Blogging, Blogs, Content Marketing, Writing, Writing Advice

How Fresh is your Content?

We love to repurpose content but it’s become more apparent that publications, whether legal or business, want it to be original. An editor of a well-read industry trade publication reminded me of that again today after I sent a blog post for consideration. The content I sent was written for the blog’s audience but the editor made sure it was exclusive to him. He told me he would have rejected it if the material had already been used for the law firm’s blog, website or in a newsletter or client alert.

In some cases we can get away with expanding a blog for a longer article or reducing the word count of a much longer piece for a blog post, but we have to be careful that anything that has been considered “previously published,” won’t be considered fresh content.

So, how do you avoid having your hard work rejected? Simple. Make sure your article or blog post has an original title, lead paragraph and conclusion. And, avoid publishing it on your website or in a client alert.

A SEO expert who is working with a law firm told me that all of his client’s content should be posted on the website first to boost search engine optimizations. He is looking for direct leads to the website with the goal of generating new business. And, there is a benefit to social media sites like Linkedin and Twitter, as they do not ask or require that your articles have original content. But for traditional news outlets that host blogs and print editions, that content won’t be welcomed.