Content repurposing (aka “content recycling”) describes a savvy strategy for individuals, brands, and companies to recycle content that previously generated high traffic volume and revive it to expand its reach. 

In the world of SEO and marketing strategy, “content” is a living, breathing thing. Its ability to attract readers and rank in search engines is constantly in flux. 

These traffic changes are a normal part of content production. Amount and quality of content, relevancy, and recency all factor into traffic metrics--and might change a url’s standing at any time. 

Luckily, with a solid strategy to guide you in repurposing content that performs well, you can maximize your time and grow your business in the same motion. 

Note that we’re talking here about how to “repurpose” or recycle content as opposed to just “reusing” content.

This may sound like splitting hairs, but the distinction is important, because it would be misleading for you to read this and think you can just “copy/paste” the entirety of your winning posts on every platform on the internet ad nauseum and achieve the same results. 

If you think about it in terms of reusing a plastic pasta sauce jar, “reusing” it means you probably just rinse it out and fill it with some other product. Anyone looking at it would be able to say, “that’s the pasta jar you had before, just with other stuff in it.” 

This is the equivalent of taking a well-performing blog post and simply pasting it word-for-word into a guest blog article or a slide deck.

On the other hand, when you send something (like a plastic pasta jar) off to be recycled, it gets melted down or altered from its current form as a jar into something entirely “new.” 

It may become a bag or composite lumber or furniture. As a result, it becomes almost unrecognizable from its original pasta jar form, while retaining its same essential substance structure. 

Bottom line: recycled content should have all the appearance of a new thing without the strain of from-scratch creation. 

Whether you’re repurposing content for social media, a video, or into an infographic form, this strategy saves you time and builds your rapport with both search engines and your audience. 

A large segment of your potential audience (even your current followers!) might have missed your content when you published it the first time around. Repurposing content gives both faithful followers and future fans the opportunity to reap the benefits of your unique perspective again and again.  

You’re probably familiar with the Marketing Rule of 7, which asserts that a potential customer must see a message at least seven (7) times before they will take action to purchase a product. 

When you recycle content, especially across multiple channels, you reinforce your strategic position as an industry leader. As your audience becomes more familiar with your brand, the likelihood that they will choose your product over a competitors’ continues to grow. 

Repurposing content can give you a significant SEO boost. 

Organic search still reigns supreme for driving traffic. By “touching up” material that performed well in the past, you may be able to make that piece rank for more keywords. Additionally, strategic placement of the content outside your website can strengthen your backlink profile.

Hopefully, you’re already familiar with the Google E-A-T concept. 

This acronym for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, describes key factors in the way Google identifies high-quality (and thus, high-ranking) content. Having your website be considered an “authoritative” source can get you major traction in organic traffic—and repurposing content can raise your profile as an “authority.” 

Increasing visibility in the spheres of paid, owned, and earned media builds your brand integrity within the marketplace and helps you be regarded as both an expert and a trustworthy source.

So, you’ve decided to submit your strategy as a contender for any episode of “Extreme Brand Makeover—Content Edition”.

But where to start? 

First, you have to decide which content you’re going to repurpose. Concentrate your efforts on pages that have performed well in the past according to tracking tools like Ahrefs, Youtube Analytics, or Google Analytics. Once you’ve done this research and gotten your content organized, you’re ready to decide how to repurpose it. 

Here are some content areas and best practice ideas to help you recycle content effectively: 

One of the simplest things you can do with any blog is just give a quick refresh. 

Skim through it and see where there is room to update keywords for relevancy and perhaps design/visuals for readability. Then repost!

If the blog is time-sensitive, remember to indicate that in the title. Examples:

This way, even if your blog readers have seen a list or article by you on this topic, they’ll be tipped off that there may be updates they want to be aware of. 

The votes are in, and if “cash is king” in currency exchange, “video is VIP'' in visual communication. 

According to a recent survey by Hubspot an overwhelming majority of people (94%!) report watching explainer videos to learn more about a product. 

This doesn’t necessarily require you (or anyone on your team) to get in front of a camera. But creating a short, helpful video that walks your audience through your blog information—without repeating it verbatim!—is a great way to recycle content. 

People are on the go. 

If you already have a podcast—or don’t, but a portable audio version of your information might make it more accessible—consider repurposing content from a popular blog as a podcast episode or interview topic. 

This not only makes it possible for you to tap into a new audience segment, but having the blog already written means you can refer them back to it for more information or links.

Finally, take some of the most relevant ideas from the blog and make them poignant social media posts. Make your key points even more eye-catching by placing said content snippet within a quality graphic design. This makes for easily shared material across multiple platforms. 

An infographic like those on Pinterest or an Instagram reel are also succinct, impactful ways to repurpose blog content into attractive and easily digestible forms.

Repurposing content from internal data by turning it into case studies gives your audience the opportunity to hear a real-world example of what it’s like to work with you. The same goes for testimonials on social media. This could look like:

Don’t have many quotes to draw from? Numbers—especially when put into a visual format—can tell a story as well. Post statistics in an easily understandable infographic, and let it speak for itself. These can also serve future content recycling purposes as raw material for podcasts, videos, guest blogging, a webinar, etc. 

Continuing the storytelling theme, people both experience and understand much of the world through story—and visual storytelling is the most compelling. Content repurposing with visuals includes ideas such as: 

If you already have some high-quality design elements accessible to you, consider turning that visual into one that is best suited for an additional platform to expand your audience.

Social media can be one of the easiest platforms to publish repurposed content to. Some thoughtful ways to leverage this outlet might be: 

Since they are so interactive, social media is also a telling place to get inspiration for future new content. In terms of aiming to recycle content, however, the content repurposing possibilities are abundant with options to post to or even pull from social media platforms for endless topics.

Finally, here are just a few final methods for strategic content repurposing: 

So there you have it. Repurposing content gives you an endless supply of options for expanding your reach. As you become more adept at these practices, you’ll have a better handle on how to create quality content from the outset that easily applies to any of these platforms. 

If you’d prefer to have professionals customize a content repurposing strategy for you to generate profit-generating traffic, reach out to us here at Eightfold.