You’ve had your morning tea, your Word document is open, and you are ready to write your first blog of that day. You check your topic and- you have no idea what it is about.
While this may not happen with every blog, your topic may be in a different language each time. Content writers face this problem regularly, so feeling like you don’t know where to start is a common experience.
In 2019, Google ran more than 464,065 experiments (62,937 side-by-side experiments, 383,605 search quality tests, and 17,523 live traffic experiments), resulting in 3,620 improvements in their search results. That’s over fifty experiments per hour, every hour, every day, for a whole year. These experiments helped the company better understand how to display best the set of search results that align with the user’s intent of their searches.
User experience remains at the fore in Google’s recent updates. They published an article detailing how a user page experience will become a factor in organic rankings in 2021 and beyond.
While that update primarily focused on the user’s ability to interact with the content, ensuring that the content aligns with their needs is one of the main pillars of organic visibility.
It all starts with empathetic, thoughtful research that is driven by the needs of your target audience. In this blog, we’ll cover six tips you can use when researching the competitive aspect to align your content with the needs and wants of your users, giving it the best chance of getting top rankings.
Know The Best Research Strategies to Write Content Quickly
1. Setting Goals and Parameters
Just as you should have a goal for your overall digital PR strategy, you should also have a goal for each individual piece of content you create. It can be a simple goal, like explaining a particular concept or getting a certain number of page views or shares. It could also be a more ambitious goal, such as securing a specific customer or having your article shared by a particular influencer you’ve identified.
Parameters also come along with the goals. You have to find out what you want to get from your content and then specify the parameters accordingly. Time is money, so if you have a shortage of time, you need to set a reasonable limit on how much time you will devote to each piece. Similarly, you can set a budgetary limit according to how much cash you want to play with. Also, take into account other limitations such as access to skills and technology.
2. Use Google
Where do you get the best content? Google, of course! While many content creators are racing for top ranking on Search Engine Research Pages (SERP) on Google, millions of others consume top-notch content. When you’re doing your content research through Google, you can follow these steps:
- Google the topic you are writing on.
- Read as many blogs as possible about that topic (don’t take too long, you have a client deadline to meet!)
- Make notes for the points you think are essential, and write down your thoughts on those points (creativity is the key!)
In addition to the content on Google, you can also use articles from authentic sites like Towards Data Science, Feedspot, The Startup, etc. (and their competing sites). Another place to find inspiration for great content is YouTube and Facebook. Also, don’t forget to add your insights, thoughts, and opinions to your content. It gives a unique touch to your content and adds value to consumers.
3. Talk to Readers of Your Content
The best way to find out what matters to your readers is simple: talk to them.
Indeed, face-to-face conversations take time — but they enable you to have honest, authentic conversations with your readers. You can engage readers with open-ended questions, ask for follow-ups, and gain insights you didn’t expect.
Luckily, you don’t need to do hundreds of interviews to get game-changing insights. Just 5 to 7 interviews will give you a wealth of information to work with.
Keep your conversation focused and short. After all, your visitors are doing you a favor by talking to you. Pay attention to their challenges and problems.
Ask questions like:
- What are the primary challenges they’re facing right now?
- What do you like about our content? What do you not like?
- What type of content your audience like to read?
In general, it’s helpful to record conversations so that you can listen to them or get them transcribed later. When you review the conversation, take the time to record keywords and key points that come up in the interviewers’ responses. A natural way to categorize voice-of-customer data is to use spreadsheets.
Reader challenges and pain points drive great content. And the best way to find that issue is through the voice of the customer’s data.
As you review interview transcripts, specific common challenges will come up again and again. If you notice that your readers are struggling with attracting visitors to their website, you should create a step-by-step guide to help to promote their blog content.
Knowing your readers’ challenges puts you in a great position to offer them resources that help solve those problems and enable you to position yourself as an authority on the subject.
4. Read Your Competition’s Content
It’s a more straightforward tip, but one that’s easy to overlook. Keep track of what other organizations in your industry are publishing. You will assimilate a lot of knowledge this way, possibly without even realizing it.
There are specific ways you can make it even easier.
- Set up a Twitter list or Feedly archive with a rival’s blog. You can find more about setting up Twitter Lists here and Feedly here.
- Sign up for their email newsletters. Getting their content straight to your inbox is an easy way to keep up with what they’re doing.
5. Research Reputable Sources
Unreliable information wastes your time and causes impediments. You want to streamline your research so that you get a clear idea of your topic so that you can write about it with confidence and use sites to back up your content.
You don’t need to spend 3+ hours researching topic for your blog. With the proper tools, you can complete your research for a new topic in as little as 1-2 hours.
- Use advanced search. Searching for your topic without filters can reveal competitors’ blogs or sites that don’t have the best information. When looking for solid facts, use the advanced search option on Google. In the domain bar, type .gov and .edu to have reliable studies and statistics in your search results.
- Avoid sites with mistakes. A site may impress you as a reliable source for information. But then you discover improper grammar or spelling errors. The best response to finding good content full of mistakes is pressing the X in your window, especially if you’re looking for official links. You will get better resources.
- Look for news articles: If your topic is a breaking story, consider looking for any news articles to deepen your understanding of the topic.
After finding three to five sources, you’re ready for the next hurdle—writing.
6. Write for Your Readers
Alternatively, if you’re not very similar to the target audience you’ve identified, you may need to start thinking out of the box. Instead of visiting the websites, you like, start visiting the websites they like and note down common topics and concerns. What feedback is being received, and what is flattening out? For each piece of content, you create, you should be able to explain who the target audience is and why they are going to engage with it.
Final Words
Hopefully, the above ideas will give you a better understanding of how to research your content smartly. In addition to these tips, would you like to help improve your blog and social media?
At Zytal, we have a proven track record of result-driven social and SEO strategy backed by our honest team and transparent workflow. Call us to learn more about our offerings, offers, and support.