With over 400 million blogs existing across multiple platforms, you want to know how to stand out. One way to increase your reach and audience — multiply your most popular content. Some bloggers find it difficult to know how to find their top performing posts and then use them to generate new ideas and better results.
In this post, we will show you how to identify your most popular content, use it to generate new ideas, re-purpose it to perform better and offer ideas on how to share it to reach more people.
How Do You Identify Popular Content?
Analyze your blog’s statistics to identify your most popular content. Whether you have Google Analytics or another data collector, they gather information on your site, which shows your top performing posts, how long people stay on your site, who links to you and much more.
One of the best metrics to use is post traffic. To see which posts perform the best in Google Analytics, select Post Behavior > Site Content > All Pages. Customize the data range to show you which posts generated the highest engagement or clicks during a certain time. Traffic identifies what your audience likes and gives you data on which topics they want to see more of or which style of posts they prefer.
Also set parameters for categories, which show you the top performing posts within each category.
Another metric to look at is popular keywords. To find keyword data, select Acquisition > Search engine optimization > Queries. Search engine optimization (SEO) shows how well your post ranks on search engines with keywords. Knowing your top keywords shows what your audience is searching for and helps you craft new titles and descriptions for your posts so they receive higher rankings.
Links also contribute to SEO and site traffic. Acquisition > All traffic > Referrals shows you who links to your site and how your audience finds you. Use links and referrals to focus where you publish and market your content.
Utilize analytics within your social media accounts as well through business accounts and page analytics. Each one has their own and are easy to find:
- Facebook. Navigate to Page Insights > Posts to see which posts receive the most impressions, clicks and engagements.
- Instagram. Navigate to Insights to view impressions, likes, comments and audience.
- Twitter. Navigate to Analytics where you find tweet impressions and engagement rates for the month and download a spreadsheet for a custom date range of data.
- Pinterest. Navigate to Analytics for reach and impressions.
How Do You Generate New Ideas from Old Content?
Once you have analytics and data on your most popular content, use your findings. Here are ways to use your old content:
1. Templates
If one style of posts — listicle, Q&A or article formatting — attracts the biggest audience, use it as a template for your new ones. Templates take the confusion out of formatting posts and organizing information.
For example, if your audience prefers posts with numbered lists and pictures, use the listicle format.
2. Topics
Use old posts and topics to generate new topics. If a particular section of a post generated more interest and multiple comments, base a new post around the topic. For example, if you wrote a popular post about exercise, write a post covering the topic in-depth.
Or, research which topics and posts people continually search for online. Find what other bloggers post about and offer your own take on those subjects.
Another good place to look for topics is on Google. If you have a blog post that receives a high amount of traffic, search for the topic on Google. Go to the “People also ask” section to see if there are any related topics that you could write about. After, go to the bottom of the search results page to the “Searches related” to section. Are there any topics here you could write about?
3. Comments
Finally, use your popular content to crowdsource your research efforts. Dip into the comments section to interact with your readers and ask them what content they want to see more of. Also, ask them what they love about your content and blog.
How Do You Repurpose Old Content?
Once you identify your popular content, repurpose it for multiple audiences and a wider reach. Below are three ways you can generate more traffic for old content:
1. Make a Video Version
According to reports, 46 percent of video viewers watch until the end, 59 percent of those viewers watch entire videos when content is around 90 seconds.
Video gives your audience another way to consume your content, which is easier and quicker than reading your whole post. In your video, stick to the main points and what the reader needs to know from your original content.
Also, inject some personality into your video. Presenting on camera or speaking for a voice-over and providing engaging visuals shows your audience you’re authentic and genuine. Plus, it shows your content in action, which better relates and demonstrates to your audience how useful your content is for them.
2. Dive into a Topic with a Podcast
Statistics found 55 percent of visitors will read a blog post for 15 seconds or less before moving on. So, instead of diving deep into a topic with blog posts, use podcasts.
Podcasts are great because you listen to them on-the-go, in the car or during free time. They also connect with you through your voice speaking to them, like a conversation with a friend.
3. Create an Infographic
Infographics break your content down to the main points and statistics with multiple images in one graphic. Share the infographic across social media platforms, where everyone can download and share it.
4. Add Content
If there are any questions related to the topic that you have not already addressed, you could expand upon the topic and write more content to answer those unanswered questions. You can get a good idea of what questions people have related to the topic from Google’s “People Also Ask” section mentioned above. Additionally, Google prefers 2000 words to a page, so to see your blog post rank higher in search results, consider adding at least 2000 words to the page.
How Do You Post Across Platforms?
Statistics show about 2.77 billion people use social media, which accounts for over 70 percent of total internet use. Posting your blog to your social media accounts is a great way to expand your audience and reach.
Use these four elements to post your content across platforms:
1. Sharing
Once you write your content, share it to your social media accounts. From there, share it to groups, post it on personal or business pages and increase its visibility through utilizing popular hashtags.
2. Custom Graphics
Create custom graphics so your audience can share them and your content across multiple social media platforms. The more graphics you have within a post, the more images to use when you share content.
When adding graphics to your posts, know the dimensions for each social network:
- Facebook: 940 x 788 pixels
- Instagram: 1080 x 1080 pixels
- Twitter: 1024 x 512 pixels
- Pinterest: 735 x 1102 pixels
3. Custom Descriptions
For each platform and post, customize your snippet and description. Use information from the blog to get your audience’s attention. Examples include:
- Statistics
- Individual points
- Short anecdotes
- Content summaries
Each time you share content, use different description to make it feel fresh.
4. Schedules and Calendars
Schedule when and how you’ll share and distribute new and old content using a calendar. A calendar keeps you organized as you plan your posts, graphics and descriptions. Plus, they track how often you share content and what you share.
When creating a calendar, select the tools that work for you.
Journals let you jot down ideas, paste pictures for inspiration, outline posts and draw out a calendar with dates and times for each – all in one place.
Google sheets and spreadsheets let you add active links to include, organize content with bullet points and label content with colors.
Content management tools keep your accounts in one place and automate the posting process for you, but they’re an investment.
Make Your Content Rain
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When you sign up and become a Rainmaker, you get back to following your passion.
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