Writing a blog post that continues a previous, but often unfinished idea, provides a number of real and very tangible benefits.
Returning to a previous ongoing controversy or concept, provides a useful and interesting source, of blog post ideas. Often your longer term readership will appreciate finding out more information on an idea previously presented in your blog.
Blog SEO efforts are also enhanced, by picking up previous themes or topics, and running with them in several new directions.
Followup posts are ideal for political, legal, and sports blogs. Each those blog categories is ideally suited to continuing column ideas. Most regular readers will be very intrigued as to how the initial case, policy, or game under discussion, was resolved.
For personal bloggers, ongoing postings are part of the reason for the blog in the first place. The ongoing daily life of the blogger is a continuing saga in and of itself. Following up on some previous event in the blogger's life flows naturally in personal blogs.
The concept also works very well for business blogs.
Business bloggers can create an ongoing series of posts, revolving around one business oriented topic.
Later, as new ideas are formulated, the blogger can return to the previous series, and the accompanying reader comments, and renew the discussion. By picking up an older post concept, the idea can often be developed further, to the benefit of all.
When referring to a previous post, be sure to link to that column directly. Place a live link, using the post permalink, directly within the new post. Make certain the link appears early in the discussion, so readers unfamiliar with the previous posting can get up to speed on the ideas presented.
While it's not considered by some bloggers to be a proper policy, linking to your previous post is a courtesy in this instance. It's not quite the same thing as linking to your own post in support of your own argument.
In this case, it's simply providing background information for new visitors to your blog. Having everyone familiar, with the previous post or posts on the subject, helps to further the discussion.
Following up previous posts also provides a sense of completion for previous ideas.
A concept isn't simply thrown out on the blog, and left hanging, and unresolved. Returning to an as yet uncompleted thought process, can lead to new and exciting discoveries about the idea.
Sometimes, the readers simply want to know how the story turned out in the end.
There is also a positive SEO value to followup posts.
By linking the new post to the previously related post, a better and more powerful internal blog linking structure is created. The linking of two related sites also creates a stronger relevance of the topic for search ranking purposes. In effect, the blog with several related posts on the same topic becomes themed for that topic.
Creating theme relevance is a very important part of any SEO effort.
Followup posts create that theme relevance with little additional effort on the part of the blogger.
In blogging, some of the best SEO is no real conscious SEO at all. It's all part and parcel with the blog format itself.
Looking back to some previous posts, occasionally left unresolved, provides a wealth of blog posting ideas.
Return visits to previous posts are not only helpful to you as a blogger, but they are often of tremendous interest to your readers as well.
Follow up those old posts, and see where they lead.
