Reusing old blog content to generate traffic and sales may sound corny but it is actually an extremely effective way to improve your site's standing online, attract new and old customers alike, get attention from social media channels and more. Following are some tried and proven tips on how to reuse old blog content in order to keep your site up to date, fresh and engaging.

Update it Regularly

Old blog posts that are still generating a great deal of traffic can be updated in order to generate more traffic. Read through these posts periodically and update any information that may be out of date or no longer valid. Check all links to make sure they still work and add new links that point to authoritative sites as well as relevant blog posts on the topic in question.

It's also important to bear in mind that changing trends can make certain terms offensive or at least outdated rather quickly. Check your article for terminology that could confuse or offend your target audience and replace it.

Look for dates that would make the meaning of your content unclear. It's best to use specific dates (i.e. March 15, 2008) rather than unclear references such as “March of last year”.

If your old blog post does not have good images, consider adding at least one. You can find great, high quality images you can use legally for free on sites such as Freepik and Pixabay.

Use it as the Basis for New Content

Given the fact that you probably invested a great deal of time and effort into your old blog posts, it would be a shame to allow them to simply be used once. One good tip on how to reuse old blog content is to convert it into a different format. Ideas include:

  • Using the content as a basis for a webinar or how-to video
  • Extracting stats and/or important information from your past article to use in an infographic
  • Turning key quotes from your article into catchy memes
  • Using a number of articles on the same topic to create an eBook

When you reuse your old content, link back to the original article. Doing so not drives traffic back to this particular page and boosts its standing in Google.

Adding Internal Links

Linking all your articles together boosts your site's standing in Google. It also improves your bounce rate as it keeps people on your site longer than they would have stayed otherwise.

When writing new blog posts, look back through your old blog posts for articles you can link to. You can also update your old blog posts by linking them to new content.

Knowing When Not to Bother with Learning How to Reuse Old Blog Content

Knowing how to reuse old blog content is important; however, it's also important to realize that not all old blog content can in fact be reused. There are times when you will need to delete old posts rather than attempting to refresh them. Here are some guidelines to help you know when to delete one or more old posts.

First of all, head to Google Analytics to check your website traffic. You may be surprised to find that old posts you have written several years ago are still getting views and links. If your old post is still getting traffic, you would be better of updating it even if doing so takes a great deal of time and work.

Once you have identified the posts that are getting little or no traffic, look over them to see why your customers aren't interested in them. If the problems can be fixed, fixed them using the ideas outlined above.

If your old blog post is completely out of date, cannot be fixed, contains information that is no longer accurate and/or could potentially offend new or current customers, delete it.

Learning how to reuse old blog content isn't just about saving time and providing yourself with ideas for new content. It also showcases your business in a positive light as people can count on you to always provide relevant, accurate information. It could even save your business from having to face legal action due to a misunderstanding that could arise from information in an old blog post that is no longer accurate.

Creating and refreshing content can take a lot of time and work. If you are too busy to handle this job on your own, it's best to find a professional company that can do the work on your behalf. Brandgy specializes in content creation and promotion and can help you create new content and adapt old content in order to keep your business blog fresh, professional and accurate at all times. Get in touch with us at your convenience to find out more about our many services.