Did you ever stop to think how much content there is on the Internet? According to an analysis from 2016, there are at least 130 trillion known web pages. That figure has probably increased significantly over the past two years.
If you are a new blogger, trying to compete as the Internet becomes more saturated may seem hopeless. How can you expect to compete against billions of other websites?
Don’t get discouraged. The truth is that at least 90% of the webpages on the Internet offer little value to their readers. You have an excellent chance of succeeding by creating superior content. Arriana Huffington, Peter Rojas and other millionaire bloggers got their start by creating exceptional content.
Of course, this is easier said than done. Creating great content will be a huge investment of your time, but rewards will follow. Here are some tips to create higher quality content for your blog.
1. Research your topic before you start writing
You need to take a look at other content in your niche. Try to figure out what is working for the leading thought leaders and come up with a game plan to create even better content.
The best place to start is by conducting a keyword analysis. You can use a number of tools such as Google Keyword Planner to figure out what keywords other people in your niche are using. Start by eliminating keywords that are not relevant enough, have no search volume or seem far too competitive to rank for. The remaining keywords on your list are the ones that you want to target.
Keyword research is always going to be a time-consuming process without the right tools.
Ubersuggest can speed up the process and make large amounts of data a lot easier to consume and navigate through. Best of all, the tool is free to use and its data is actually pulled right from Google Keyword Planner and Google Suggest without the need to log in.
After performing a keyword search you will start to see results for monthly volume, competition, keyword difficulty and more (as shown above).
Once you have determined the keywords that you want to rank for, you want to see who your competitors will be on the front page. Conduct a search with these keywords to start analyzing their content.
There are a few things that you need to look at while doing your research.
How detailed is other content in this niche? You want to look at both the length of the content and the amount of research involved. Do any of the other writers have professional experience in the field? How many resources do they link to? How long do you think they spent creating each post?
You can use existing content as a base. However, you can’t expect to create the best content on the web by just rehashing a couple of other sources to create a 500-word article. Those days are long gone.
You will need to study the niche in detail. In addition to looking at other articles, you may want to consider talking to actual experts.
2. Decide on the best way to provide value to your audience
It can be difficult to compete with other content leaders on their own terms, especially if they have professional training or a formal education in a competitive niche. Don’t get discouraged, because you may be able to provide more value by finding an original angle for your content.
Brainstorm the different ways that you can add value to your readers. There are probably a lot of angles that you didn’t consider. Let’s say that you are creating a website for people on the Paleo diet. You could create a blog specifically to share Paleo recipes or news, which is what the vast majority of Paleo bloggers do. However, there are some other angles that you could consider as well, such as:
- A blog on frugal Paleo living. You could help people on tight budgets come up with interesting recipes.
- A blog to help people avoid the temptations of straying from their diet.
- A blog for athletes following the Paleo diet. The blog could cover both dietary and exercise tips.
- A blog for paleo moms to help make the paleo diet seem more appealing to their family.
TIP: If you need even more ideas, or are simply at a loss for what different angles might be available to talk about, just start searching through Google. At the bottom of every search, Google will provide you with a wide range of ‘related’ search results that people are continually searching for.
The type of content that will get the most traction will depend on the audience that you are targeting. Every demographic has different needs, so you will need to take those into consideration. If…
