Everyone says to create "better" content than your competitors.
And it's sound advice.
Great content can lead to more backlinks, higher Google rankings, more social shares,
and audience growth.
But what does "better" even mean?
It's a subjective word and in the digital marketing world, "better content" has just
become a cliche.
Now, while there's no way to objectively measure content quality, there are four things you can
look at to assess your competitors' content with a clearer lens.
And in this tutorial, we'll talk about these four attributes that make content great and go
through some examples of good and bad pages to really drill in on the creative aspects of creating
content that's "better" than your competitors'.
Stay tuned.
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So first, let's talk about the word "better."
The word implies that a comparison needs to be made.
For example, apples are better than bananas.
Michael Jordan was better than Lebron James.
But these are just opinions that really hold no weight.
And you see the same thing when people create content.
They look at their competitors' content and decide whether it's good or bad based on personal opinion.
So to solve this, we need to create some kind of framework that'll allow us to compare content
more objectively.
Something that allows us to judge pages in a similar way and remove personal biases.
Not only will this help us create "better" content, but also achieve a desired outcome.
For example, if you're sending emails to ask for backlinks or social shares, you need to
justify why someone should share or link to your page.
Saying that your page is "just better" isn't going to cut it.
You need to explain how your page objectively trumps your competitors' and why they should care.
So without further ado, let's talk about the four criteria we'll be using to assess content quality.
The first category is content clarity.
Clarity is about getting your points through in a clear and succinct way.
And in my opinion, this is one of the most underrated attributes that makes content great.
It encompasses the format of your content, readability, and your ability to explain sometimes
complex concepts in easy to digest ways.
The next category is content depth.
While you want to create content that's clear and concise, you want to make sure that you
go deep into your topic.
And by deep, I'm referring to answering the questions a visitor might have.
For example, if you were to create a post on how to get your driver's license, you could simply say:
"Register online for a driving test and pass."
But people would probably want to know things like age requirements, the types of different
licenses, the differences between them, how to apply for them, what to expect when you
get to the driving center, documents you'll have to bring, and so on and so forth.
Now, while it's important to create deep content, I wouldn't recommend going so deep that it
compromises clarity.
After all, if people don't understand what you're talking about or if you're just rambling on about
things that only 1% of your audience might care about, then it's better to exclude them.
Alright, the next category is usefulness.
Useful content is when you solve the user's reason for visiting your page.
And the best way to understand what visitors want is to look at the top 3 to 5 pages in
Google for your topic and follow suit.
For example, the query "best garden hose" clearly shows that people want to see a list
of garden hoses.
So in order to make it useful, your aim should be to help visitors make an informed purchasing decision.
Now, just because you create a list, it doesn't mean it's useful.
The actual content itself is what will make it truly useful or useless.
This is where your expertise and creativity really need to shine.
Finally, is the presentation of the content.
Now, people say not to judge a book by its cover.
But when it comes to websites, we immediately make assumptions based on first impressions.
Too many ads?
Probably spammy.
Wall of text?
Probably boring.
Typical affiliate table with stock photos?
Probably not trustworthy.
This is why it's important to present your content in a way that's visually appealing
and user friendly.
A few basic presentation tips would be to add a table of contents, ensure your fonts
are readable, use skimmable headlines, and use media that enhances your content like
screenshots, custom illustrations and videos.
Now, one commonality between all of these categories is that they're centered around
user experience rather than benefiting one's bottomline.
And while there's nothing wrong with mentioning your products, if you want to create content
that's better than your competitors' then you're going to have to keep the user's best interests
at the forefront of your content creation efforts.
Alright, so at this point, we know what we're looking for when we look at a competitor's page.
Now we can use that criteria to judge competing pages and brainstorm ideas and angles to create
content that's better.
And the more things you can do to enhance the user's experience, the higher your chances
of creating something that's significantly better.
Now, because this will vary case by case, let's go through some examples of top-ranking
content and talk about how we might create a competing page.
The first example is for a typical affiliate "best of" post.
This post currently ranks in position 2 for the query "best golf gloves."
And according to Ahrefs' Site Explorer, the page gets an estimated 1,400 monthly search visits.
Based on my overall feelings, it looks like a typical affiliate site that's just churning
out content.
