Here at the Peg, everyone writes blog posts. It is an integral part of the marketing program for each of our clients and for Roundpeg. If you are interested in learning why blogging is important, and what it brings to the table read this blog by Sam.
But blogging takes a lot of time, and sometimes it seems as if no one, or few people, notice. So instead of talking about how to write new blogs, today, I want to look at how you can get more mileage from your old blog posts. Here are some of our favorite ways to blow off the dust and repurpose our blogs:
Revise Old Posts
Take a look at your analytics. Are there old posts which used to drive traffic but don’t seem to anymore? Or are there posts which have never built an audience? Revisiting the post, making slight edits, maybe adding new information or a link to related content is one of the simplest ways to breath new life into existing blog content. Create a new graphic and reshare the content on social media or in an email newsletter, introducing the information to a whole new audience.
Roundup Blogs
Do you write on the same topic on a somewhat regular basis? If so, then a collection or “roundup” of related content is a great way to build one strong authoritative resource on that topic. Linking to older content helps drive web traffic back to older posts. The links in these posts act like road signs.
Why roundups are so effective: Picture a highway system. There are places along the highway that cross or intersect, bringing traffic from both sides of a highway to one single point. A roundup blog filled with relevant links acts like a road sign pointing traffic to related pages, creating a bridge between the older and newer content on the same topic.
Roundups can also be strengthened by mixing in content from other sources, creating trackbacks to other influential writers on the same topic. Now your older content gets a lift from the authority of the other writer’s content as well.
Downloads
Take the roundup one step further and create a white paper, guide, collection or cookbook. While your readers can pour through your site to find the information, packaging it in one collection available in exchange for an email address is a great way to build your prospect list, repurpose old content and bring something of value to your readers.
One of my favorite examples of using existing content to create downloads is the successful way we built the Randall Beans community.
Start Reusing.
Don’t let your content sit in the back of your website. Whether it is revising older posts, creating roundup blogs or designing downloads, repurposing existing content is a great way to get more mileage out of already existing blog posts. It would be a shame to let all that content disappear!
Roundpeg is an Indianapolis content marketing firm.