When approaching content creation, many small business owners, marketers, and brands make the same mistake. They think they need to constantly create brand-new content assets.
The truth is you don’t need to create something completely new each time you publish a content asset. You don’t have to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel. Instead, you can reuse and repurpose old website content to take a shortcut on your road to producing fresh content.
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Let’s look at how you can find value in your existing content archives and save time and resources by reusing and repurposing content. This guide will look at:
- The value of updating and repurposing old content
- How to audit existing content
- How to repurpose old website content
The value of updating and repurposing old content
It’s no secret that content creation takes effort and energy. Publishing content that attracts, engages, educates, and converts customers requires time and resources — which is why it’s essential to update and repurpose old website content you already have.
Reusing old content in new ways allows you to get more value out of the work you’ve already done.
Here are a few good reasons to repurpose old website content.
Save time and resources
The most notable benefit of repurposing old content is saving time and resources. When you aren’t starting from scratch, you will cut down on production time and accomplish more with less. Your research is already partially done, and you have existing ideas to work with.
Support SEO
Google values fresh content and ranks sites higher when they have regularly updated content. Updating the content on your website supports SEO by showing Google you have a website worth keeping in their top search results.
Show up on more platforms and websites
Content comes in many packages, from long-form blog content to 10-second social media clips. Repurposing content allows you to make your assets fit onto more platforms by offering a variety of content sizes and mediums.
Keep up with your brand evolution
If you consistently create content, your website can slowly get filled with a lot of varied messages. Over time, messaging can become irrelevant, outdated, and incorrect. By regularly updating content, you keep your website content aligned with your mission, vision, and offerings.
Provide a better user/customer experience
You don’t want your audience to land on your website and find a resource with old information, broken links, and outdated graphics. Regularly updating your content allows you to make a better impression on audiences while providing them with the most relevant and useful information.
Related: 12 ways to improve your content marketing
How to audit existing content
To find content you can reuse and repurpose, you need to know what content you already have.
Auditing your existing content and creating an archive (or content library) helps you review where you have been to determine where you can go. A thorough audit process identifies high-performing content you can leverage in new ways as well as low-performing content that can be turned into something more valuable and useful.
Follow these steps to conduct an audit that will give you insight into how to best reuse your old content.
1. Create a content library
Create a content library that tracks all of your existing assets. List blog posts, landing pages, case studies, ebooks, downloadable assets, videos, guest posts, and podcast episodes. For each piece of content, include the:
- Title
- URL link (and/or link to downloadable asset)
- Publish date
- Targeted keyword
- Call-to-action at the end of the content
- Length of content
- Type of content
2. Pull reports on existing content
Get an idea of how your existing content is performing by pulling reports that show content value.
- Use Google Analytics to see how much traffic a page receives and how much time users spend on the page.
- Use a social sharing counting tool like Shared Count to see how many times a URL has been shared on social media.
- Use an SEO tool like Semrush to identify pages on your website that rank in organic search (and the keyword the pages rank for).
- Use a backlink research tool like the Moz Backlink Checker to see which pages on your site have been linked to by other websites.
You can track the data you find in your content library, but keep in mind that many of these values aren’t static and may change over time.
3. Identify high-value posts
Analyze your content assets and reporting to determine the value of the content you currently have. Determine if content has a high, mid, or low value. Content will be more valuable if it:
- Receives a lot of organic traffic
- Has a lengthy on-page engagement time
- Has a lot of social shares
- Drives a lot of conversions
- Has high-quality, valuable content
- Includes up-to-date information
4. Determine the next steps
Once you have a content library that lists your assets and how valuable they are, you can begin to identify how you can better use the content.
Determine the next steps for how you can reuse or repurpose the content. Note if you should:
- Keep the content as is if it is high-quality and high-performing.
- Update the content if you can make it more valuable, up-to-date, or useful.
- Repurpose the content if it can be used to create something new.
- Delete the content if it has no value. (If you delete pages on your website, make sure you set up proper URL redirects.)
How to repurpose old website content
Once your content audit is complete, you will have an overview of your existing content and how you can get more use out of it. Then, use these ideas to find ways to repurpose old website content to reach more people, improve your rankings in search, and drive more conversions.
1. Update and republish old posts
Depending on the age of your website, you may have dozens (or hundreds) of blog posts that have been published over the years. Don’t ignore this content. Instead, find a way to bring it back to life. Update posts and republish them with a new publish date.
