Get More from your Website with Content Repurposing
Are you happy that you have a website that works well for your business?
That’s great! So, what’s next? Can you leave it at that? Or does the website need your constant attention?
The very best websites will fall somewhere in between the two.
If you do nothing at all to a website it will begin to stagnate and lose its significance. However, you shouldn’t have to be adding to your website constantly. Having a great content strategy will help you to achieve the perfect equilibrium.
Quantity? Quality.
Quality content is key. Do not just keep adding content upon content to your website for the sake of it.
If the basis of your website has quality content that is interesting to read and relevant to your audience, this is the perfect place to begin. You can then start to look at repurposing content to advance your website and business even further.
What is Content Repurposing?
Content repurposing is making changes to existing website content so that it can serve a different purpose. Or in most cases an additional purpose.
This might mean changing the format of content; or, keeping the format the same but making other changes, in order to target a different audience for example.
When content is just updated, it is more specific than a website re-vamp (although this is also important). So just what do these content changes require? Here are some reasons to repurpose content:
- Reach a wider audience: Consider different demographics, firmographics and time-zones
- Saving time and money on writing content
- Increase your opportunities for keyword use
- Repetition of your message: Reinforce brand awareness / display consistency / raise your profile
- To use additional channels of communication: Take advantage of avenues of social media - Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc.
- Add new knowledge / information
- Improve SEO
Why Content Repurposing is Important
People like websites that are clear and easy to navigate. Trying to further your reach by adding more and more information, trying to appeal to everyone, can just make it confusing.
The leading websites will use the best of their existing tried-and-tested content and alter it to make it fresh and appealing, extending it out to a wider audience where appropriate.
How to Repurpose Content
First of all, ensure a few basics.
- Update your website where necessary. Make sure all information is correct.
- Ensure a good proportion of your content is ‘evergreen’ - amend archived articles if only slight changes are required.
(‘Evergreen’ content is still relevant weeks, even years, after publication. This means that is has the opportunity to occupy high-ranking search positions for a prolonged period of time. If, after reviewing your blog posts you realise that they haven’t aged well, don’t worry; this is where your content strategy comes in. Going forward try to ensure as much of your content as possible is evergreen and you’ll spend less time in the future on website updates.)
- Review your initial objective of the website and assess whether that has changed.
- Examine the analytics of your site. Review which areas of your website are achieving the most for you, measured against your objectives.
Before deciding which direction to go in with repurposing content you need to decide what you want it to achieve.
For example, the original objective of your website may have been to increase brand awareness. After establishing your company, you may now want to alter the objective in order to increase sales.
Alternatively, you may have your website designed to appeal to a specific demographic of people but now you need to widen your audience.
Decide on your secondary objective and have that in mind when repurposing content.
Widen Your Audience and Increase Reach
Trying to reach another demographic doesn’t mean you need to write all-new content.
Take a look at what is already popular and working well on your website. Let this guide you in knowing what content to repurpose in order to appeal to your new target audience. It’s all about knowing what is already working and what you can promote more.
It’s also essential to employ a multi-channel marketing strategy.
Different things appeal to different people. Think about it...are you a stats person? Do you like to read in detail before making a decision? Do you like visuals and hate numbers?
People will use the methods of communication that suit them. So, share your content where they are looking. By adopting a number of different channels of communication you can reach an indefinite number of people and draw them to your website.
For example, repurposing written content into stats and presenting it as a colourful pie-chart sent out via a tweet could pique someone’s interest enough to click a link to a full article on your site.
Formats to use when repurposing content include:
- Pie charts, infographics, statistics
- Pictures / photographs
- Detailed articles
- Quotes
- Numbered lists
- Instructions / How-To Guides
- Case-studies
- Testimonials
- Checklists
- Blog posts
- eBooks
- Join in projects
- Giveaways / competitions
Content Repurposing Improves SEO
Of course knowing how to repurpose content effectively adds to that holy grail of perfect SEO. With the assistance of your website manager you will be able to ensure that your best ranking content keeps its existing URL in order to hold its SEO value. Headers can be examined and modified to boost SEO of other content.
A good website manager will be able to tell you which of your content is working well and can be perfectly repackaged and repurposed to your advantage. They will make sure that your graphics are clear, with social media friendly tags and resolve any issues with links to your website.
What It All Boils Down To
The perfect website will have one or two clear objectives, manifest to a wide audience. The repurposing of content adds to the reinforcement of your message. Your customers will be seeing the same message in different formats without even realising it. All the while reaffirming your brand and instating the trust of your customers.
And that… is the secret to good content repurposing.
For personalised website management by a team dedicated to making your business grow, contact us at Cocoonfxmedia.