Many businesses use keyword tools to help plan their content strategies. There’s nothing wrong with that, but consider this:
All the great keywords you’re finding? Your competitors are finding them, too, and they’re trying to optimize their content for the same terms.
Sure, you can beat them – and you absolutely should try – but if that’s all you’re doing, you’re likely missing out on fantastic content ideas that can differentiate you from the competition and win your audience’s hearts.
To that end, here are three quick questions that can help you uncover your best content ideas – and in many cases, opportunities your competitors overlook.
1. What are your industry secrets?
What tricks of the trade or insights might seem common knowledge to you but your audience doesn’t know? Often, revealing these trade “secrets” is a great way to create value and drum up interest.
For example, a travel agency might publish an article about hotels with unadvertised perks, such as free shuttle service or granting staff the ability to give guests free comps. The agency’s audience would find the information interesting and valuable, and the article would lend credibility.
2. What unique data do you have?
Chances are you have unique, interesting and valuable data that your competitors aren’t privy to. Data can often tell an entertaining story, even if it seems dull on the surface.
Let’s say you sell tickets to sporting events. Since you collect user data at the time of purchase, you know where your audience lives. Boring, right?
But you also know which games they buy tickets to. Since you know where they live and what games they attend, you know which teams they like. Mash the data together, and you could write an article that shows where NFL fans live, county-by-county, across the United States – and that’s a pretty cool piece to share. In fact, Priceonomics did that exact piece with SeatGeek, and the story nabbed nearly 7,000 views and 32 media mentions within a few weeks.
3. What questions do your customers ask?
Go to the people who interface with your customers daily and ask them what questions they routinely field. Create content that answers those questions – even if keyword research reveals low search volume.
Not all content has to rank or drive significant traffic to deliver exceptional value. Content that answers common customer questions can be used as a reference and sales resource.
For example, let’s say you operate a B2B accounting firm and want to win enterprise clients. Enterprises might ask obscure, high-level questions that no one else asks – and there is virtually no search volume for – but the answers are highly relevant to them. If your content answers those questions, you can highlight your ability to handle accounts from the biggest industry players.
Great content isn’t only optimized for search engines. It’s also optimized for your audience and your business. These questions can help you identify topics optimized for all three.