How to repurpose older content to get the most from your SEO

When you put so much effort into producing content, it can feel weird to think all of your effort may not pay off if a post doesn’t seem to garner much attention. Of course, we can never control how a piece of content is received, but we can control what we learn from its reception, be it a viral hit or a quiet flop.

Repurposing content can give those pieces you wrote, recorded, and designed a new lease of life, and a second chance to make an impression. But how do we do this without simply reposting it and risking it stagnating a second time?

What is meant by repurposing content?

When we talk about repurposing content, we mean taking an existing piece of content and transforming it into something new.

It should be noted that we’re talking about repurposing your content, not taking somebody else’s!

Repurposing your old content might mean taking a video and turning it into an article or blog post, edited to make it more up-to-date or to make it more informative. It might be that you don’t necessarily transform the format of the content, and simply work it into something new that provides a fresh experience for your site visitors.

Why should you repurpose content?

Generating fresh content ideas on an ongoing basis can be exhausting, and seeking to generate new ones all the time can lead to your marketing largely becoming a content mill—generating stuff as a matter of quantity and regularity, rather than quality.

Revisiting older content can not only provide a much-needed break to let your creative batteries recharge, it can also stop you from essentially repeating yourself. After all, why write a whole new article about the best ways to renovate a home or where to compare car insurance if you’ve already nailed the basics a year or two ago?

Furthermore, content that you made previously has had longer to rank on SERPs, and repurposing it allows you to take advantage of its established place in the results while boosting or improving the qualities that will see it climb higher.

Regularly repurposing content is, in a way, the basis of evergreen content. While updating your evergreen content isn’t necessarily ‘repurposing’ it in the same way, revisiting it on a yearly (or more frequent) basis grants you opportunities to alter the format or add to it with extra forms of content, such as video explainers to aid more complex subjects.

By reworking older content, you give it a fresh chance to reach your audience and grant yourself the opportunity to enhance it.

How can I repurpose an old blog?

Repurposing an old blog can be done in many different forms, and in some ways it’s the easiest ‘raw material’ to have when you’re looking to repurpose content. Being in written form, there’s a lot that can be done to repurpose a blog.

The simplest way is to edit and rewrite the content, bringing it up to date where applicable. You might elect to include some accompanying media like infographics to break down statistics and facts, which can transform a general explainer article into a more in-depth, info rich guide to a topic in which your business wants to be seen as an authority.

Another way to repurpose an old blog is to turn it into something else. If the content can be worked into a script, it might serve well as a video or podcast. Or, you might choose to strip down the blog into a more simplified form, and turn it into a social media post or series of posts.

The innate shareability of social media content can make this an attractive prospect for a blog post that did poorly or was written before you refined your SEO and marketing approaches.

How can I repurpose an old page?

It’s quite likely that an old page on your website might end up serving little to no purpose. Pages can become outdated, links may get broken as sources and URLs change, or it might be that you’ve had your site renovated by a marketing agency and the new direction leaves a big question mark over older pages.

In these instances, you could think about what purpose these pages could serve. Are they in an advantageous position in your site map, presenting the perfect place for an excellent piece of UX copy or an in-depth piece of cornerstone content?

If your page has no purpose, people won’t stay on it, and they won’t come back. Give it a job!

Repurposing an old page is a bit like renovating an old home: the appearance might be dated, but that doesn’t mean throwing away a solid, sturdy foundation. With the appropriate technical knowledge and a solid idea of where the intentions for the repurposed page lie, an old page could become one of your biggest convertors and a vital route to drawing in visitors.

Who can help me with repurposing content?

We can.

What sets Aqueous Digital apart when it comes to your content is that we keep our scope focused and specialised. Our copywriters focus every piece of content around keywords and audience interests that directly benefit your business, and we’re not wasteful. If you’ve got a piece of old content or a page that can be repurposed, we’ll make it good as new.

We can help you wherever you’re based, whether you need Liverpool SEO or content marketing in London. To speak to our team about what you need, don’t hesitate to contact us today.