Creating fresh, compelling content to post on your website is one of the foundations of good SEO practice. However, creating content is also a huge sticking point for most people in charge of their site’s SEO initiatives. Reason: creating content is very time-consuming, and writer’s block plagues even the most creative among us. So, what to do when you are in need of fresh content but don’t feel the urge to write?

Answer: re-use some of the content that you or your organization have created in the past! By changing your perspective a bit in terms of what qualifies as “good content,” chances are you will find that you already have a treasure trove of existing content you can use on your website.

It is likely that some of the re-usable content you already have is ready to go as-is, with little or no modification required. However, you may also find a lot of content* in other places that can be used on your website if you are willing to make a few modifications to format and do a little bit of editing.

Here are some ideas for where to look for this buried treasure of good, re-usable content:

Content to Re-use more or less “as is” (with little or no modification required):

• Product brochures
• White papers
• Articles
• Research reports
• Off-site blog entries

Content to Re-purpose (with some editing of format, sentence structure, etc.)

• Explanatory e-mails to co-workers or customers about your products or services
• PowerPoint slides for recent presentations
• Transcribed video or podcast content
• Customer tools and worksheets
• Web content from some of your other, related websites

Hint: be selective when re-purposing content. The act of re-purposing is not meant to replace the effort you would otherwise expend in creating completely-original content. Rather, it is a great option for finding viable sources to satisfy your need for fresh content when your creative well has temporarily run dry - or when you have made something in the past that is so good it deserves to be used again!

*note: I am talking in this post about using content to which you already have publication rights - not about content created by people or organizations to whose content you do not have rights. While there are many ethical and advisable ways to re-use other people’s content (with their explicit or implied permission), currently I am talking solely about the content created by you or your own organization!