Creating content requires significant time, energy, and expertise to provide value. Search engine optimization (SEO) content refreshes are part of an essential strategy for maintaining an online presence and maximizing the value of existing items. By taking content updates one step further to repurposing content for SEO and other channels, you can create even more opportunities for topic expansion.
Transforming blog posts into videos, podcasts, infographics, or social media posts, and vice versa, can extend their reach. This approach can help identify trends and increase your media’s longevity and reach, but only if done thoughtfully.
Recycling or upcycling content isn’t always practical, and choosing the most suitable media type is vital. When done right, it can increase engagement, provide fresh signals, and improve production efficiency, ultimately maximizing value, reaching a varied audience, and boosting brand authority.
When, How, and Why Repurpose SEO Content
Repurposing is wise when you notice a consistent decline in page traffic or when you think there’s a prospect of reaching a wider audience through a multitude of formats. Searchers consume content in myriad of ways, from written posts to videos, and determining which platform is best for a specific piece involves research, testing, and tracking.
To do it effectively, identify high-performing or evergreen media of any type that could use a refresh, break it down into core elements, and adapt them into new configurations like videos, podcasts, infographics, or social media snippets. Recycling your existing information can provide valuable insights into the direction to take other existing and future content.
When to Repurpose Content
If you’re curious whether your piece would do well on a specific platform, like Instagram or Google Discover, are looking to add to a post, or want to repurpose information in various ways, consider upcycling to give it new life. When to do this involves several factors specific to your brand, site, and social connections, but there are a few common reasons to do so.
Content Gaps
Repurpose content to fill gaps in your content calendar, address new audience needs, or build up a section of your site or outlet, like creating videos for TikTok and YouTube shorts. Targeting more niche topics using your existing research can help create a related material portfolio.
Content Performance Analysis
Identifying high-performing content that consistently drives traffic and engagement or that did perform well but has lost its luster will give you the data to formulate optimization opportunities. Determine if anything stands out or if there’s a way to expand on an aspect of the content. These pieces are prime candidates for repurposing.
New Audience Reach
Expanding your content styles can help you reach new audiences without alienating loyal followers. Diversify into formats like videos or long-form articles to attract readers with different preferences. For example, if you primarily produce podcasts, you might miss out on those who prefer visual or written content. Engage a broader audience and drive business growth with this method.
Outdated Information
Refresh outdated content with new data to engage readers and improve SEO. Extract insights to create new articles, infographics, or recordings. Updating posts with current statistics and trends keeps your site relevant and valuable, enriching its appeal to audiences, website and software platforms, and search engines.
Seasonal Content
Update and republish seasonal content relevant to current events or trends. New keywords, formats, or other changes can help capture interest in a timely manner. Additionally, incorporating upcoming holidays, recent instances, or case studies can make it more engaging and relatable to your audience.
Types of SEO Content and How to Repurpose
Most types of content can be repurposed into a different medium or kept in the same medium but with a different length or angle. Nearly any search query you enter will deliver articles, videos, images, and more options, allowing users to select which format makes the most sense. Transpose the content that works logically with your plan.
The “how” is where your creativity comes into play. Choosing how you will repurpose your media isn’t one size fits all. Taking the time to plan and consider the return on investment before tackling this project may result in more substantial success later.
Blogs and Written Articles
Written articles can take on various forms, such as blog posts, FAQs, how-to guides, interviews, news, and reviews. Convert a stand-out section from a comprehensive blog post into a different medium, like a video, podcast episode or series, infographic, or webinar presentation. A multipart blog post can be separated into a social media or video series.
Case Studies
Case studies are in-depth written, illustrated, or oral analyses of real-life issues or analyzed projects, summarizing typically positive conclusions. They present detailed results, often including statistics and other data, to illustrate broader principles and outcomes. Repurpose key findings into infographics with the most pertinent stats, present a video or webinar detailing your findings, or create blog posts or social media snippets focusing on specific aspects of your studies. Additionally, use insights to design comprehensive e-books or white papers.
Infographics
This type of stand-alone image conveys knowledge in a visual, easy-to-understand way. It’s a popular medium commonly incorporated into blogs, social media, and video. Some visitors to your site or social medium may be impatient for details or even just visual learners who want something that can be digested quickly. Convert data-rich documents into infographics by employing a graphic designer or DIYing images via user-friendly software like Canva to simplify complex information and make it more shareable. Infographics can also be used to create engaging social media posts.
