There are a lot of misconceptions about blogging out there. It seems that a lot of content creators view writing blog content as a sort of one and done situation. But the content you create for your blog is worth its digital weight in gold which means you should be leveraging every piece of existing content you’ve created.
Once you write a blog post that makes a big traffic splash, you might be tempted just to leave it be. What that really tells you is that content is relevant and ripe for further improvement.
So, roll up your sleeves and pop open your analytics. It’s time to squeeze every last drop of use out of your excellent content.
Drive email open rates and web traffic through drip campaigns
First, a bit of a definition for the jargon uninitiated: a drip campaign is an automated email campaign that sends messages to your subscribers when they trigger an event such as signing up for a new product or service, subscribing to your newsletter, or an expiring subscription.
You most likely already have these types of automated messages set up in your content marketing strategy. If you don’t, look into it! They’re an excellent way of staying in contact with subscribers.
But how does your blog content play into this strategy?
Simple. Snippets from your blog like an educational quote or catchy headline can help drive opens and clicks in your email campaigns. An easy way to do this is to include some of your top-performing or most recent blog posts in the email sent to new subscribers.
Build up backlinks through resources and lists
One of the best ways to increase your site’s relevance in the eyes of Google is to improve your backlinks. Quick definition: backlinks are when another site links to yours. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s worth a deep dive to improve your backlink strategies. Building these links is also possible through free link building tools and tactics.
So, for your blog content, there are two types of pages that are easy to target: resources and lists. Resource pages act as a collection of links and information about a specific topic. Lists are, well, lists. If you’ve seen an article like, “100 Best CRMs,” that’s a list (sometimes referred to as a roundup).
In either instance, if you find a resource or a list that features relevant content that your article either expounds upon or explains well, approach the site for a backlink.
Repurpose your content for different mediums
You spend countless hours writing blog posts, but if you stick to one medium, you’re limiting the number of eyes that will see them. So, for example, if your blog post contains a lot of data or research, maybe an infographic is a good route to take. Infographics are easy to share on social media and give people a great in-a-glance view of your work.
Another option is to take your information to video. You can either produce a short overview video about your blog content for YouTube or Wistia or use it to create a deck to present during a live stream or webinar.
Think outside the text, and your audience will grow.
Link up your blog posts internally
You’re missing out on a huge traffic opportunity if your blog posts don’t contain internal links to one another. You likely have blog posts that cover related or parallel themes. Heck, you might even have old posts that have lines that would directly lead into one of your newer articles.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
Take the time to audit your internal links relatively often. Go through your old posts and add links to your newer content. Also, make sure your new content contains links to your old posts.
This not only helps with your relevancy through Google but also creates a rabbit hole for eager readers to go down. Internal links are a great way to get your readers to sink some serious time into consuming your content.
Freshen up your popular posts
Your best performing posts won’t stay popular forever. While Google certainly ranks time as a major factor for overall site relevance, it doesn’t look kindly to stagnant content. Not only that, but it’s fairly likely that your article will eventually get a little outdated.
So, stay on top of it. There are two basic ways to do this. Either create a new version (no duplicate content!) of your article each year under a revised title and year or, more simply, add a note to the top of your current article that it was revised to reflect new information.
Then, of course, add that new information in! This will keep your popular topics current, relevant, and search engine friendly.
Feeling inspired, yet? There’s so much you can do with all the content you produce. Hitting post on your blog is just the beginning of an article’s life. So, get out there and renew it.