The Importance of Recycling Content

If you’ve never heard of republishing, get on it. Or I guess just keep reading because I’m going to tell you what it is and why you should be doing it anyway :).

Think about how long you work on an article. Really think about it. Think about how much digging you go through to find the perfect-fitting statistic to back up your points, how hard it was to seamlessly integrate your keywords without sounding like a robot, how you perfectly crafted each paragraph, down to the sentence to flow like a chocolate river and make sense to your readers. It takes a lot of effort and you might not think it does when you zip through stacks of articles on the web each day. But behind every article is a brilliant mind, and a staff of dedicated editors who spent many hours to make that article happen.

It’s a darn shame thinking about that hard work being posted on social platforms for about a week and then seeing it tumble into the black hole of the internet, popping up every once and awhile when linked to in a new article, but other than that, it’s pretty far gone. Here’s where republishing comes to save all those wrinkled eyebrows and bitten lips in the process of writing an article.

This is a service we offer our clients that is completely genius if done correctly. Keep reading,  you’re going to want to try this.

The Basic Nature

The life of an article starts out with the crafting, editing, proofing, publishing and social sharing. But what gets dropped off the cliff most is the republishing. After all the hype of your article has gone down, it’s your job to resurface that article for another go around for readers who may have really needed that bit of advice you wrote about six months ago but missed the boat by a month. Topics that you write about day in and out can begin to look redundant and dry, but when you pull a piece of advice from the bottom of the pile and revamp the bones of the article, you can really craft a splendid resource for readers in your industry.

Home away from home

So where do these articles end up, anyway? Back on my own blog? Not quite. This time, it won’t be on your own blog, but someone else’s blog. It’s like sending your baby off to school…kind of. There’s a list of highly-populated websites in several industries that allow writers to republish their content when a few tweaks are applied.

What’s the catch…

Not necessarily a catch, but just a few extra steps before you see your name in lights on the big sites. The only exception is to bend and twist at least 25% of the original article so you don’t end up with duplicate content. Why? Duplicate content will confuse Google and create potential bad SEO for you. If you create duplicate content on a website with higher traffic than yours, chances are that website is going to get all the ranking credit for your article. All the more reason to switch up the copy and title to avoid this roadblock. Another cautionary step before pitching any content to any website is to check the contributor guidelines. Each editor is different from the next and each has their own way of doing things. For the best likelihood of being accepted on a big name website, always search for guidelines. If you can’t find anything, do a little research on pitching best practices and get creative!

Sharing is not caring

Congratulations! You obtained a slot on the contributors list to republish your content on a site you never thought you’d get your name on. Your first instinct is going to be share with ya mamas, ya papas, ya kids, ya dogs, ya neighbors. Don’t. I mean, sure, if you really want to, but the turnout isn’t going to be what you want.

The reason I suggest against actually sharing your spot on these sites is because then you would be directing all the traffic to this already largely known website when you really want that traffic directed to your own site. My advice? Have everyone in your organization go into the outlet you republished your content on and simply ‘like’ the post instead of sharing it. This will give your post the numbers you want, without taking away any traffic from your own website.

There you have it. A way to get your name out on the wires without ruining your SEO, gaining backlinks, gaining visibility and hopefully growing a larger following and network. Don’t forget to change at least 25% of your content before pitching to the desired outlet, read the contributor guidelines before pitching in case there are any special rules and follow-up with the site to make sure your content went live.

The Branchers

We build the best damn marketing campaigns on the planet. And we do it for industries and companies you might not identify as easy to market (right away). Working here takes a very special kind of person.