5 ways to get more mileage out of your content

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So you’ve hit a wall and don’t feel like writing new content. You may be sitting there thinking your old content isn’t doing much so why create anything new. This is a common feeling that marketers get, with content creation being their #1 challenge in 2016. But while this may seem bleak, don’t worry. There is a way to overcome it.

All marketers want to be productive and you can do so with old content. When you have old content sitting there on your blog, there are numerous ways you can eke out a little extra mileage. All content can be repurposed in some way, shape, or form, giving you additional traction in search results and likely more visitors to your website.

Here are five of those methods that have worked for me.

1. Rewrite. Yes, rewrite

Have you ever read an old post you wrote a few years back and thought, “what the hell was I thinking?” If so, you are not alone. As marketers, we are constantly learning and that is why looking back on old content may cause us to question our thoughts. No biggie.

There is no need to completely rewrite an article but you can always go back and change content, updating it with new information. One of the main things you want to make sure is that your content is formatted for better readability and SEO.

You can also change or add images (yes, you will be surprised at how much of your old content does not have images), add video, or add additional H2 headings. You can also do things such as add LSI keywords as a way to help rank higher.

Once you rewrite the content, you will need to make the decision to leave it as-is or republish the post as new. You may also decide to simply remove the old content which may also do you more good than if you generated new content.

2. Make your blog into a visual presentation

Take your written content and organize it into an easy to understand slideshow. SlideShare is one of the most underused tools in content marketing. Now owned by LinkedIn, the site allows you to create and upload PowerPoint slides that turn your written content into visual content. You can use the new creations as teaching tools and generate backlinks to your website. You can also put them together in a lesson plan to give away as part of an email training course.

In a recent study published by Scoop.it, they repurposed blog content in the form of a visual presentation and measured how it performed to original SlideShares. Here’s what they found:

http://blog.scoop.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chart_4-1.png

Repurposed content performed equally well as did the original SlideShares that took 5-10x longer to create. Source: Scoop.it

The results showed that repurposed content gets virtually the same amount of traffic as original content.

Therefore, no need to create the wheel when you can simply use what you already have.

3. Turn old content into an eBook

This is one of my favorites. If you have a collection of articles on the same or similar topics, turning them into an eBook is a simple yet highly effective technique for getting more results out of your existing content.

To give you a sense of how effective a strategy this is, here are the results we had from repurposing our own blog content into an eBook:

To create an eBook, simply collect all your blog posts/articles into one document and create a table of contents. You can then publish it on a Kindle and even charge a small fee to generate income. If you are brave, you can even try the self-publishing route.

The great news about eBooks is that people love them. You can use yours as a free incentive to get people to sign up for your newsletter.

4. Got infographics?

Infographics used to be the talk of the town. Chances are you generated quite a few of them and paid a hefty fee to do so. While they were great for generating some backlinks and a quick story for your blog readers, now they just sit there collecting dust.

Repurposing your infographics is one of the best ways to get more mileage out of them.

Here’s how you do it:

Take longer infographics and cut them up into smaller images and graphs. You can then use them on content you already have or write a new article based on the section of the infographic you are using. You own the rights to it so why not get your money’s worth?

5. Re-publish on other platforms

If you want to generate more conversation or amplify some of your older content, re-publishing it to other platforms is the way to go.

Check out the below chart to see the impact of republishing content on traffic and engagement:

Of course, you will need to make sure that you can publish on platforms that allow it. Some of the most common include Medium and LinkedIn Pulse. I also know that the Huffington Post blogger platform will allow you to re-post content from your blog as long as it is appropriately attributed as such.

If you’re curious to learn which platform to publish on, here are two useful articles to help inform your decision:

Expert opinions vary regarding duplicate content with these sites. However, it really shouldn’t matter if the old content isn’t doing much for you on your site. This way you will at least get traffic from your author bio and any links within the content.

If you want additional inspiration for new and efficient ways to do more with the content you already have, check out this article with 15+ creative ideas for repurposing content to generate maximum ROI.

Conclusion

If you are having writer’s block or simply don’t feel like generating new content, you can still increase your web presence by getting extra mileage out of your old content. Regardless if you are repurposing infographics or creating an eBook to use in your marketing campaign, there is always a little bit left in the old content marketing tank. Make use of it until the last drop.

Have you repurposed or revamped old content recently? What have been your results and would you have any more tips to add to the above?

If you want to get 30 effective techniques to master content marketing along with valuable insights from 10+ influencers like Mark Schaefer, Rebecca Lieb, Lee Odden, Jason Miller or Ian Cleary, download our free eBook now!