1. Why you should share and use other people’s content
You can share inspirational content on your website or social channels without losing your audience’s attention.
It happens to the best of us. We watch an amazing video or scroll through an inspiring article and think to ourselves: "I wish I’d thought of that first".
You may think it’s essential to keep your audience on your own website for unique pageviews and time on page wins – and it is. But sharing content from other places can also work to your advantage.
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It's better for your brand
It will improve your relevance and visibility online
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You build a report
You can build relationships with influencers in the tourism industry and be part of a community of content curators. This way, you're mutually sharing and benefitting from each other’s content
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You help build an echo chamber
Amplifying content about Scotland will spread the love around your social networks and beyond. This will ultimately inspiring more people to discover Scotland
We want our content to spread across the tourism industry as far and as wide as possible.
We work hard to produce valuable, creative assets for all corners of Scotland, such as our award-winning "step into the Scottish Borders" film.
2. How to share online content
The following are a few simple ways to benefit from content that isn’t yours.
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On your website
Increase your time on page stats by embedding some engaging video content.
Embedding videos from YouTube
- find the video you’d like to embed onto your website or blog.
- under the video, click share and then click embed.
- copy the code which appears.
- paste this into the HTML viewer on your website or blog.
You can also embed YouTube playlists, GIFs or other social media posts in a similar way.
Find out more information from Google Support.
Play around with videos from our YouTube channel and feel free to click subscribe.
Link building
It might sound simple and obvious. Making sure that your website is linking out to the most valuable resources will elevate your business.
It will build trust with your customers and cement your place in the online travel and tourism sphere. Not to mention how it will improve your on-page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Don’t forget to link to regional Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs). They'll help you and your customers with practical planning, travel and advice about specific areas in Scotland.
On social media and email
When you find an article, video or infographic that you just know your audience will love – share it. This will encourage conversations.
It will also build important relationships between you and your audience as well as with other industry folks.
We constantly look out for useful content to share with our consumers. You'll also see us share inspirational user generated content, especially on Twitter.
Have you just scrolled past something amazing or important?
Pop it in your weekly email blast and give a shout out to the content creator. Or simply send out a tweet or Facebook post with the link or retweet the original post.
At the very least, let the original poster know that you like their content and found it useful by commenting. A little engagement can go a long way.
3. Copyright - important to remember
Using other people’s photos on your website or blog isn’t as straight-forward. It might be copyright protected. Unless you’re just sharing a pretty picture on social media, always ask permission from the owner or photographer.
The same goes for copy. You should always ask first before using any and all written content that a brand or content writer might own.
You also shouldn't duplicate content for SEO reasons. Two seemingly identical websites might confuse users and will split viewership between both. In short, never copy anything from another website verbatim.
Top tip
Remember, embedding content could be a great way to get around ownership issues. By doing so, you’re giving the owner credit and ensuring they benefit from views.
Looking for great images of Scotland?
Don’t forget to check out our media toolkit. It holds a huge variety of photographs which you can use to promote Scotland and its regions as a tourism destination.