At this moment in time, you have access to more information than at any point in history. Let that thought sink in for a second – Because of the internet, you have access to virtually all of human knowledge at your fingertips at all times. Want to learn to play a new instrument? Consider it done. Want to read a dissertation that changed the world? Easy.
Technology has evolved and at the same time eased the difficulties of day-to-day life. If you’ve ever spent time doing research online, you’d know that there is a lot of content out there. As great as that is, when it comes time to add content to your website, it’s difficult to stand out amongst what’s already out there.
This is where original content comes into the equation.
Let’s take a look at what original content is, how you can create it, and the value it has for Search Engine Optimisation.
What is original content in SEO?
In the content marketing world, ‘original’ refers to something that hasn’t been published online before. With the increasing sophistication of search engine algorithms have come the increased value for quality content over sites rigged with keyword spamming and other black-hat SEO techniques.
However, it’s important to note that original content doesn’t necessarily refer to new content; with the amount of content that exists already, it is almost impossible to craft something entirely new.
The important thing to keep in mind is that you need to add valuable information. Whether that information adds a new take on something existing or tells a new story, your content needs to be unique and demonstrate your expertise on a subject.
Google and Originality
If there was ever a company that has an infatuation with original content, it would be Google. Their company mission reads: “Our company mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google wants to provide users with valuable information that will help them find the answers they seek and the tech giant fully understand that that can’t happen with spammy, unoriginal content.
If you want Google to rank your content, you need to create something that is useful, educational, and accessible for your audience. As said earlier, there truly is a lot of content on the web. If you’re not striving to write something unique, you’re simply grasping for straws in a dark room.
How To Create Original Content
So now that we know what original content is, and what makes it original, let’s look at how you can create unique content that works for your brand.
Understand your audience
The first step to successfully creating original content is to ask yourself the question ‘What does my audience need?’. Understanding your audience’s need will pave the way forward from there. At every single touch point, your audience is looking for something particular. By doing your research, you can glean direction.
Perform formidable keyword research
Sure, an original angle is key to writing SEO-friendly content, but every single piece of content should start with keyword research. You’ve done the first step and understood what your audience need, and now you need to know how they’re looking for it. To understand this, you need to narrow down on those keywords.
Be original to write originally
Now that you have an idea of what your audience need and the search terms they’re using to look for that, it’s time to start writing around your specific keywords.
But wait, before you put pen to paper, spend a few minutes researching your topic – see what others have already written about. The key here is to try find a unique angle on the subject matter and see things a bit differently.
For example: say you’re writing about a popular TV series. You do your keyword research and find some great keywords with high search volume. However, after performing some additional research you find that there are already a few articles covering that series and the events thereof. Now here’s where you need to be creative. Instead of writing about the series itself, you could do some research on how many followers the main actors have on Instagram and then use some tools to calculate how much money each influencer would make from a single post; now you have a unique interesting angle about your original subject.
At the end of the day, writing unique content is not about writing something that doesn’t exist. Writing unique content is about taking the ordinary, turning it on its side and finding a subtly unique way of looking at it. Do this, and your content will stand out from the rest in a way that works for you.