On top of that, they're using personas with stock photos which to me kills any kind of credibility.
But that's why we have the criteria - to eliminate personal biases.
So personas aside, let's look into the strengths and weaknesses of this post.
The first thing I noticed is that the post is completely about conversion rather than
user experience.
It's nice that they provide a quick summary for people who don't want to actually read
the post and immediately try to earn their trust with the effort that was put into it.
But then they try to sell you again on the same gloves.
Scroll down further, and you'll see affiliate links to all the gloves in their post.
Then the meat of their content includes a stock photo of the glove, which shows that they didn't
actually purchase and test them as they suggested.
Then there's a few bullet points which were taken and reworded from Amazon product pages.
So in terms of our four categories, clarity is fine, content depth is lacking, usefulness is
weak, and the presentation looks haphazard.
Now again, in order to create great content, you need to put yourself in the driver's seat.
Just like with any clothing or sporting equipment, fit and feel are personal.
So what I'd want to see are sections on what a well-fitted golf glove should feel like, how
sizes are different from brand to brand, and a comparison of what these gloves actually
look like on someone's hand.
Also, if they're claiming they've spent 57 hours reviewing golf gloves, I'd at least want to see
them back that up with real-world testing.
And that leads to another content enhancement.
Include a video that shows how they tested these golf gloves.
This proves that they've actually held and tested the product which builds trust with
the user and also helps them come to a more informed decision without having to visit a store.
Not only that, but creating a video on a popular topic like this would help you attract new
audiences from YouTube and Google video search.
To help you visualize what a good post would look like, the team at Mygolfspy creates excellent
affiliate posts.
They've used a featured video instead of a featured image because they understand
the value of this in the golf niche.
They provide a summary of the gloves they reviewed, which includes what they liked as
well as the pros and cons of each glove.
They show you the time and effort they've spent on research for this post which is a lot
more believable.
They support that research with nice image galleries of their people actually wearing
and testing the gloves.
They get into the different things you should look for when buying a glove like comfort,
fit, and grip.
Then they show you a sizing and color chart of the gloves they reviewed.
They give more tips on sizing and state an important point: sizing can vary significantly
between manufacturers.
And then finish it off with a full comparison table of all 27 gloves they reviewed.
And the thing I love most about this is that they've based their rankings based on what's
important to users - fit, comfort, feel, and grip.
And to put the icing on the cake, the table is followed by an image of the gloves that
were reviewed in the table.
This is the kind of content that people want to share and link to despite the fact that
there's commercial value for the creator.
Alright, let's look at our next example which is on protein shake recipes.
This page from Bodybuilding.com has well over 300 referring domains and ranks for
over 5,500 keywords.
Now, if you look at the actual content itself, it's underwhelming to say the least.
They have a short intro which is good, but then the recipes have boring names, boring
stock photos, and the recipe itself isn't even on that page.
Depth, usefulness and presentation are all severely lacking.
Now, if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who wants to learn about protein shake recipes,
there's a clear desire that they want to make a smoothie.
But if you think about why they want to consume protein shakes, then you'll quickly realize that
writing a great post on "best protein shakes" isn't all that easy.
For example, someone who wants to build mass might use a different type of protein
than someone who wants to slim down.
Some people would care more about taste while others would care more about accomplishing
their health and fitness goals.
So a few things I'd do to create content that's better than this page would be to take great
photos of the shakes, talk about the different types of protein and who each one is for, and
also include a section on the types of ingredients you should use to achieve your unique goals.
And because this topic is about health and fitness, I'd also include a nutrition facts table
that shows things like calories, the number of grams of protein, sugar, and so on for
each recipe.
And if the list of recipes was super long, I'd even consider creating a filterable list
so visitors can see the shakes that will actually help them get the results they want.
This page from FitFoodieFinds does a decent job of this.
They understand that some people just want to cut to the chase and see the recipes.
So they include a "Jump to Recipe" button at the top of the page -- something all recipe
pages should do.
The images make me want to actually make the shakes because they look delicious.
Scrolling down further, they talk about the Types of Protein.
And they even provide groups of ingredients where they outline the grams of protein for
each type.
Now, the fact that there are hundreds of websites linking Bodybuilding.com's page,
this to me looks like an opportunity to create significantly better content and do outreach
to get backlinks - more commonly known as the Skyscraper technique.
