformation will allow readers to easily absorb and appreciate the wealth of information I offer without being overwhelmed by fragmented content.
The Good
My goal is to create well-structured and interconnected posts around central themes, similar to the topic cluster model I discussed in my three-part article about internal linking—yep, one of the “bad” guys. These ‘overviews’ posts will be akin to the so-called cornerstone articles, designed to provide comprehensive coverage of specific topics by bringing together various related posts into a cohesive whole. By organizing my content in this manner, I aim to offer readers a seamless and in-depth exploration of each theme, ensuring they have a clear and complete understanding of the subject matter.
Cornerstone articles are usually relatively long, informative articles, combining insights from different blog posts and covering everything that’s important about a certain topic.Marieke van de Rakt
For example, I have numerous articles that cover various aspects of creating a website, such as domain registration, hosting, content management systems, and more. Each post delves deeply into a specific topic, offering valuable insights and detailed information. Together, these posts form a comprehensive guide, referred to as the CogitActive Saga, which helps readers understand the entire process of building a website from start to finish (among other things). However, these articles are scattered throughout my blog. Despite utilizing categories and tags for archiving them properly, and even following a logical sequence, they are often interrupted by unrelated posts. This scattering makes it difficult for readers to find and follow the complete series without getting sidetracked.
By consolidating these posts into a single, ultimate guide, I can provide my readers with a streamlined and highly informative resource. This consolidated guide would link to individual steps for more detailed explanations, ensuring that readers have all the information they need in one place. This approach should enhance the overall reading experience by offering a more organized and accessible way to navigate through the wealth of information available on my blog.
My consolidation plan: the How and the What
The primary goal of consolidating posts is to make it easier for users to locate the information they’re looking for. A well-consolidated post should offer comprehensive coverage of the topic, providing readers with a thorough understanding and easy access to related information 2. By organizing content around central themes and ensuring all relevant details are included, readers can benefit from a streamlined and engaging experience. This approach not only simplifies navigation but also enhances the overall value of the content, ensuring that readers find everything they need in one cohesive piece.
Rewriting will be a critical part of the consolidation process and is by no means an easy task. Simply copying and pasting parts from multiple articles is not sufficient. Instead, I will need to undertake a thorough re-writing to integrate the information seamlessly and create a unique, cohesive narrative. This involves reviewing each post to extract the most valuable insights, rephrasing and recontextualizing the content to maintain a consistent tone and style, and ensuring that the consolidated post offers new value rather than redundant information. It’s indeed essential to avoid duplicate content, which can negatively impact SEO and reader engagement.
Of course, there are specific considerations for each category. For the “ugly” posts, I will need to streamline the content by eliminating thin information and adding relevant details to create more substantial posts. The focus will be on quality over quantity, ensuring each post provides valuable insights. On the other hand, for the “bad” posts, the challenge lies in trimming excessive details and combining related posts into cohesive articles. I will need to remove unnecessary narrative elements while retaining the essential information to present a concise and informative narrative.
Think quality over quantity.
As for the last category, the task will be a bit more involved than for the other two. First, I will have to identify all related content, which is not an issue for the “ugly” and “bad” categories. Once identified, I will need to completely create the ultimate guide, rather than just rewriting existing posts. This involves integrating various posts into a cohesive and comprehensive resource. I will have to ensure that each part of the guide is interconnected, providing a seamless and valuable reading experience. The goal is to offer readers a streamlined and thoroughly informative guide that covers every aspect of the topic in one place.
The ultimate goal is to create polished, comprehensive articles that provide readers with a streamlined and engaging experience. Ideally, I should also ensure the content remains up-to-date and relevant; this is crucial for maintaining its value over time.
“A lot of work ahead indeed…”
The benefits of consolidating posts
Of course, consolidation posts will provide my readers with a one-stop resource where they can find everything they need about a particular topic. When you streamline your content, you’re making it easier for readers to consume and comprehend the information you present. This reduces the need for them to search through multiple articles and increases the chances of them staying on my site longer.
By combining multiple pieces of content into a single, comprehensive post, I will also create a more robust piece of content that can rank higher in search engines. This will help to reduce keyword cannibalization, where multiple posts compete for the same keywords; thus improving my overall site authority on the topic. My consolidated content should be more likely to be recognized as a high-quality resource by search engines, which can boost my site’s rankings.
Consolidating content can help you get out of your own way and increase the chances of getting the desired page to rank well in search results. It can also improve your link building efforts since other sites will only have one version of your content to point back to.George Nguyen
Overall, while the process of consolidating posts may require significant effort, the benefits in terms of improved readability, user engagement, and search engine rankings make it a worthwhile endeavor.
1 I don’t have to remind my readers that I have really struggled with finding time since that fateful summer of 2020. Fortunately, things have been improving recently. ^
2 Internal linking plays a vital role in enhancing the reader’s experience. Properly integrating links to related articles not only enriches the content but also helps create a well-connected content ecosystem. ^