Republishing content brings it to the top of your blog roll, tells Google you have fresh information on your site, and gives you an opportunity to update any outdated information.
To update and republish an old blog post:
- Optimize the blog post for a target keyword, if not already done.
- Remove and/or update any outdated stats, data points, or references.
- Check and update links to lead to relevant, up-to-date sources.
- Change any outdated graphics and visuals.
- Add any new information needed to support the topic.
- Add links to new internal web pages and posts.
- Update the publish date.
Related: How to blog productively: The 3 secrets of efficient blogging
2. Publish existing content on other websites and platforms
The content you create doesn’t need to exist on your website and your website alone. You can republish the exact same content or a revised version on other websites and platforms.
- Pitch your content to other websites or blogs for guest posting opportunities.
- Republish content on a syndication platform like Flipboard or Outbrain.
- Publish blog post copy as a thread on social media (such as Threads).
- Publish sections or clips of your content as a Facebook or LinkedIn post.
- Turn sections of your content into carousel graphics on Instagram.
- Use blog content to provide copy for Instagram reels and TikTok videos.
Repurposing content on other platforms isn’t just good for content creation. It’s good for content distribution. It allows you to get in front of new audiences and expand your reach. To maximize the use of your new content, include a call-to-action that drives audiences back to the original post on your site.
3. Convert copy into visual content
Text is typically the foundation of blog content. Copy is great for attracting search engines, educating audiences — and providing a launch pad for new content creation. You can repurpose old website content by turning text-based, long-form copy into interesting graphics that will engage audiences and provide content for visual-based platforms.
Visuals are great at quickly conveying information to audiences. Ninety percent (90%) of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. Turning text into graphics is a smart way to get more reach out of your copy and provide audiences with highly engaging content.
Plus, tools like GoDaddy Studio make creating professional graphics easy. Choose from hundreds of pre-made templates to quickly turn your existing ideas into high-quality graphics that can be shared on your website and social media channels.
4. Convert copy into audio content
If you have a valuable blog post, you are halfway to having a valuable video or podcast. A big portion of recording a video or podcast is coming up with the content to showcase. You can take the ideas in an existing blog post and use them to create the foundation of visual and audio content.
Publishing video and audio content provides another option for connecting with audiences in new ways. Hubspot reported that more than nine out of 10 people want to see more videos from brands in 2023. And Pew Research reported that 42% of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the past month. Audio and visual is a great way to reach new audiences.
For podcasts, as an example, you can simply read the full blog post aloud as your script or use it as an outline for your conversation.
Related: 16 tips on creating video content that works
5. Deliver content in a newsletter or email series
Don’t rely on your audience finding their way to your website to read all of your old content. Instead, find a way to repurpose old website content and get it in front of more readers by sending it out as newsletter material.
Keep audiences engaged with your brand by sending a consistent email newsletter. Don’t assume you need brand new content to keep your newsletter filled. Even if a blog post is old, it doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t new to your readers. Audiences may have missed your post, forgotten about it, or failed to fully use it when it was originally shared. Give them another opportunity to gain value from it.
Also, if you have content that is connected by a theme or topic, consider how you can link the posts to create a valuable email series that audiences can opt into. Repurposing content in this way allows you to get more out of your content while also providing a simple way for audiences to dive deep into a topic.
6. Create a downloadable or paid asset from a series of related posts
If you have wanted to develop a long-form piece of downloadable or paid content to help with list-building or revenue goals, look to your past blog posts. Blog posts can jump-start the process by providing the meat of your physical book, ebook, or downloadable guide.
Review your content library, and group blog posts together by topic, and combine the posts to develop a long-form asset that audiences can subscribe to or purchase.
Pro tip: Think about reusing and repurposing content as you create it. When planning your editorial calendar, develop topics that will complement each other and provide the content you need for a book or ultimate guide. Remember, work smarter, not harder.
Start repurposing content to get more out of your existing posts
Blog posts are valuable marketing assets. With a little more effort and creativity, they can become even more valuable.
Repurposing content is a smart way to drive more results with less effort.
Use these tips to repurpose old website content and show up on more platforms, reach more audiences, boost rankings in search, and provide audiences with more relevant and useful information.
Start repurposing content to save time and money and get more out of the brand assets you already have.
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