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For a long period of time, my keyword and content research was based on what I found in search engine result pages (SERPs), especially when I first started writing content. I would, for example, look at content rankings and try to replicate them in my own content.
As I continued, I began to see a pattern. The content had to be more unique and have a different perspective. It also needed to be similar to the top pages. To stand out, I knew that my content had to be authoritative and have a unique voice.
So I went out to research more methods of addressing this problem. I started to be more active on LinkedIn. I read industry experts’ blogs and engaged in discussions.
This article will describe four research methods I use to identify and fill in gaps on current ranking pages. Now you can steal these!
Why SERP Analysis is no longer enough
What’s wrong with limiting your research to the top ranking pages?
Copycat content is a sure way to end up with the same thing.
You’ll find a list of pages that discuss benefits, strategies and approaches but not any unique perspectives or angles on the subject. You will be limited in your creativity if you scan those pages.
You’ll end up creating similar content. Ryan Law, CMO of Animalz, calls it copycat content. It is a collection of articles that have the same titles, headers and examples.
You won’t have the ability to detect content gaps
As a reader I find that many articles, especially those with a long form, offer generic information and are not actionable. If an article discusses the growth of influencer marketing, it should be backed up by statistics, expert insights, and relevant data. If you don’t address these issues, readers will leave the page.
If you use top-ranking articles to guide your content, then your eyes will automatically skip over those gaps. This happens because the top-ranking articles only give you a surface-level of understanding. To fill in these gaps, you need to extend your research beyond the pages that are ranked high.
Imagine you rank for your desired keyword by creating an article. Erin Balsa of House of Bold says it best: “Rating for keywords and driving visitors to a site is useless if the readers are turned away by what they see.”
You will not be able satisfy the algorithm.
Google’s latest E-E-A update (experience, expertise and trustworthiness) emphasizes the creation of content by those who have real-life experience. It may not be sufficient to curate insights from the top-ranking web pages in order for your content to be recognized by Google’s algorithm.
When looking for information about , Notion , a project-management tool, you can use to create a to do list. Who would be more useful? Someone who has written an article based on ranked pages, or someone who has had experience in building to-do lists templates, or who knows someone who does? This person would be able to provide you with more detailed and useful information.
To satisfy the search engine algorithm, it is important that you provide the reader with unique, reliable and trustworthy information. You cannot create an algorithm to expect to be ranked at the top. In the end, it’s important to deliver value to your readers, and not just satisfy the algorithm.
Nebojsa Savicic, the founder of Plainly, summarized why you should diversify your research. “Google acts as a filter to find relevant content. It makes sense to look at where the bar is for quality.” But I don’t focus on it too much because it can make me feel like I have to create slightly better content, when my goal is to give great value to my reader.
Four ways to improve your research process
This section will introduce you to four methods of research that I’ve started using. These helped me discover topic ideas, new angles, and the insights of subject matter experts. Let’s get started.
You can find us on LinkedIn.
Best used for: Finding case studies, arguments and questions on a particular topic.
LinkedIn has been a popular platform for many years. Many people have shared their knowledge, experiences and insights on the site.
How do I use it?
Step 1: Go to LinkedIn and search for the keyword.
Step 3: To narrow and speed up your research, you can use advanced filters, such as the industry, the recency of the contents, or the company name as shown below.
Step 4: You can find relevant posts after applying the filters. You can browse through the posts and choose those that are most useful to you.
Sometimes I recall an interesting post made by a particular creator. I then search for other posts by that creator. For this article, I looked up Ben Goodey’s profile using the keyword SEO.
LinkedIn did not disappoint me, and I found an interesting post from him.
He made it clear in his post that SEO will continue to be important. This post is a great addition to any article you write about the future SEO.
LinkedIn’s comments section also contains unique insights. As I scrolled down the comments on Ben’s article, I came across an interesting discussion on Google’s AI interface for results pages. This was a great source of information for this article.
2. Google Alerts
Find the latest industry reports, trends or news.
Google Alerts provide a wide range of sources, some of which may not rank but have still valuable content.
How do I use it?
Enter the keyword that you wish to receive alerts for, such as content marketing, influencers marketing, SEO etc. Google will then send you the curated content for your chosen keyword to your inbox, at the frequency of your choice.
I received an email alert about influencer marketing keywords. I found a few interesting links such as industry reports and news. These alerts allow you to save links that are relevant in your swipe files and refer back to them during your research.
3. Community Members
Best used for: Identify arguments, questions and related resources.
How do you use them?
I found some interesting angles by joining relevant communities and following the conversation. Make sure that you’re part of communities active in your field. You can join marketing communities such as Superpath, Email Geeks and Demand Curve.
After searching for the keyword, I get an instant overview of all questions and answers offered by members of the community.
When I searched the Superpath community for the keyword , I received an interesting question.
Eric Doty responded to the question, which is unique and interesting as it was based on his own experience. He also shared screenshots! It’s not easy to find these takes on top-ranking sites!
You can use this information in any article about content metrics. Please ask politely for permission before you use someone’s words.
You can also use your network to find out about communities. You can use your network as a source of information if you’re active on social media and have built a loyal audience.
Sam Hembree shared an open-ended Twitter that elicited some amazing insights. The responses were then turned into an article of four thousand words.
Freelancers: what’s your best piece of financial advice for other freelancers?
— Brooklin Nash (@realBrookNash) May 18, 2022
[TAG0]
This method can be applied to all channels – social media, forums, and communities. Asking questions to your audience and sharing their perspectives as valuable insights for your readers is a great way to engage with them.
4. Newsletters
Best used for: Understanding a topic with interesting visuals. A snapshot of the latest news on the internet. Sign up for a newsletter to get a roundup of content.
How do you use them?
Subscribe to and read industry-specific and relevant newsletters. If possible, categorize each newsletter according to its content and type. This will make the entire research process much easier.
I’ve created a label for content marketing, and within it, sub-labels are assigned to each creator. This makes research super simple for me, as I can easily search for topics shared by specific experts.
The research process is the same. Search for the keyword and then browse the results. Pick out ideas and examples.
If I am writing about a topic that is related to SEO, I will often search for more ideas by going to the label.
In order to write this article, I used the keyword “persona” and received a useful newsletter edition from the MKT1 Newsletter. As I scrolled, I came across a link that took me to a detailed newsletter about the same subject. (How helpful!)
Finding examples is another way to use newsletters.
Every newsletter has something special to offer, whether it’s job postings or interesting tweets.
When I was asked to write an article about newsletter ideas, I immediately browsed the newsletter to find a few examples. One of them was a link to Aleyda Solis’s newsletter, SEOFOMO.
Research is a powerful tool.
The quality of the content you produce will be determined by the input that you provide. I would encourage you to look beyond the top ranking pages, and take advantage of social media channels.
I have a few suggestions to make this process easier.
- You can save links you find. You can even organize them in your swipe file.
- Create a network that you can contact to get quotes and curated insights.
- Stay informed about new trends and developments in your industry.
- You can bookmark a few of your favorite resources that you use often (websites or podcasts). Even better, you can organize relevant links in groups within your bookmarks. You can then access all links within a group by clicking on a single link.
Remember that research is not a one-time thing. At every stage of the content-writing journey, you’ll discover new and interesting ideas. Allow yourself to be flexible.
