There are times when even a seasoned blogger will hit a wall of boredom or writer’s block. Trying to whip up fresh and original material at a regular clip might suddenly feel daunting so then what do you do? This week on Maine on the Blogs we’ll talk about three clever ways to recycle old blog posts in order to keep a blog fresh and updated.
There are a few good reasons to recycle old blog posts. Reminding your readers about an older popular post can help widen your reach simply by republishing it over periods of time. Also, by taking older content and giving it a face-lift, you can easily buy yourself time to focus on new work while your older material is busy attracting new eyes on your blog. And finally, as writers, the skill of being able to remold a post into something new and relevant without losing the original idea is an excellent skill to hone.
1. Rewrite it into a new post.
There are a couple of ways to do a rewrite in order to recycle an old blog post; it depends on what type of material you are looking to update.
- INFORMATIVE – You can rewrite an introduction to update information that is important to your readers. For example, say the post is about an upcoming event, you could easily write a brief update as a new intro and lead the readers into the original post. If you choose this option, it reads best to have the update clearly marked in either italics or by using verbiage such as “UPDATE: …”
- BULLETED LIST – You can rewrite an essay into a bulleted list or vice versa. This is simple to do and will reintroduce familiar material in a fun new way to your audience. This is especially useful for posts that did not do very well for whatever reason as it gives the idea a new chance to be consumed by your audience.
- BLAST FROM THE PAST – Similar to the idea behind the informative strategy, in blast from the past you could take an older popular blog post that your readers responded well to and simply repost it with a friendly note at the beginning that says something to affect of, “Hey! Remember this awesome story from 2013? In honor of (holiday, event, whatever) I am rerunning it for your enjoyment!” This is particularly effective for seasonal posts that are popular. By recycling it you are helping to remind your readers of your unique voice.
2. Recreate it as an infographic.
Inforgraphics are a fun and popular way to present information, ideas, and even stories in a visual format. If you have no experience with infographics you can find great examples on Pinterest or Google. To make an inforgraphic you can check out tools like Piktochart, which allows you to take information from a blog post and turn it into a colorful and attractive visual experience. Infographics are a great way to take your blog content and turn it into sharable picture on social media sites like Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Infographics, like memes, typically get shared more than blog posts and so it is an excellent way to recycle a blog post.
Check out the awesome templates at Piktograph to see what we mean.
3. Re-share it on social media.
A third effective way to recycle older blog content is to dig through your archives and pull out your top performing pieces to be used as social media share posts. To do this you can choose your favorite dozen or so (or really as many as you’d like) posts and attach them to newer posts by including a hyperlink at the bottom of current work with a line such as “If you like this piece then you love that piece” type of intro.
You can also go into your blog’s Facebook Page and begin to schedule older posts throughout the week. This will give readers a chance to read older your older work that they may not have seen. When the posts that you’ve scheduled go live, you can Tweet them very easily, which gives you yet another pool of potential readers to draw to your blog!
If you are a fan of Pinterest, you can go through your archive and create a series of pins from your older content. Pinterest is a growing powerhouse resource for bloggers to grow their readership.
There are many smart strategies that you can employ in order to keep your blog running smoothly. We hope that these three time tested and clever approaches to recycling old blog posts will inspire you when you hit a bump in your road of creativity. These ideas can also come in handy for those times when you need to take a break from blogging.
Have you ever recycled an old blog post? How did you do it? What tips would you like with us? Leave us a comment or find us on Facebook!