Anyone can create blog posts in seconds. But, just because you have copy doesn’t mean it’s valuable. You need content research to make a post that’s actually valuable. That’s especially true with Google’s Helpful Content Update, a shift that placed even more emphasis on expertise, knowledge, and credibility.
Why is content research important?
In the AI age, more and more people are starting their research on ChatGPT. When your potential customers have a question, they’ll likely ask AI first. And, if their query is informational, they’ll likely get a tailored answer and move on.
So, creating generic, informational content isn’t a sustainable strategy.
Instead, you need to dive deep into content research to come up with a unique angle.
Thoughtful, in-depth research lays the foundation for content that is compelling, engaging, and genuinely helpful to users. Bonus points if you can run your own surveys and gather original data.Content marketing is about positioning your brand as the go-to authority in your space.
So, when someone asks a question to an AI tool, it cites your website as the source. That’s all because your content is rich, relevant, and trustworthy.” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-research
How to do content research?
“To explain my content research process, I’ll describe the method I used to create this report on the ecommerce landscape in Pakistan.This piece is heavily data-centric. It demanded deep, focused research across multiple sources to ensure accuracy, originality, and value. The entire process, from the initial stages of investigation to the final content publication, spanned three months.Here’s how I approached content research, including clear, bite-sized steps that are easy to understand and apply.
Start with competitor research.
Typically, I start by reviewing what competitors have already published. This helps me understand the landscape and identify gaps. In the case of my report, we were breaking new ground. There were no existing content pieces to benchmark against, which meant we had to build everything from scratch.While this presented a challenge, it also came with a big advantage: Being the first to publish a data-driven report positioned the brand as a thought leader.When audiences see original insights backed by research, they’re more likely to view your brand as a credible authority in the space. That kind of trust is hard to beat.
Then, use tools to gather data.
My go-to tools for collecting data are Semrush and Ahrefs. Both platforms allow me to compare two websites side by side.This becomes especially powerful when you’re analyzing a top-ranking competitor against one that ranks slightly lower, revealing key differences in content, keywords, or backlinks. What gives the top performer its edge? These tools uncover exactly that.For this report, I analyzed the traffic of the top five ecommerce stores. The aim was to rank the country’s leading ecommerce players and categorize them by whether they’re digitally native or focus on an offline presence.For example, I used Semrush to get traffic data on the biggest ecommerce platforms. The traffic data was then provided in an easy-to-read table.” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-research