Newsletters and E-books
Most often used to dispatch timely information, newsletters utilize multimedia elements in a digestible, clickable layout that functions on both desktop and mobile devices. Similarly, e-books can be offered in email newsletters or as site downloads. They are portable, sometimes ad-free, resources. Aggregate related blog posts into a comprehensive e-book or newsletter focused on a target topic to provide in-depth value and position your brand as an authority. Incentives like a free e-book or special offers in newsletters encourage continued engagement with your brand and can help build your email list.
Podcasts and Videos
Podcasts are audio only, though it’s not uncommon to be able to watch a visual recording of a podcast or read the transcript. From informative to fun, transactional to recreational, podcasts and videos can cover any subject. Behind-the-scenes footage, educational information, event coverage, interviews, product reviews, promotions, social media clips, entertainment, testimonials, tutorials and how-tos, vlogs, and webinars are a handful of the various types.
Use existing content to script videos or podcasts. This approach reaches a broader audience and enhances engagement and shareability. Alternatively, editing an existing video or podcast into a shorter or longer version, or taking clips to share on social media or as an embedded video on your site with the written transcript, can intrigue potential visitors/listeners.
Social Media Posts
Social media is one of the most popular ways to attract new visitors, express brand voice or announce collaborations, and spread the word about the great content you’ve created for SEO purposes. Posts vary from short to long, written, video, meme, or a combination, and offer announcements in an informal and engaging way. Repurpose blog snippets, quotes, and insights into engaging social media posts. This can drive traffic back to your original content and increase visibility.
Observing each platform’s post formatting is equally important. For instance, infographics do well on Pinterest, and TikTok is almost exclusively short videos. Because each platform offers a different style of engagement, your brand should lean into as many as possible and continue testing for success.
Webinars
Often live online seminars or presentations, webinars offer informative discussions about a niche subject matter. Frequently recorded and containing multiple presentations or guests discussing a topic, this content provides many options for repurposing. Edit owned webinar recordings into shorter clips for social media, create blog posts summarizing key points or a specific speech, develop infographics from presented data or convert the content into a podcast series.
Why Repurposing is Beneficial for SEO
Repurposing content for SEO maximizes the value of your existing material, improves search engine visibility, and enriches user engagement. It also helps address accessibility for impairment and disability concerns. Reach broader audiences and maintain a consistent online presence by transforming your knowledge. Here are a few of the potential benefits:
- Accessibility Options: Offering content in various formats ensures that it is accessible to all people, such as providing transcripts for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors;
- Building Brand Authority: Consistently high-quality, repurposed content can establish your brand as an expert, enhancing trust and credibility with your audience and search engines;
- Efficient Production: Repurposing allows you to maximize the value of your existing content, reducing the need for constant from-scratch publication to save time and resources;
- Enhanced Engagement: Different formats can appeal to different audience preferences, increasing overall engagement and interaction;
- Extended Reach and Longevity: Repurposing helps you reach different audience segments across various platforms, extending your content’s life and impact;
- Improved SEO Performance: Fresh and updated content signals to search engines that your site is relevant and active. Additionally, repurposing content can help you target new keywords and fill gaps
Duplicate Content Concerns
One of the potential challenges of repurposing content for SEO is creating duplicate content. Choosing different intents and keywords is crucial to avoid duplicate content issues. You may find there is demand for choosing a podcast microphone. You already have a video explaining the steps for starting a podcast. Repurpose the segment about microphones for a “new” video or article targeting the microphone keyword, as these are different intents. This also opens up the door for relevant internal linking.
If you choose to A/B test different versions with the same or similar intent, carefully track which interpretation performs better to determine your next steps. Looking into the data may enlighten you about unexpected or lucrative keywords that can be used in upcycling. Improve the superior content and 301 redirect the less appealing versions to consolidate SEO value and avoid cannibalization.
Practical Tips for Effective Content Repurposing
Once you’ve put your information into a new arrangement, it’s time to market and track it. Following these suggestions can help you find a new audience and success:
- Cross-Promote: Promote repurposed content across different channels to maximize visibility and test which works best;
- Keep Audience in Mind: Tailor repurposed items to fit your target platform and audience;
- Maintain Quality: Repurposing should not compromise quality. Always aim for high-value, engaging content;
- Update and Refresh: Revisit repurposed content and make necessary updates with the latest information and insights;
- Use Analytics: Regularly review your performance to identify the best pieces for repurposing
By strategically repurposing your content, you can enhance your SEO efforts, reach a broader audience, and add value to your brand’s outlets.
