Have you ever heard of the “skyscraper technique?” It’s a popular SEO technique Shopify store owners are using to create better content for their website and it’s surprisingly simple.
What is the Skyscraper Technique?
Find great performing content in your niche.
Use the content as a baseline and create better content.
Get people to link to your content.
It’s a classic “standing on the shoulders of giants” strategy. And it makes sense: if you find content that performs for someone else, why wouldn’t it work for you?
You don’t have to know everything about SEO to make the skyscraper technique work for you. As long as you’re choosing top performing content to work from, you can write like an SEO expert.
Now, don’t look at this technique as a way to steal content from other bloggers. Plagiarism is still plagiarism. It’s okay to take basic ideas from someone else and build on them – it’s not okay to claim them as your own without adding anything to them.
Do you want to create shareable content for your website? Well you can with the skyscraper technique. Read on to learn more about how this content marketing strategy can help you attract new readers and increase your organic reach.
How Do I Use the Skyscraper Technique?
From what you’ve read so far, the skyscraper technique seems pretty simple – right? Fortunately for you, it’s one of the most straightforward content marketing strategies used by bloggers and eCommerce entrepreneurs today.
Follow these three simple steps to create shareable content for your website that attracts audiences and converts readers into buyers.
Step #1: Look For Top-Performing Content In Your Niche (Using BuzzSumo)
Content research tools are your best friend for the skyscraper technique. BuzzSumo is one of the best.
Using BuzzSumo, you can search for top-performing content on any topic you’d like. It’s as simple as entering a search term and evaluating the results.
BuzzSumo shows you the number of shares each piece of content has on numerous social media websites. You can see exactly what readers in your niche like to share, and where they like to share it.
Want to make BuzzSumo work for you?
- Collect the best ideas from your searches and address them later.
- Look at which topics are being shared on social media, and look at things they have in common.
- Evaluate headlines. Why do they attract readers and garner shares?
- Understand which types of content people share. Do they prefer text, images, or videos in your niche?
Step #2: Create Better Content Than Your Competitors
Okay, so you know what your competitors are writing about. You know what your target audience likes to read and share. Now you need to incorporate these findings into your own content strategy. Oh, and you need to do it better…
You can’t copy someone else’s work and claim it as your own. Even if you don’t copy word for word, it’s still inappropriate to copy the same idea without adding your own flair.
You’re smart. You know your niche. You have knowledge to share.
Once you find topics your audience cares about, use them as a springboard for your own ideas. There are certain things you should look for to incorporate into your own work:
Content length
Content quality (on a scale of 1-10)
Included number of images (and which kinds of images)
Included keywords and key phrases
Write down the specifics of the articles you’d like to draw from. Use them in your own content as a foundation for your own ideas.
But how can you make your content better?
Better is a subjective term, but there are ways you can make your work objectively more informative and more enjoyable to read than anyone else’s.
- Make your content longer.
- Add media such as infographics or videos to make your content more engaging.
- Provide more detailed information on the topic.
- Make your keywords work for you.
Step #3: Get Readers to Share Your Content
This is the hardest part of the skyscraper technique. How will you encourage people to share your article and link to your blog?
Earning shares is the best way to go about getting them. Sure, you can send emails asking bloggers to link you. And you can promote your content on social media. But the best way to get shares and links is to create great content.
You can use every trick in the book, but they won’t work for bad content.
Create the best content in your niche, and the sharing will happen naturally. If it worked for the content you drew your ideas from, it can work for your content, too.
For even more help download the Skyscraper Technique Checklist
Have you used the Skyscraper Technique to grow your Shopify stores search visibility and traffic? Let us know in the comments below!
Special thanks to Garrett Moon and our friends over at CoSchedule for the inspiration to create the article for you.
