Earth Day is here. I’m not going to tell you to lower the amount of waste you produce (although you should). And honestly, every day should be Earth Day. Anywho, what we’re here to discuss is how you can reuse and recycle your old blog content and put a fresh spin on it.

Why would you want to do this, you ask? Two reasons.

• Coming up with new ideas and fresh content can feel exhausting sometimes.
• If you have a blog post already performing well, it makes sense to biggy-pack on it.

This will not only help you save time but will also get you to double down on what works, which is always a smart idea.

Also, letting old blog posts shrivel up and die in the bowels of your website is doing you no good. When you keep content current and engaging, it tells Google (and your readers) that you’re an active writer and a reliable source of information.

(Plus, it’ll give you new opportunities to rank higher in the search engine. Hooray!)

Let’s dive right in.

Psst! If you prefer video, here you go.

How to Recycle Your Old Blog Content, Earth Day-Style

Do a Part 2 of an Older Blog That’s Performing Well

Is there one blog in particular that’s ranking higher in Google? Or maybe people are spending more time on that page?

Perhaps it got a tons of engagement on your social media channels or lots of clicks from your email subscribers.

However you slice it, if it’s outperforming other content, then it’s a good time to consider doing a follow-up, because we know that there’s something about this topic that people love.

For example, if you wrote a blog about the benefits of yoga that people went wild for, then it would make sense to do a Part 2 that maybe covers simple asanas for people who want to enjoy the benefits of yoga. Or, you could focus on the mental health benefits of yoga specifically.

The point is to ride the coattails of that first blog with the intention of creating a second blog that’s going to perform just as well, if not better.

Improve the Existing Post Content With New Images, Embeds, and Quotes

There’s always room for improvement, and that brings us to our next method for recycling old blog content.

Pick a blog that you’re interested in recycling and take a step back from it. What could be better? Here are a few things to consider:

• Finding holes where you could add a more detailed explanation and provide more value to the reader.
• Swapping out old images for new, fresh ones.
• Creating an infographic and adding that to your blog post. Infographics are very “shareable” and thus good for your backlink profile.
• Adding quotes from industry experts.
• Improving the internal linking structure. (If you’ve published new blogs since then, these are fresh opportunities for internal linking!)
• Checking the keyword you optimized it around to make sure your SEO is on-point.
• Embedding relevant media in the post — like social media posts and YouTube videos.

Remember that if you want to outrank competing pages, you can’t just regurgitate what they’ve already said. You have to be better.

Cover it from a Slightly Different Angle

As opposed to coming up with an entirely new topic to blog about, choose a blog post currently on your site and tweak the angle slightly.

For example, let’s say we’re still talking about yoga, and you wrote a blog on the best prenatal yoga poses. Why not do a new blog post on the best yoga poses for new moms? It’s the same general topic but comes from a slightly different angle (targeting new moms as opposed to pregnant women).

Turn it into a Video Script

If you have a YouTube channel, then you can turn every blog post into a video (and vice versa). I do this! I make sure I embed videos in their corresponding blog posts. And I link to corresponding blog posts in the descriptions of my YouTube videos.

You’ve got to keep in mind that YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world. And it’s owned by the biggest search engine in the world: Google.

So, if you think that leveraging both Google and YouTube simultaneously sets you up for a home run, you’re right.

But! Even if you’re not a YouTuber, you can still leverage the power of video content, which performs insanely well on social media.

Try creating one-minute videos that summarize your blog content. If you’re up for it, turn the entire blog into a script and create a longer video from it.

Upload that video natively to your social media channels and watch the traffic fly in.

Add Related Resources to the Bottom of the Post

We already talked about revisiting your internal linking, but I wanted to give this one a special shout-out, because I’ve seen it help my clients’ bounce rates and time of site tremendously.

When you’re thinking of ways to recycle old blog posts, consider adding a “You might also like…” section at the bottom. And then, link to related blogs on your site that the reader might find helpful.

This part is key: They really need to be related to that blog, or people will no reason to click on them!

Internal links within the blog content itself are still great. But calling out other pieces of content, giving their titles, and then directing people to those pages specifically can work wonders.

Create a Lead Magnet Out of It

I’ve blogged before about how I’ve used lead magnets to grow my email list. I’ve also got a video on it:

You can take this route when recycling your old blog content.

Don’t just take a current blog post and turn it into gated content — meaning people have to opt in with their email address to read it. Google has already indexed this as a blog post on your site. Leave it.

However, you can recycle this blog post using one of the methods mentioned above — like writing a Part 2 or covering it from a different angle — and turn that into a lead magnet.

In other words, you’ll write this piece of content and then have a page or box where people need to enter their name and email address in order to access it.

It’s a win all around. Your readers get more value from you. You get more eyes on the page. And you grow your email list in the process.

Recycling old blog posts merely requires a little elbow grease and the willingness to think outside the box. You already have a ton of good content sitting on your website. Take advantage of it!

Psst! Here are a few more posts you might enjoy.

SEO Basics for Freelance Writers

A Powerful Blog Post Template for Maximum Traffic

The Worst Blogging Mistakes That’ll Kill Your Traffic