By Nupur Mittal

My content and keyword research was limited to what I saw on search engine results pages (SERPs) for a long time, especially at the beginning of my content writing journey. For instance, I would look at the content ranking for a specific keyword and try to emulate it in my content.

But, as I progressed, I realized a pattern. In addition to being similar to existing top pages, the content needed more expertise and unique perspectives. It quickly became clear that I needed to create content with authority and a voice of its own to stand out.

So, I ventured out to find more research methods to address this issue. I became more active on LinkedIn, engaged with industry experts' posts, and read the latest trends for unique insights.

In this article, I will explain four research methods that help me identify unique takeaways and fill gaps in current ranking pages. These are yours to steal now!

Why only SERP analysis doesn't cut it anymore

Here's what's wrong if you limit your research to analyzing top-ranking pages.

You'll end up creating copycat content

If you search the keyword digital marketing, you'll see ranking pages discussing benefits, approaches, and strategies, but no unique angles or take on the topic. Scanning those pages will limit your creativity.

As a result, you'll create similar content, which Ryan Law, CMO at Animalz, describes as copycat content, a bunch of articles with lookalike titles, headers, and examples.

You won't be able to identify content gaps

As a reader, I often find articles, particularly informational long-form ones offering generic and non-actionable information. For instance, if an article talks about influencer marketing growth, it needs to back it up with statistics, insights from experts, and relevant data points. If these are not addressed, the reader will bounce from the page.

So, if you're looking at top-ranking articles as a guide for your content, your eyes will skip those gaps. It happens because top-ranking pages give you surface-level understanding. You need to expand your research beyond those pages to serve these gaps.

Moreover, suppose you end up ranking for the desired keyword creating such an article. In that case, there is one more issue, which Erin Balsa, Founder of House of Bold, puts well, “Ranking for keywords and driving traffic to a website is pointless if readers are turned off by what they see.”

You won't be able to satisfy the algorithm.

Google's newest E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) update emphasizes creating content by those with real-life experience in that field. Simply curating insights from top-ranking pages may not be enough to have your content recognized by the algorithm.

Consider whose content will be more useful when looking for information on using Notion, a project management tool, to build a to-do list. Would it …read more

Source:: Buffer Blog

Author: Aaron