When publishers think about growth, they often focus on creating new content. However, increasing traffic doesn’t always require starting from scratch. By optimizing existing assets and refining content strategies, publishers can maximize their reach and visibility in search. Below is a list of practical steps you can take today to leverage your existing assets and generate more traffic.
Leverage Your Natural Assets
- Maximize Author Impact
- Author pages are more than just bylines; they are search-friendly assets. A well-optimized author page can attract search traffic, especially if the author has a strong online presence.
- Encourage authors to share their published content within their networks, increasing visibility and credibility.
- Cross-link articles written by the same author to enhance internal linking and SEO benefits.
- Engage Your Community
- Readers are your most valuable asset. Use their feedback to refine content strategy.
- Comments are content. Don’t sleep on them. Encourage user engagement and ensure a seamless commenting experience to maximize interaction
- Analyze user sentiment in comments and feedback to identify gaps or content improvement opportunities.
- Leverage Publisher Connections for the Benefit of Both Sides
- Collaborate with other publishers for guest posts, co-branded content, or syndication partnerships.
- Reference and link to authoritative sources within your network to boost content credibility.
- Establish partnerships that allow for shared audience growth and increased organic reach.
Leverage Your Past
Optimize repurpose existing content to extend its lifespan, increase engagement, and drive continuous traffic.
- Preserve and Reorganize Archives
- Avoid deleting content, as older articles can continue to accumulate significant traffic over time. In journalism, preserving past content is also crucial for maintaining historical records and context. At scale, even older articles contribute to overall traffic, why deny yourself that opportunity?
- Organize archives with intuitive navigation, such as categorized sections by year, topic, or event coverage.
- Create curated content streams or timelines for major stories, making it easier for readers to engage with historical content.
- Refresh and Repurpose High-Performing Content
- Identify older articles that are gaining traction organically and update them with new insights.
- Repurpose successful content into different formats:
- Convert articles into short-form videos, infographics, or social media posts.
- Compile related articles into guides or whitepapers.
- Cross-promote content by linking relevant articles to increase engagement and session duration.
- Leverage Trending Content for Additional Exposure
- Monitor analytics for older articles that are regaining traction.
- Promote resurging articles on social media with contextual updates (e.g., “This topic is trending again!”).
- Create follow-up or response pieces when an old topic resurfaces in public discussions.
Structure Content for Maximum Discoverability
- Utilize Tags and Categories Effectively
- Proper tagging enhances content discoverability within a site and in search results. Many publishers choose to ‘noindex’ their tag pages, but this is a missed opportunity – well-structured tag pages can serve as valuable content hubs that improve internal linking and boost SEO.
- Treat tag pages as content hubs with well-structured aggregation and internal linking. Think of them as topical gateways to your content – complementing categories and section fronts by offering another way for users to explore related topics.
- Ensure that tags are used intentionally to enhance content discovery, not just as labels. Avoid redundant or overly similar tags (e.g., “UK,” “The UK,” “United Kingdom”) – instead, standardize and consolidate them to create meaningful, well-structured content hubs that improve navigation and SEO.
- Implement Social Proof to Boost Credibility
- Showcase social engagement metrics (e.g., “This article has been read by over 1 million people!”) to establish authority.
- Use insights from successful content to optimize future posts for searchers. Don’t just rely on traffic and audience engagement metrics—consider the broader impact, such as backlinks, references, and the exposure a piece of content garnered. Reflect on what resonated enough to spark engagement with other publications and websites, as this can help generate attention from future readers.
Effective traffic growth doesn’t always require new content. By strategically optimizing existing assets, engaging with readers, and structuring content for better discoverability, publishers can significantly enhance their reach and impact. Implement these best practices consistently to maximize search visibility and audience engagement.
