The “set it and forget it” mentality has no place in business blogging.
There’s a lot of value in the content you share with the world. If you’ve taken the time to craft it – with quality, accuracy, research, and relevance – you must get the most out of it.
Below, we’ll take a look at a few different ways to maximize the staying power of your posts. Repurposing content keeps it vital and drives traffic to your website for months and years instead of days and weeks. This means sustained – and even additional – revenue generated from your oldies but goodies.
Repurposing Content: The Right Way to Recycle
Go Evergreen
Do you produce a lot of content wherein the core information won’t change much? For instance, if you sell camping equipment and post an article that describes how to build a fire using materials you find in the woods, that content won’t change much – like, ever! Of course, there’s a lot of value in evergreen content, because the information will remain relevant for the foreseeable future.
However, that can make it tough to continually capitalize on that same, static content. If an article with evergreen content was popular when it first published, it can lose popularity if more competition is developing in the market.
In turn, you must …
Stay Relevant
The best way to maintain your evergreen content as a significant traffic driver to your website is to refresh its content monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually, depending on the amount of time you can dedicate to the process. For instance, update the fire-making post with modern-day methods, or list the top 10 most significant moments in campfire history!
If your updates demand more subtlety, re-optimize the page for additional keywords based on industry trends, or enhance the article with a better headline. Once you’ve done this, remember to re-promote this content through email and social media.
[Tweet “Once you have a collection of how-to blog posts, turn that content into something more substantial.”]Repackage Your Posts
Do you have a large supply of blog posts that teach your readers how to complete tasks, make repairs, or accomplish stuff they never thought they could do? How about … starting a fire with nothing but organic material? Building a water-proof shelter? Scavenging for food? Once you have a collection of how-to or instructional blog posts, turn that content into something more substantial that’s more likely to grab your audience’s attention.
One way to do this is to compile all of the articles and put them together in an eBook. You can then sell the eBook through a variety of retailers online, or you can use the eBook as a lead generation tool – offering it for free in exchange for an active email address, which you’ll use for future marketing purposes. Who knows? Maybe BuzzFarmers will include this post in an eBook!
Rotate Formats
Repurposing content also includes multimedia. Create a video to go with your fire-starting how-tos. Assemble a photo post based on the original article and contributions from customers. Produce a podcast interviewing a forest ranger to supply additional information. All of these components will help you refresh your content, and provide you with a reason to relaunch your promotional efforts.
Remember, you can always extend your content’s relevance through social media. Here at BuzzFarmers, we have a tested formula with our clients’ content that includes an immediate roll-out over the course of a couple of weeks, and a yearlong campaign across multiple social networks. This extra effort can lead to a boost in traffic – and skyrocketing search engine rank.
Like maintaining a fire for warmth, repurposing content takes foresight, patience, and attentiveness – but the alternative is watching your business blog grow cold. Try our advice with some of your archival posts, and let us know how it goes!
