If you are looking for a post on how to spice up your digital content, I am afraid you will be disappointed. As a continuation of yesterday’s post, I am going to offer a suggestion for breathing new life into your digital content that is just sitting online.
Extension educators and specialists have a wealth of online content. However, it does not seem to percolate to the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) in spite of how good the content is and how well it addresses search engine optimization (SEO) elements. In most cases, it does not get noticed because it does not get talked about. No one is linking to it. Here is a strategy that can be used to dust off stagnant content that still has a great deal of value. Dust it off as part of seasonal discussions.
Every year, individuals across the nation and global go through season rituals. We do spring cleaning, we plan for summer vacations, and we rake leaves in the fall. In terms of holidays, we send out Christmas cards, roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, and shoot fireworks for the 4th of July. We seem to revel in these opportunities to celebrate and socialize. Why not do the same with our content.
In the University of Wyoming Extension, each of the initiative teams has seasonal tasks that they must attend to. This would be a great time to dust off content and freshly present it to new audiences. For example, each year, 4-H signs up new members and volunteers; this would be a great time to write a blog post and share a collection of relevant articles and bulletins. Annually, they prepare for county and state fairs; again, this is a great time to share programming material through social media tools.
The Nutrition and Food Safety initiative team has a wealth of important topics to discuss through blog posts. They simply need to curate their content and display it timely. There is food preparation for holidays around the year. In the spring, we are planting food, and in the fall, we are preserving it. Many things to talk about year round.
Our Community Development Education program is gearing up to work with newly elected boards. Not only can they share their content in the classroom, but they can also discuss it online and take static material out of obscurity. Community leadership is always a topic in vogue and worth discussing.
Finally, our range management and sustainable agriculture teams have a wealth of articles to share through season blogs such as calving in the spring to subsequent livestock sales. Each year, there is a spring planting and a fall harvest. Throughout the year, pests and invasive species must be managed.
We have great content… we just need to talk about it in the blogosphere. The more we talk about our content, the more attention it will get. Educators and specialists across the nation can help to bring Extension out of obscurity.
Additional Reading
- Book Review: Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
- How I Share as Part of the Seek – Sense – Share Framework
- Book Review: ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
- Evolution: the Blogging Scholar
- Book Review: The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself
Photo credit: George Hodan, http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=26731
