One of the greatest resources that your organization has is content—and likely lots of it.

But building more content takes lots of time and work, and it often may prove to be a wasted effort if not handled properly. When you have bigger goals in mind, instead of simply producing more content, it could be better to maximize what you already have.

So, what are the best ways to make the most of what’s in your archives? A few ideas to get going:

Build a cornerstone. Cornerstone content, a form of content that covers an essential topic at length, can be a great way to strengthen your position in the search engines while creating a foundation that every other page on your site can lean into. “The real goal of cornerstone content is to create a positive first impression, so people get a warm, fuzzy feeling about your brand,” Elisa Gabbert of the online advertising firm WordStream explains. “That way, when they are ready to convert, they’re much more likely to turn to you.” This kind of page will have a lot of links to your other content, and will help you build a more authoritative profile for search engines in the process.

Retool new assets faster by leaning on older ones. Starting fresh with brand new content can often prove challenging when you’re working on a tight schedule. But reusing content is one way to help maximize the power of your existing content while helping to ease the challenge of meeting your content calendar’s current needs. “While it’s true that posting the exact same content over and over again won’t get you the results you want, you can easily breathe new life into the assets you already have to create something new for the same channel or a different channel,” Search Engine Journal contributor Kevin Lindsay explains. Lindsay says that, beyond keeping old content cycling, it eases the need for creative teams to keep building new ideas.

Move your offline content online. In a 2018 report, Omnipress found that more associations were repurposing content from their events, often to promote new ones. And this approach can translate to your general content strategy as well. “It’s more than simply distributing final handouts and speaker presentations to attendees after an event,” Omnipress General Manager Jonny Popp said last year. If that content carries a second life online, it can be used for marketing purposes and help draw new attendees to your next event.

Take it to social media. Don’t just link your content—build new content for different social media sites! The Pinterest Business blog, for example, recommends taking old image assets and turning them into new pins. “You can create a great Pin by repurposing your business’ existing email, website, and social assets with Photoshop or image editing sites like Canva and PicMonkey,” the site explains. Another place where old assets can be given new powers is the LinkedIn-owned SlideShare, which digital marketing expert Neil Patel calls “the quiet giant of content marketing.” “SlideShare’s features make it the ideal tool to grow your business,” Patel notes. “It’s a crowded site with a highly targeted audience and low competition.”

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