How To Repurpose The Content You’ve Already Written

We are firm believers that every small business should have a blog. Not only do most consumers expect it at this point, but it also demonstrates your expertise in your field, generates new leads, and boosts your SEO. While most people are consumed with constantly churning out new content, it’s important to keep your old content relevant–especially if the ideas are useful and the blog has yet to be discovered by a bigger audience. Repurposing content you’ve already written will not only help you rank on Google, but it will also help save you some time.

The Benefit Of Repurposing Content You’ve Already Written

There’s a good chance that you’ve heard the famous saying, “time is money.” This is–and always–will be true, which is why you need to maximize your time as a small business owner, especially if you are a one-person show. Because of this, the biggest advantage to repurposing content is the time it saves you. There’s not always a need to create new content. Often times you already have an article or two that has a strong foundation; it just needs some tweaks.

Along with the time it’ll save you, other benefits include:

It’s an SEO boost – As you become more involved in the writing process, you’ll learn more about what’s working for your blog and what is not. If a blog is not performing well, you are given a second chance to do some keyword research and reformat the blog, so you maximize your SEO potential with that potential new keyword. The more you improve your optimization, the higher your chance of appearing high on Google’s rankings.
You can fix errors – If you’ve ever reread old content of yours, then you’re probably familiar with the feeling of coming across a cringe-worthy grammar or spelling error. It happens to all of us. Instead of ignoring it, repurposing gives you the chance to fix it, which will, in turn, improve the user experience.
Reach new audiences – As you improve your rankings, your content will reach eyes that it had not reached before.
It reinforces your message – Did you know that according to The Rule of Seven, your audience needs to hear something seven times before they’ll buy from you? This sounds like a lot, but one of the easiest ways to hit this quota repurposing your content.
Helps lighten the burden – Creating a content calendar can be stressful, especially after blogging for a while. Repurposing gives you a break from constantly coming up with new ideas.

How To Choose Which Content To Repurpose

Analytics are your best friend when it comes to content writing and repurposing. Study the metrics and determine what performed well and what did not get the attention you thought it deserved. While diving into your archives, keep an eye out for evergreen content.

According to Ahrefs–an extremely useful keyword research site–evergreen content can be defined as “content that doesn’t go out of date. It revolves around a topic that’s always relevant to readers, regardless of the current news cycle or season.” This content will always be searched for by your targeted audience, which means you have a higher chance of being discovered.

How to Repurpose Content You’ve Already Written

Break Down Existing Blog Posts

If you have blog posts in the listicle or numerical format, consider breaking them down into individual posts. For example, if you are in the marketing industry and have an existing post titled “10 Ways to Increase Your Google Rankings,” you can break each of the ten items down into a blog of their own. That would look like this:

How to Improve Your Website’s User Experience
Everything You Need to Know About Backlinks
Why Keyword Research Is So Important
How To Audit Your Blog With A Site Crawl
Tips To Creating SEO Optimized Content

This also works in reverse. If you have multiple blogs that you believe can be formatted down, you can create a strong comprehensive piece of content that your audience will find helpful.

Turn Blogs Into Different Formats

While blogs will always be king, consider turning the content into a podcast, newsletter, ebook, speech, or video. This is especially useful if you have a series of posts that revolve around one topic. After combining the information, you can create a 30-40 minute piece of content that will engage your audience in a whole different way.

Podcasts and videos also allow you to share your knowledge with your audience in a lighthearted, conversational manner. According to a 2020 survey done by Statista, 55% of US consumers listen to an audio podcast. That’s more than double what it was a decade ago. And that number only seems to be increasing.

Refresh The Information

If you feel that the blog post has a solid foundation but needs new material or stats, simply refresh the information. Include new numbers, recent studies done on the topic, infographics, etc. This method is ideal for those pieces of content that are already performing well but have aged over the years.

While refreshing, try to add as many links back to your own site as possible. Do you have a blog that aligns with what you’re talking about that your reader may find valuable? Link to it! It’s all about creating a content journey for your reader so that they will stay on your blog for as long as possible.

Add Visuals

Humans are visual species. We are attracted to images and videos more than a wall of text. If you find that your blogs consist of nothing but text, throw in a few images or videos as you go. There are so many helpful resources online that your readers may want to see. And although it may seem contradictory to include others’ content on your site, the more time they spend on your site, the higher your content ranks.

Include Graphics For Social Media

Speaking of visual components, including graphics for social media will make it easier for your readers to share or save your work for later. Pinterest–one of the most popular social media platforms in the world–has 478 million active users. These active users are typically actively searching for blogs, which is why you want your content circulating on the platform. To ensure this happens, use Canva or Photoshop to create eye-catching graphics for your content.

Don’t Be Afraid to Repromote

Last but not least, don’t be afraid to repromote your content as you repurpose it. Whether you’ve given a blog a full facelift, turned it into a podcast, or simply added new information after performing keyword research, there’s nothing wrong with sharing it multiple times. Just be mindful of how often you are promoting the same piece of content. You don’t want it to come across as spammy.

Final Thoughts on Repurposing Content

Repurposing content not only gives you the gift of time, but it’s also super beneficial for SEO, reach, and leads. One blog post can lead to multiple different pieces or a podcast that can skyrocket your career. Focus on adding value to the content already created and answering any questions you think your audience may have, and watch it become more successful than ever.