How to Create Better Content than Your Competitor (A Blog Content Guide)

Create Better Content.

Creating better content is the solution to all blogging problems. Really! This is the honest truth. Think about it…

• Great content will get more views and link shares, which will advance your SEO
• Great content will get more shares on social media
• Great content will get more customers for your products
• Great content will get more authority and expertise on your brand

Create better content to win the internet. Because your biggest competition is already doing it, and the only way to win against them is to create better content than they are creating.

And in the guide, I’ll show you how to create better content to beat your blogging competition.

Create Better Content by Getting Personal

The first thing you need to do to create better content with your blog is to get personal with your writing style.

This means that you need to write as if you’re conversing with a person one-on-one. Use words like “you” and “your” instead of trying to talk to a group. The more personal the content feels for the reader, the more hooked they’ll be while reading it.

You should also focus on making your content more readable for everyone. This is an area many bloggers fail at. Write content as if you’re writing for kids. That means you shouldn’t use bigger words or “professional” styles of writing. If people have to stop and think about what your content means, it will likely turn them off because we’re all in a hurry these days.

Become a storyteller for the best results. A story can captivate and hook readers in. Have you ever read a good book and just couldn’t put it down? That is what you need to do when creating your blog posts – write such a good story that the reader doesn’t want to quit reading it. Audit every sentence you include because every sentence matters. Don’t use fluff or filler words. Make sure every word tells a story.

Keep an eye on the progress you make with your content. You should always be doing a self-analysis. You should always A/B test any changes you make to your style. Find out what works and what doesn’t.

If you don’t get personal to create better content, then you should anticipate beating your competition because that is like what they’re doing to beat you.

Analysis Leads to Better Content Creation

Analysis is important when you wish to create better content. It helps you tell a story about what works, what doesn’t work, and opportunities to make something work for your blog.

The biggest analytical data point is user feedback. You should always seek user feedback. You can do it in simple form by engaging with readers in your content to leave a comment telling you what they think. You can also define more data by offering a sitewide survey or even attaching a survey to each post you make. Creating a survey on Google Forms is really quick and effective. Always look for, record, and analyze user feedback.

And with user feedback, focus on the interest of your users – the human interest. Change your blog or even your content styles based on what users are demanding. If you please them 100%, you’ll beat your competitors without much of a struggle.

Learn SEO and become an expert at it. First, understand and master the ART of keyword research. Once you get that down, the rest easily falls right into place. Learn how to write content with SEO in mind. Learn the technical aspects of SEO. Learn how to build backlinks. There are over 200 Google rank factors out there – learn and understand each one of them to help you create better content.

In order to create better content than your competitors, you have to write better-researched content. If you don’t put in the time to research the subject matter of your next blog post, you’re probably not going to write a better post. Research takes a lot of time, but it really matters a lot when you’re trying to write the best content available.

With research also comes brainstorming. You should be brainstorming for new ideas for content every day. Keep a notebook with you, or record your ideas on your phone. Brainstorming doesn’t stop there. You need to be doing it for your content, too! Brainstorm ideas about what your competition left out and what you will add to fill the gaps.

Find obstacles in your analysis. And then eliminate said obstacles. The less things that are in the way of success, the better. Sometimes, the things you really want to be in place and work out to your greatest desires are actually hindering your blog’s success because they’re obstacles. Not everything is going to work, and it’s important to observe that.

The best way to serve your audience is to know your audience. The best way to know your audience is to understand the avatar of your audience. The avatar is basically your vision of a reader or customer on your blog. Once you can see what they look like, based on your research, you’ll be able to better serve your audience.

Search for keywords revolving around the niche of your blog. If your blog is about sewing, then search for sewing blogs. Find the most active blogs listed on the first page (non-sponsored) of Google and other search engines. Those are your competitors. Analyze everything about them. Keep an eye on their content, social media, newsletters, and anything else they have. Watch for any changes. Look for gaps in their content. Do a SWOT analysis on them. Your objective should be to find, monitor, and fully understand all aspects of your competitors.

Really focus on the content of your competitors. Read anything they post. Break down their content and dissect it. Understand what makes the content great and viral. How are they helping their readers? How can you mimic their content but in your own words? How can you add more and fill the gaps that they leave out?

The worst way to fail blogging is to keep looking back. This is when you look back at things that didn’t work. This is when you dwell on mistakes or content you worked hard on that flopped. This is anything that you look back on with regret that has already occurred. If you want to create better content and win at the competition, you have to constantly look forward. Look towards the horizon. But you should definitely look at past mistakes and flops analytically, not an emotional one.

