The world is constantly changing as a whole, advancing to newer heights and making new strides towards a world of leisure and prosperity. 2020 has been nothing short of eventful, either. As the world grapples with an invisible enemy, the way we use the internet has also changed significantly.
Apart from the technological, celestial and economic changes in 2020, Google also updated its algorithm. The world of marketing also changed. People and search engines both focus on quality content more than ever now. That doesn’t just mean blogs and articles, but also eBooks that can help “enhance users’ experience” and give searchers the answers they are looking for.
For those of you looking to increase your rankings in this new update, hire eBook writer might seem like a good idea to rank better. This is because one of the core changes in the new algorithm is that rankings will be impacted by three factors: E.A.T. i.e.
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
One rather easy way of doing this is by publishing eBooks. They’re perfect for positioning yourself as a subject matter expert and to tell the world that you actually know what you’re talking about.
If you post an eBook on your site, Google will read it. And instead, if you publish it on another platform such as Amazon Kindle, iBooks or Google Books, you get a valuable backlink to boost your rankings.
Why Repurpose My Blogs to eBooks?
The new update wants you to focus on quality over quantity. And as the world of content grows, businesses need to stay wary of duplicating content. Furthermore, because of their solution to the three requirements (E.A.T.) their SERP rank increases as well, apart from being able to engage more people.
When you use your own blog to make an eBook out of it, you can rest assured that you will not only be pleasing search engines, but also giving your audiences a one-place-for-all solution, should they want to learn more. It’s a matter of convenience as well, as people can have all the reading material they need in one convenient location.
Just remember to update your content to meet the latest trends and changes. Here are some other benefits repurposing your content will offer:
Credibility
eBooks can range anywhere from 20-100 pages. Whether you’re writing the eBook yourself or are having it written by eBook writing services it will serve the purpose of improving your credibility unlike any other form of content.
It will tell people that you went through the trouble of compiling an eBook or getting one compiled, thus you have something valuable to offer.
Referrals
If you are posting your eBook for free on your site or on Amazon itself, you are encouraging your readers to not just read it but also share it with others. You can even include CTAs (calls to action) throughout the book to share the book with others to get a reward.
The idea here is that eBooks present a rather lucrative chance for people to share and you can make the most of this chance by also including an incentive. Introduce a link somewhere in the eBook to your website, service page or perhaps your blog. You might have to tweak your CTAs a bit but you are bound to get better referrals this way.
Ability to Read Whenever, Wherever
Not everyone is as comfortable reading your content on your website as you are. Ads on the sides, in between content, links, colors and more might end up being too much of a distraction for many. Or some people might just want to read more about a certain topic when on a road trip or out hunting?
That is where access to your eBooks will go a long way in ensuring that your readers get the information they want. Once you help these people read your content on their own terms, converting them will be a piece of cake, provided you have the right customer journey for them.
Converting My Blog Into an eBook
Repurposing your blog on your own might prove to be difficult, since different rules apply to an eBook than to a blog. From SEO all the way to formatting and improving readability, eBooks are a whole different world.
That is why, if you aren’t as well versed with the intricacies involving an eBook, you shouldn’t jump in like this and ask for help.
There are three main directions you can take when repurposing your blog, be it:
- Pasting everything and converting it all into a PDF, then publishing it on your website.
- Rewriting everything you wrote in the form of one long chapter.
- Hiring an eBook writer to rewrite your content and format it to be published on your website, Amazon, iBooks, Google Books or any other platform.
The core idea should always be to make improve your business’s rankings by giving your audience what they want. And the best way of doing that is by asking your audience what they want. Either send them an email or simply introduce a poll on your website or social media account!
Turn My Blog into an eBook: Creating Your eBook
It all starts from an idea. One fine evening you’ll just be sitting there, sipping coffee or tea and this idea will click that you should repurpose your blog. If you’re here, it means you’ve already passed that stage.
Next up, it’s time to start writing.
Writing an eBook
Writing an eBook – even if you have all the data right in front of you on your blog page – seems fun and exciting, but that excitement doesn’t last long. Writing an eBook is a grind. If you’re writing an educational eBook, you are bound to get a ‘gold nugget for marketers’ soon enough.
You should keep this in mind and also start preparing the platform where you’ll publish the eBook. For instance, if you plan on posting it on your website, you need to start promoting it there. If on another platform, create your ID and start marketing there.
However, you shouldn’t embark on this long and tiring journey without proper knowledge. Think about it; a lawyer would be well-versed in case law, or an accountant might be proficient in remembering IFRS or GAAP, but when it comes to actually penning it down, they might not be able to lay it out in a manner that laymen can grasp what they’re saying.
Remember, publishing a poorly written book is worse than not publishing an eBook at all, because it sends out the message that you might just be trying to con your audience.
Editing & Designing It
Next up, editing your eBook and designing it. The idea here is to make it presentable on the inside and on the outside. Remember, a good eBook title is what draws people to your eBook, a better design is what makes them stay.
Furthermore, an unedited eBook is like food without seasoning. Even grilled chicken will seem bland and untasteful without it. Editing your own book isn’t a very good idea, if you think about it. It’s the same example as a doctor performing surgery on their child.
