Despite the aura of mystery around successful content, we do have some spies that tipped us off to ideas for successful content. These spies are none other than the search analytics company SpyFu, who allow us to dig deep into domains, subdomains, and pages to get to the bottom of what’s working for brand competitors. From keywords ranked on Google, to how many clicks their content’s getting, to what those clicks are worth on Adwords, to what similar articles are on their site, to relevant content shared on social network, to how much articles have been liked, shared, tweeted, to content that’s working for the SAME customer base.
Wow! That’s a lot of undercover details relevant to your competitor’s SEO and digital strategy, right? Let’s put those broad concepts into a more concrete example.
Here’s How SpyFu Helps Content Marketers
In other words, if I’m Pepsi and I want to dig around to see what Coke’s doing right, I don’t have to rely on my internet eyes, but I can depend on my internet SPIES and surmise what refreshing keywords Coke has been spilling out. Then I, Pepsi, can then go back to my content team and inform them that the customer base is really digging “cane sugar, no corn syrup” content and often searches that very term. Pepsi then, as inspired by seeing specifics of what worked for Coke can apply those same tips.
It’s not imitation or copying, because Pepsi is still creating its own content. But it now has a specific angle on what their customer base is responding to these days. It’s useful to use those super sleuth skills to direct content marketing. And it takes the guesswork out of generating constantly new gimmicks and attention grabs and infodumps that may be at the bottom of the pile and rarely searched.
An even better game plan than just referring to ONE competitors’ successful content and keyword is to check out the “Competing Pages” tab on SpyFu to find similar content across the board with the same search keywords. Going back to the soda brands example, perhaps you encounter organic brands of soda that really nail the details with the cane sugar over corn syrup debate and perhaps seeing pieces written by them and nutritionists will help you write an even better article than just merely referring to your long-time rival Coke. That way, you’d be learning from all competitors and applying the best aspects of their content to inspire your own and say in your voice with your particular emphasis, and in perhaps a shorter, more dynamic way to push them out of their SEO spot.
Feeling dubious about this approach and prefer to stick to content you dream up at board meetings? Here are some facts that may sway your aversion to SpyFu. SpyFu has actually helped brands increase their website traffic up 50% in 6 months. Part of that traffic is maintaining your existent customer audience yes, and then part of it is finding NEW customers. Brands sited that SpyFu helped them discover lesser known competitive brands and find content to repurpose and update in their own brand’s voice and emphasis. The keyword and content research capabilities of SpyFu amplify digital strategy, content strategy, and keep brands abreast of trends and competitor on a regular basis. Sometimes this information even saves money brands have to spend on Adwords, so it’s a worthwhile investment. Try it today!
But What About Content Itself?
And say your brand doesn’t have a content team or staffed writers. Well, that’s when WriterAccess comes in. WriterAccess is the intermediary between brands and top tier writers. Brands often instruct writers to rewrite a better version of a competitor’s content, provide relevant links, and then the writers proceed based on required keywords and a link. And it all started with the undercover work of SpyFu, our SEO-friendly detectives who can look into all the underlying cogs that create successful digital content.
Samantha S writes direct, dynamic, digestible copy for any purpose and any medium. She has written for apps, games, websites, literary journals, trade magazines, newspapers, e-commerce brands and health//nutrition brands. Samantha’s most notable achievements are authoring a guidebook for College Prowler, interviewing Leonardo Dicaprio, Zac Efron, and Amy Sherman-Palladino for The Hollywood Reporter, reviewing books for Publishers Weekly, covering the World Series of Poker, teaching creative writing at Harvard-Westlake, and working as Editor-in-Chief of The Oval literary magazine.