I preach that it’s important to keep track of the latest activities about your competition in order to create better content on your blog. But you also need to keep track of your audience, too. Keep track of the changes and activities they are doing. It’s important to watch your competitors because they’re likely watching you. However, watching your audience and their behavior and trends is usually way more important because you’re serving them at the end of the day.

Add Value to Create Better Content

Content is king. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. In the late 90s and early 2000s, content was king. It’s not quite king anymore. Nowadays, VALUE is king. People are looking for value, not just any content that any blog out there can provide. And most of the time, the only way to provide value is to offer more than your competitors are offering.

My strategy is simple. I search my target keyword on Google. I open 5 to 10 links on the first page (organic, not sponsored). I read each page. I compare the pages. I make sure my content includes all the same stuff they include but in my own words. Then, I filled all the gaps that the competition didn’t take care of. My content is the same as theirs but with more added value.

Customer service is essential these days. The better customer service you can provide, the better you will be known for in your industry. Don’t be mean to your readers. Get used to answering the same questions over and over again. Prioritize customer support and aim for the fastest response you can give. Make customer service a mission on your blog and any other channel you’re utilizing.

Try to offer content-based products and services based on reader requests and what your competitors are offering. For example, I have a hiking blog, and my competitors offer trail guides. I also offer trail guides based on the demand for them. But it’s important to create better content than your competitors, right? That’s what I do with my trail guides. I update them regularly, offer more than my competition, and interlink them all.

Sometimes, you need to create content-based products that are custom to the needs of your readers. I’m not talking about a general need, either. You might need to customize content specifically for the needs of a smaller group of readers or even one loyal reader. Obviously, this will demand a lot of work from you at the end of the day, but if you really want to shine, it’s one of the best ways to beat your competition. In reality, you’re taking time out of your day to specifically focus on the needs of an individual reader who is not only loyal but will remain loyal because of that.

Commit to being sustainable and ethical with your blog in your industry. If you can help make your niche better for the environment or sustainability of the industry, do it. But it’s more than just saying you’re going to stand for things. You can really shine when you raise awareness, money, or fame for the causes you’re supporting. Be real when being for a cause. If you’re doing it for PR and you’re not serious, you’re bound to get caught, and it won’t be good for you after that.

User experience is critical. The blog that offers the best user experience will likely win in the realm of competition. Sometimes, offering too much information, products, and features will kill user experience and do more harm than good. Sometimes, keeping it simple is the best approach. If you can offer the best user experience on your blog, you’ll win.

If you sell products and services relatable to what your competitors provide, try to be as competitive with the pricing as you can. For example, on my hiking blog, I offer advertising for $100 a month, but I give local businesses a 30% discount. Other blogs in my niche offer $100 ad spots with no locality discounts included. Be competitive with your pricing. Have add-on benefits and features if that’s what it takes to make your product or service a better value.

Give your audience something meaningful in every article you publish. This is another reminder to add value. If your post isn’t making the life of your reader better after consuming it, then you have failed at adding value to your content. The only way to create better content than your competitors is to add more value to the content than they have provided. Reading your content should be like getting something for free that should have cost a lot of money. You make that happen, and you’ll shine. I promise you!

There will always be content gaps. Your competitors will leave out critical content. You will leave out critical content. Even the biggest experts in an industry will leave out critical content. This happens because we’re all human, and we make mistakes. But we’re all good at finding gaps and filling them with value if we really focus on it. This is why it’s important to audit every sentence you add to your post. This is why it’s important to thoroughly read content posted by your competitors. Find the gaps and fill them with value. That’s how you create better content than the next guy.

Sometimes, it’s better to create longer content than your competition’s content. If their blog post is 1,500 words long, maybe you should create one that is 3,000 words long. The problem with this is many people use filler content or fluff. That is pretty much useless content meant to make the article longer. That’s a bad idea. It bored people quickly, and they go back and find something else that can satisfy their needs. If you make longer content, it all has to result in value.

Something to keep in mind when trying to create better content than your competitors is content types and article styles. Maybe the win is all in what kind of article you present. Data also shows that certain types of article formats do better than others. For example, listicles (example: 15 ways to make money blogging) do really well in the blogging world. So do How-To articles and guides. It even helps when you add “how to” and “guide” in the title. You’ll notice that I do this a lot in my articles. It’s because it usually yields a lot of views. You should experiment with different article formats and find the best ones for your results.

Consider repurposing your content on other channels. It’s one more way to get the word out about your blog and content. Sometimes, you need to use other channels to help build an audience. Social media is a great way to repurpose your content. If you can repurpose it in graphic or video form, you’ll do even better. Try to use trending music and media styles to get even more results. Use what’s trending to your advantage. Your competition is either already doing it and reaping the rewards, or they haven’t discovered it yet, and you could dominate the industry if you start doing it first.