There is a good chance that you’ll end up over-editing your own work, finding mistakes where there are none or leaving some as is. Remember, editing isn’t just to help you remove typos or identify major mistakes, but also to improve flow and readability. Make sure you get your eBook edited by someone who knows what they’re doing.
Formatting it
The formatting of your eBook will depend entirely on the platform you’re publishing it on. We’ll discuss more about publishing your eBook in the next section. Regardless, you should break larger paragraphs into smaller ones. Long paragraphs only look good in fiction eBooks or autobiographies.
We recommend using Yoast SEO to improve the readability of your eBook, especially if you’re posting it on your website. In fact, for website eBooks, you should follow almost all the SEO practices you followed when writing your blog, since Google’s Search Quality Raters are going to read your eBook and score it accordingly.
For other platforms, focus on the message more.
Creating the Cover
Last but not the least, make a cover that you would look at and want to buy the eBook yourself. Instead of posting your photo on it or layering it with your website’s logo and promotional material, keep it subtle and make sure the cover has a bit of mystery and intrigue, while being relevant to what’s inside.
Since you’re going to repurpose your blog, it is a good idea to keep the front cover something in connection to the type of images you use as featured images for your posts. The focus should be to maintain a connection. Also, it’s wise to mention somewhere on the cover that it’s a compilation of your blogs to avoid misleading potential buyers.
Publishing It
Now for the fun part; publishing your eBook. There are two pathways in front of you when it comes to publishing your repurposed content:
- Publishing it on an eBook platform
- Publishing it on your site
Here, you need to consider the opportunity cost of each platform and what stands to gain from publishing where.
Neither way is easier or harder, and both have their own benefits to boast.
Publishing on an eBook Platform
Publishing on platforms such as Amazon Kindle, iBooks, Google Booksetc. is for when you need a much bigger audience to know that you have written a book, thus presenting yourself as the subject matter expert in front of many a reader.
Furthermore, this is a rather good way to get a backlink from one of these publishing platforms. It may just be a single backlink, but since it is from these websites (with higher domain authority), they do mean a lot.
Unfortunately, that’s about all there is to publishing here. The rewards might not be worth the effort, time or money you spent to write or get the eBook written. This is like throwing a bucket in the ocean and hoping for the clean water to reach the other side of the sea.
Publishing on Your Site
This is a route that makes the most sense, but isn’t without its own flaws either. Think of it as hanging a piece of chocolate outside your house and telling people to try it out for free. People are bound to be wary of it and might assume that it isn’t as high-quality as those published on renowned platforms.
This path also presents the risk of your eBook’s content or idea getting ‘stolen’. Furthermore, you can use this path only so many times before it becomes fruitless.
The Benefits
When it comes to benefits of publishing on your own site, there are many, such as:
- More content to your website means more value; especially if it is a ‘rewritten’ form of educational content. The more you show that you know what you’re saying and doing, the better you’ll rank. Here, flexing works.
- While you don’t get to enjoy an external like or increased domain authority, you will be able to create an unconscious connection with the reader as well. If you provide them with value that no other is, you have yourself a loyal customer. The next time you’re offering something they want, they’re sure to get in touch with you.
- Thanks to tools such as Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools and more, you will be able to better track what your audience is doing, where they’re coming from and how many are actually interested in your eBook. As you market your eBook more effectively, you will get increased traffic towards your website and your blog, something that search engines will take note of.
Additional Opportunities
Publishing on your website means that you won’t be getting an ISBN number for your eBook, but if you think about it, when you’re publishing repurposed content, it doesn’t really matter, does it? First, you’re copying and rewriting your own content.
Second, even if you get an ISBN and copyrights, you won’t be able to do anything about others copying what you wrote, since it will all be available on your blog as well!
Publishing on your own website will also present you with more marketing opportunities, where you get to tell people that they can read what you have to offer on-the-go, further improving your relations with the audience.
You also get to interact with your readers when they’re offline; which is on its own a major achievement.
Adapting Your Website to Your Repurposed Blog Posts
The best tool to market your eBook is your website; especially considering that that’s where you got all your information from.
You should start introducing calls to action (CTAs) wherever you can on your website, especially under, over or on the side banners to let people know that they can get all the information they want and more compiled in one place for their convenience.
Just make sure you don’t overdo it.
Include the same Author Bio and at the start of your eBook as the one you include under each post and explain it a bit more. Write about your expertise, interests, hobbies, line or work and more.
Remember, tell only what you need to because you’ll be trying to position yourself as the subject matter expert here. This is possible not only if you’ve written the eBook yourself, but also if you hired freelance writers or eBook writing services to help you out.
Conclusion
Repurposing your blog posts into an eBook presents numerous marketing capabilities and opens new doors for you and your readers alike. It is a well-known marketing fact that more engagement means better conversion rates, and that is exactly what happens when you introduce eBooks into your websites.
If you think we missed out on something in the article or you have something you’d like to ask or add, we welcome you to get in touch with us down in the comments. We’ll be eager to hear what you have to say.
