Creating content is a tiring and demanding process.
Research shows that 36% of bloggers spend more than six hours creating a single article. That’s almost an entire day of researching, writing, and editing to get everything right.
Never mind, you’ll be creating engaging content regularly. Content worth publishing and that drives better results (read: increases conversion rates.)
But how consistently can you pull that off?
Other SaaS brands are churning out excellent content every few days, leaving you baffled. How do they publish such great content regularly without getting tired?
The secret lies in using a SaaS content research process.
In this article, I’ll show you three steps of researching and creating killer content using a practical SaaS content research process—which will help you create and publish better content backed by examples, statistics, and studies.
Let’s get started.
Step #1. Research Your Competitors’ Best Posts for Ideas
Before you begin writing, research your competitors’ top-performing content. What makes their posts so engaging? Or what tips the scales in their favor?
Analyze all their best content to determine which topics rank well on the SERPs.
Knowing your competitors’ top-performing topics, especially those attracting more traffic, will help you improve your content marketing efforts.
Also, tracking popular topics people are searching for or want to read about is the first step to writing great content. And since you already have proof of what works in your competitor’s blog, it’s easy to avoid writing content around stale topics.
But how exactly do you find your competitors’ top-performing content?
How to Find Your Competitors’ Top Content
The instinctive, knee-jerk reaction is to use data and insight tools to help reveal your competitors’ data. But some of these tools lack the precision to provide insightful data.
Luckily, that’s not what you’re looking for.
What you’re precisely looking for is your competitor’s content strategy framework. And to find one, you’ll need to do a simple competitor analysis.
There are many tried-and-tested competitor analysis tools to help you get started. Try each tool individually and learn how it works before using it.
Note: Not all of your competitors are worth analyzing. Some could improve their content marketing, and others need an effective content strategy. Ensure to analyze only those competitors who boast successful content marketing for actionable insights.
The big question remains: how can I find worthy competitors to analyze?
How Do You Find Competitors to Analyze?
You may find executing SEO or conducting research challenging, but you probably know your competitors. If you don’t, then find them using one of these three ways:
- Google-search the Query “Your Main Keyword + Tool”
One way to find your competitors is to Google-search your primary SEO keyword. For better results, Google-search keywords your competitors might be typing to find you.
For example, if you’re an inbound marketing SaaS company, Google-search keywords such as “inbound marketing tool,” “inbound marketing software,” “inbound marketing,” or similar keyword phrases to find your top-ranking, direct competitors.
- Use Relevant Blog Topics
You may also find competitors through topics that competitors cover on their blogs.
This option is more complex than the previous one, but it helps you significantly broaden the scope of competitors you want to analyze.
Before Google-searching relevant blog topics, ask yourself: What topics are my competitors likely to cover on their blogs?
Then run the answers you get on Google as your relevant topics. For excellent results, include the words “advice,” “how to,” or “tips” in your search.
Some of your successful competitors will target a niche, which is more or less a blog topic meant to attract a specific audience.
Let’s say you’re a SaaS company that develops software for construction companies. Since your target audience is the construction industry, your competitors’ content will likely target the same audience.
In that case, Google-search phrases such as “how to onboard workers for your construction company” or “time management tips for your construction company.”
- Use G2 and Capterra Directories
Another way to find competitors (especially if you’re a SaaS brand) is through browsing popular directory sites such as G2 or Capterra.
You may ask: But my site isn’t listed in any of these directories. How will I search for other SaaS brands? That doesn’t matter at all.
Just browse through the category you’d belong to (if you were listed) and then start searching for other brands within your niche. You’ll score a laundry list of competitors.
Focus your search on other categories to find even more competitors, as other SaaS brands may get listed in multiple niche categories because most of the tools they sell boast multiple features and functionalities.
Step #2. Implement the Skyscraper Technique
You’ve researched your competitors’ top-performing articles and found the best topic ideas. Now it’s time to create a superior version of their content.