Try to keep all of your content updated on a routine basis. There is no magic formula here. You don’t have to wait a year to update previous posts. If the post has an update, then update it. Even if the update happens a few days after you first publish it. The faster you can be first to make updates and needed changes, the more people will look to you and your blog for information.

Your blog posts aren’t just words. To shine, you need to include media with a visually appealing style. Add images and graphics that pop and catch the attention of others. If appropriate, add informative infographics with visually appealing designs. Add embedded videos, sound bites, and other media that your readers would enjoy consuming. Do this on every post if possible.

People love facts and hard data. Create and publish case studies. You’ll not only gain a lot of readers in the process, but you can get some of your best backlinks by publishing case studies. Typically, case studies are linked on education and government websites. Those types of backlinks will really help you get a deserving position in search engines.

Have you ever used the skyscraper technique? It’s easy to do but definitely takes commitment and work. To do it, find the blog posts you wish to compete with based on great content and backlinks. Then, create better content than theirs with your article by offering the same information but also filling the gaps they missed with a lot of value. Make your article longer and more informative. Then, ask their backlink providers to consider adding your link to their content. You might get rejected, but if you keep trying and improving, it’s bound to work out for you sooner rather than later.

Organization is Required for Better Content Creation

If you want to create better content and your content to be seen by more people and more search engines, you need to maintain a consistent posting schedule. Whether you decide to post once a day, three times a week, or once a month – make sure you’re consistent about what you choose. I post once a week on a certain day at a certain time, consistently. This shows my audience when they can expect a new post, and it shows search engines when to come back to my blog to index new content for search.

Create for mobile first when writing new blog posts. Make sure your sentences are short. Keep paragraphs shorter. Use white space and line breaks. Many people scan rather than commit to a full reading session. Most of your post will probably not be completely read by most readers. Make sure you pack value into each sentence to ensure readers get the point. Make your content easy to read on all devices.

Your title and headers really matter. I’m not saying that you should use clickbait, but you should use eye-catching titles with trigger words that tap into the emotions of potential readers. Make sure you deliver what you promise in the title, though. Your headers throughout your blog post should also thoroughly explain what the section of the post will be about and continue to have a grip on the reader.

Make sure content delivery speeds are fast. This means that you need to have a fast blog. Your pages should load in under 2 seconds. Most people will click off a website that fails to load in under 2 seconds. Most websites load in under 2 seconds. If yours does not, it could be because of many different reasons. It might be related to a plugin, theme, large images on your post, or simply because your hosting service isn’t good. Find the problem and fix it before it hinders your blog’s ability to grow and shine.

Publish on multiple platforms to create better content in an attempt to beat your competition. This means you should post on social media platforms like X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Threads. Consider short-form media such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Create articles on Medium and post content and detailed answers on Quora and Reddit. The more channels you utilize, the more people will know about your blog.

Turn your blogging activities into a routine habit. The more you do something the same every day, the easier it will become because it’ll be a habit. The trick to proper organization is to make healthy habits and continue to look towards a bright future. Once you’re organized, maintaining your blog will be easier. It will be simple to create better content and have a chance to beat your competition when you have organized yourself to make it possible.

Create Better Content with Branding and Community

If you want to be different than the next blog, then you need to create a brand. Your brand should be unique. One way to make it unique would be to niche down and cover very specific topics within your niche. You should also have multiple channels of content distribution. Make sure all your channels have the same branding. Keep the same username, title, avatar, and color scheme that you maintain on your main blog. Use the same voice on all channels. Make sure when someone lands on one of your channels, they know who you are.

Try to make your content stand out against other blogs in your niche. Do something unique and original. For example, let’s say other blogs in your niche provide eBooks about big topics and charge a fee to read them. If you wanted to stand out, you could write the same kind of eBooks and offer them for free on your blog. They could make wonderful lead magnets for newsletter subscribers, too. Do something controversial and loud enough that people take notice of your blog.

Social media algorithms and search engine AI are getting pretty serious. Sooner than later, it’s going to be harder to ensure your audience sees all of your content. But you can act now by creating an online community to attach to your blog. Create a community and engage with your members to keep them active. Your community could be as simple as a community plugin, a forum, Patreon, or an all-out community feature.

Don’t wait to build a mailing list. Start building one from the start of your blog or whenever you can. As people subscribe, start sending them newsletters packed with value. Make sure they get something from every newsletter you send out to them. Every blogger should build a mailing list. No algorithm or AI can block you from sending to your contact list.

And that sums up my article about how you can create better content to beat your blogging competition. I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide. Be sure to follow me on X and LinkedIn for more blogging tips. Join Blogging Collective to discuss all blogging topics with other bloggers.

About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers who follow this blog. Shawn also offers various services for extra help in content creation and blogging.