Today’s modern world relies heavily on the internet to make transactions and businesses even faster. In a single click, an item from the other corner of the world could be right on your doorstep in just a few days time. Truly, the age of the modern world is upon us.
The typical person’s routine on the web is by doing searches. Almost anything is on the internet. People browse through tons of content to find that one thing that they want. On the other hand, to sell something effectively, an important and convincing message should be entirely visible for the consumer or the visitor.
In today’s fast-paced world, businesses rely on content to push forward their products and services to people in search of them. With technologies that are readily available, the convenience and speed of everything are up to par. However, with all these advancements, there is one thing that is simply undefeatable: Time.
Time is everything. Time is responsible for the changes in trends and tastes. And with time, everything deteriorates. This situation holds true with content. People will certainly notice something odd especially with something that’s over and over again. If website owners insist on using the same content, then a significant drop in traffic and profit would become inevitable.
As a content developer or content creator, developing interesting posts and detailed information is indeed an arduous task. A lot of different factors can significantly influence a person when creating content. Due to these factors, content providers have a hidden and efficient strategy when dealing with old content.
This approach is called Repurposing. Repurposing means finding new ways to use an article or content again. Writers and Developers from a lot of reputable sites often use these means if there is a lot of available or used material just lying around.
What are the advantages of repurposing? Here are some:
Ease
For used articles or content, the ways in how to use it are relatively easy. This fact holds true for content with good and exciting ideas. A lot of people trust and favor it more than newer ones. The only trick here is how to make old content salvageable.
Old content can become usable when developers convert it to other types of media. For example, an old written article can gain momentum once more when it’s converted into an audio file or visual infographics. The work involved in this process is relatively a cake walk due to the content being readily available.
New Audiences
Content developers are aware that readers are constantly adapting to an array of media available. Content creators should be wise enough to use this emerging trend towards their advantage. A lot of people, as mentioned above, prefer more entertaining forms of media such as sound clips or short video presentations.
Developers can certainly use this to target new audiences which can surely grant new and organic traffic for a website.
Second Chance
With content that has a lot of great qualities and informative data, content developers are surely happy to know that their work brings significant traffic for a page or site. However, content creators also feel sad once they see that the content they create gets outdated.
For a writer or developer, any content that is born out of an idea is comparable to fine art. Repurposing acknowledges the effort of the author and provides a second chance for other and new audiences to see and value the old content.
Developers, however, should be wary that not all contents are suitable for repurposing. Jon Snow from the hit series, Game of Thrones was brought back from the dead because he was interesting. And of course, he was great. The same fact goes for content. Developers should never repurpose content that’s outdated and is a “dead end.”
Instead of choosing topics like the “2012 Mayan Apocalypse,” choose content that is “Evergreen” like “The Beginner’s guide to making pancakes.” Go for issues that will never die out and will remain relevant for years to come. Also, topics that go with current trends are good ideas for content.
The formats of some content are also evergreen and are very active in bringing in traffic and potential customers to a web page. Take for example the form mentioned above: “The Beginner’s Guide to Making Pancakes.” Guides and “How to’s” are evergreen formats suitable for repurposing. Here are some more arrangements to take note off:
Beginner’s Guide
A fact that never grows old is that the audience is always changing. A lot of newbies browse the web for beginner’s guides to almost anything. Guides like these are easy to understand and entirely designed to cater the needs of startups.
Content Developers and SEO Management should be wise enough to notice that the population of newbies searching for particular guides online is substantially immense. An opportunity like this should never go unnoticed.
How to Guides
This format is ideal and evergreen because a lot of trends happen nowadays. A lot of people become experts in such fields, and they provide detailed instructions on how they achieve and do their tasks. How to guides are indeed reliable. More so, they never go out of date.
Questions
People go online to get answers to their questions, especially when it comes to topics that either confuse them or are entirely new concepts for them. In such cases, formats like this: “What are the best burgers to eat?” is a practical format used to attract users and potential partners because of how direct and fast the answers are.
Users want direct answers to their questions. Content which opts for a format like this aims to satisfy customer queries and worries about a particular product or service. It also seeks to clarify anything that they may find advantageous.
Curator
One of the most efficient ways to gather more traffic and backlinks is by creating contents that aim to list down practical tools and products. More like a curator, content formats like these deliver details about particular services.
Companies don’t usually mind developers using this format because it provides them positive feedback and considerable amounts of brand recognition and reputation. As long as no product or service becomes negative, traffic enjoyed by these large companies bring in significant amounts of traffic for the parties involved.
Lists
People love to list down things and rank them according to their preference. These lists could be virtually about anything; from the “5 best pizzerias in town” to the “50 weirdest animals in Jamaica,” users love this format.
Developers and people who manage SEO’s should always take advantage of trends like this to ensure a profitable and healthy outcome for campaigns.
News Stories
Particular stories can become very useful in repurposing content because of it’s longer impact on current issues. Newsworthy topics such as NoKor or North Korea’s ballistic missile testing are good examples of such content.
Skilled Content developers use current issues to address past topics that can lead some insight into current world events. For example, an excerpt from a scholarly article about “Ancient Chinese Trade routes” can be readily inserted into current world issues such as the “The South China Sea Dispute.”
Definitions
Jargons, acronyms and a lot of confusing terms often appear in the modern world. A lot of people do not know these words. Articles which use this format aim to inform people about definitions and the particular usage of such words.
Formal Studies
A format that will never cease to exist or go out of date is case studies. This fact is because experts do these studies with high credibility. People tend to sway more for topics that are done by professionals.
Using this format is somewhat tricky because some articles require permission from their authors. Once permission becomes available, expect to see a rise in traffic because of the tons of reliable information readily available for users to research and read.
Opinions and Personal Knowledge
It may seem inappropriate, but people like to know what’s on the mind of famous individual personalities. Views on sensitive topics are good ideas for content. In hindsight, skilled and experienced content creators are smart and very opinionated.
Only two dangerous situations come with using this format. First, it is open to attract a lot of negative attention or traffic that may endanger a whole campaign. The other part is that an opinion may not matter at all, and will become totally irrelevant.
Takeaway
It’s not a secret that content writers, developers, or creators re-use old content to their advantage. Creating a good content takes time and effort which can become detrimental to the production. Sometimes, the time and effort put in by skilled developers give birth to content that is worthy of a lot more shares and views.
Content isn’t the only thing considered as “Evergreen.” The format which content developers use is also essential in making content relevant. Guides, lists, and opinionated posts are examples of these styles.
Patrick Panuncillon is an entrepreneur, writer, and the CEO & founder of LinkVista Digital Inc. His numerous and highly regarded track records in the field of content marketing and business speaks for itself. Being a goal oriented mentor, Patrick loves molding young talents to become honest and reliable leaders in their chosen fields. You may connect with Patrick on LinkedIn.