Getting the most from your old content

Obviously, a big part of what we do is supplying a large amount of content for our client websites, some of which takes the form of on-site blogs, but the lifespan of our blog content is finite and sometimes, in our hast to move onto the next big story, we could miss out on the chance to fully benefit from the work we’ve already done.

This isn’t to suggest that we spend longer developing each piece of content, but where we have a content asset that has performed well and benefitted the campaign, we shouldn’t be afraid to go back to a piece and spend some extra time getting bang for our buck.

3 ways to get more from old content

• Update

• Promote

• Repurpose

Updating Content

We can update an existing piece of content by changing keyword content, so it helps our current targets. We can add new product information, new company information, anything that retains the theme or topic of the content but makes it more useful to your current CTA (call to action). We can also enhance the user experience of the content; improve internal and external linking, add relevant video content and imagery.

With the right links to further reading, we can reduce our bounce rate and improve our ‘time on site’ – both key ranking factors.

Promoting Content

If we have a piece of content which we believe deserves a bigger audience, there are ways of getting it one:

• Improve internal linking to content (homepage banner, other CTA’s)

• Redistribute content to email list

• Promote content pieces via social media

This last point can be especially effective, but it is important to know your audience: different content works for different channels (videos for Facebook, infographics for Pinterest etc.)

Repurpose Content

A blog doesn’t have to blog – if the information is universally important and helpful, why not create a static landing page, integral to your website navigation, which can contain that keyword content. Similarly, a countdown doesn’t have to be presented to a reader as a huge volume of text; each point could be an entry in a series of separate social media posts. Text doesn’t even have to stay that way. The content of a blog could be repurposed as a podcast, a webinar or video. The point is when you get a nice piece of content which your audience benefits from. It makes sense to transform it.

Five ways to transform your old content:

1. Serialise long form content

2. Promote useful/popular blogs to static landing pages

3. Visualise text heavy content as an infographic

4. Revisit the best topics as a webinar or podcast

5. Compile articles for a downloadable content asset