That’s where the skyscraper technique comes in.
For the uninitiated, the skyscraper technique is a strategy that involves finding top-performing content from the SERPs, revamping it, and replicating backlinks (with high-quality ones). Think of it as building a taller skyscraper than your competitors.
The strategy works in three simple steps:
To get started on the skyscraper approach, research your competitor’s existing content structure to create a perfect outline for your article.
An outline acts as the foundation for creating better content. It structures the headings and subheadings of your article—organizing them in a hierarchy consisting of the Heading (h1), Section Heading (h2), Section Subheading (h3), and so on.
In other words, it lets you stay on topic and maintain the flow of your article.
So, in this step, review your competitors’ top ten content and search for weaker areas. Then figure out ways to improve them. You’ll soon have a better-structured article.
Note: Analyzing their content is only to help you figure out a starting point. So avoid duplicating their content, as this teeters along the lines of plagiarism. Also, it leads to the creation of low-value content, yet your goal is to write better and unique content.
Focus on improving your content by at least 5%, and Google will reward your efforts by ranking your article at the top of the food chain.
How to do this?
Add 5% to 10% more information (think examples, infographics, statistics, etc.) in your post to give it more value. Doing so will significantly boost your rankings on the SERPs.
Once you’ve reviewed your competitors’ content and remodeled it to create a perfect blog post structure, it’s time to improve it.
Here’s how you can revamp your blog post structure:
- Get rid of weak areas. Check the headings for weaknesses—do they provide any tangible value to the reader? If not, get rid of them. And if the written content is poorly covered, off-topic, and excessive, cut it off from your outline.
- Add valuable information. If your competitors’ content missed covering tips, solid reasons why the topic is essential, or its downsides and upsides, find ways to add this information to yours. Ensure your article is as valuable as possible.
- Research other articles within your topic. Go beyond “skyscraping” your competitors’ posts and analyze other articles for your primary keyword. The reason for doing this is to find more relevant topic ideas to include in your article.
- Review your blog structure. Lastly, spend time reviewing your article’s structure. Organize your topic ideas clearly, and cut out those top-level headings that might seem challenging to elaborate or expound on.
Step #3. Find Information Sources for Each Section
Great, you now have a perfect article outline. The next step is finding reliable sources of information for each blog post section.
A more structured outline makes researching information sources easier. But this is no excuse to spend too much time on research as it may lead to information overload.
So how do you research sources for each section of your outline?
Narrow Your Search to a Keyword
No need to overthink your blog sections too much—just narrow down your research to a keyword and then use that keyword as your heading.
For instance, if one of your headings reads like this: “The Advantages of Inbound Marketing for Your SaaS Brand,” You could replicate it with “The Benefits of Inbound Marketing” or simply “Inbound Marketing Benefits.”
Trimming down your headings to shorter, “searchable” keywords filters out unnecessary information that might distort your search results—helping you find relevant resources.
Use the Keywords to Find Information Sources
Here, begin writing your article. But before you do, Google-search your keywords (or headings) to find the best information sources for your content.
Start by skimming through 10 to 20 articles ranking for your keyword. The articles you find helpful (at least 2-3) should go under specific sections of your outline, but only after determining their credibility. Credible sources help you create great content.
After that, create a brief to help you start writing. A simple brief will do (as seen below):
Using multiple sources of information for each of your blog sections helps you come up with better content. Give your article a unique perspective to boost its value.
Research Your Way to Better Articles
Creating content is a never-ending activity.
Many SaaS brands want a robust content marketing strategy that’s research-based, deliberate, and data-driven. However, for many of them, putting in the legwork to achieve those actionable goals is a great challenge.
If you want to create great content without breaking a sweat, use the right content research process that prepares you for it—because that’s what great SaaS brands do.
And if you want to avoid reinventing the wheel, you can draw inspiration from other sources to create a perfect outline for your article. Use this 3-step SaaS content research process to create the best content for your brand continuously.