We have a full video on how to use this link building tactic so I'll link that up in the description.
Alright, the final example is for the query "how to make money online."
According to Ahrefs Site Explorer, the top- ranking page for this query gets around
120,000 monthly search visits and continues to get a steady stream of backlinks to the page.
Now let's take a look at the content.
This is a typical listicle post where they list 28 ways to earn money online.
They've done a good job with the intro and it's very skimmable with headings and images.
Now, while it looks like it might be tough to significantly outdo this page based on
the four categories we discussed, this is where putting yourself in the driver's seat
will help you come up with new and better angles.
Let me explain.
The topic of "how to make money online" has historically been somewhat of a slimy topic.
Now, it's not because of the topic itself because making money online is fine and completely legit.
But it's the way a lot of furus have preyed on people's desire for wealth.
And since money can be an emotional topic, they're able to sell people these "get rich
quick schemes."
Even worse - people are buying
Now, this tells me two things.
#1. A visitor is likely skeptical before they even land on your page, so it's critical that
you do everything you can to legitimately build trust with your readers and/or viewers.
And #2. Someone who's consuming content on the topic, probably has no clue where to begin.
Otherwise they would have searched for "how to start an Amazon FBA business," "how to sell
SEO consulting services," or whatever.
So if you want to outdo this page and many similar pages that are getting thousands of
visitors every single month, you need to:
a) build trust with your visitors fast,
and b) provide deep and clear guidance for a beginner level audience.
So let's look at this article again from the lens of trust and depth.
The first way they recommend making money online is to start dropshipping.
If you've ever tried to start and grow an ecommerce business, it's not as easy as people make it seem.
They spend some time explaining the potential of a dropshipping business, and they finish off
this point with a link to their free course which should help you get started.
This is pretty good in my opinion since the course should help you actually put this into action.
But this is the only additional resource that I think would be actionable to a visitor.
Pretty much all of their other points just talk about stats rather than guiding visitors
to a resource to actually get started.
I mean, point 5 is to become an influencer.
Do you really think that someone will read this and be like… "That's it!
I'm going to become an influencer then somehow start making tons of money through sponsorships."?
And as the list goes on, it becomes less and less actionable and relevant.
For example, point 26 is to get a part time job which has nothing to do with making money online.
So here's what I think a better piece of content would look like.
Yes, it would be important to create a listicle post because that's what users want to see.
But instead of talking about tons of ways to make money online, I'd focus on just
the methods that I've actually had some kind of success with.
For example, in 2014, I became a Platinum Powerseller on Ebay by selling all sorts of
consumer electronics.
And in 9 months, I did over $300,000 in sales with a budget of $20,000.
So one of my points might be to buy products by the pallet and sell them on eBay.
I could briefly share about my experience, the basic steps that I took to get there,
and then link to a full case study on how to do it.
Trust and guidance are both there.
Then I'd talk about ecommerce stores, affiliate blogs, adsense sites, being a freelancer,
running a marketing agency, etc.
And I'd show proof of my results - good or bad - and link to detailed case studies that
people can read and/or watch.
And it wouldn't have to stop here.
For new and interesting online money making methods, I'd try them out for 3 to 12 months,
and then just update my content with the new case studies - whether I was successful or not.
This in my eyes brings honesty and transparency to a traditionally slimy topic which helps build
trust and authority.
And the fact that no one else has done, or is willing to put this much effort into it
tells me that there's an opportunity here.
Now, creating the best content you can is about the single greatest advantage you can
give yourself in competitive niches, especially if you're a small creator.
Because when you do, you're not afraid to promote it because you actually have something
unique to offer.
So sending an outreach pitch for a link actually becomes kind of fun.
Pitching it to social influencers who you might even look up to is exciting because
if you have truly delivered on the content side, you'll start a conversation with someone who
might have valuable feedback and may be happy to amplify your work.
So don't settle for the status quo because you can.
Go and create content that's better than your competitors and be proud to share it with
others in your industry.
Now, if you enjoyed this video, make sure to like, share and subscribe for more actionable SEO
and marketing tutorials.
And I'd love to hear from you if you agreed or disagreed with anything I've shared.
I'll see you in the next tutorial.