Skyrocket Your Web Traffic With the Skyscraper Technique

 

One of the hardest, and most inconvenient, aspects of writing long form blog posts is finding that large chunk of time to sit down, research, and write. Most small business owners don’t have that kind of time to devote to content development themselves and may not have a specific content marketing manager to develop content for them on a regular basis.

 

If you fit into that category, don’t worry! You can still create and publish useful content for your followers to read and for search engines to index. The solution to this predicament is “the skyscraper technique”.

 

Don’t know what that is? Keep reading!

 

 

What is the Skyscraper Technique?

 

Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinco, is credited with creating “the skyscraper technique”. It’s centered on the idea of producing content highly optimized for SEO and SERP rankings.

 

Skyscraper content is exactly what it sounds like. Essentially, you start off with an already written article to provide the base (or foundation), then you build (or add floors) of new, in depth content. After you’re done adding your new content, you’ll have created a longer and more comprehensive article (a skyscraper).

 

Using a skyscraper content marketing plan allows you to take an already published article and just add to it, freeing up a lot of your time in the long run. You don’t have to worry about coming up with a topic or do a great deal of research when using an existing article. Additionally, you don’t need to worry about plagiarism or duplicate content issues because you’ll be adding your own content, voice, and opinions to that article to make it new.

 

From an SEO standpoint, the skyscraper technique is also beneficial because your finished, expanded article may end up ranking better in SERPs than the original article it was actually based off of. Because skyscraper content is more in depth, it will undoubtedly have more keywords, links, and related terms which will earn the article more traffic and visibility in Google SERPs.  

 

 

How to Get Started With Skyscraper Content

 

As mentioned in the above paragraphs, creating skyscraper content is a great way to earn better SERP rankings and increase your webpage traffic as a result.

 

A clever way to repurpose content and create skyscraper content is to take the base article and add to it in a different format. For example, if you find a good blog article you want to add to, think about creating an infographic or a video instead of writing an article. If you struggle with writing, creating a different media or content form may be easier and more time efficient for you.

 

Here are a few tips to help you get the ball rolling:

 

 

Finding Good Articles & Hot Topics

You want to make sure the articles you’re going to be adding to are on relevant topics in your industry. They also need to be time relevant as well. It’s no use constructing an article about a machining technology that was produced 10 years ago if it’s no longer popular or isn’t used anymore. Search out articles that resonate with your target audience!

 

 

There are a few methods to help you do this:

 

1. Use Buzzsumo to find the best ranking articles under a specific keyword or phrase. You can view the top ranking articles for your key term(s) and pull from a variety of those articles to create the best comprehensive article on the topic possible.

 

2. Set up Google alerts to monitor for specific keywords. Whenever a new article is published containing those specific keywords, you’ll be among the first to know! You can view that new article and see if there’s any opportunity to expand or improve it.

 

3. Do a simple Google search. By simply searching under a specific term or query, you can see the results that Google prioritizes the most. Look into some of the results on page one and see if you can fill in any content gaps.

 

4. Find out what article a web page uses as a reference and do it better. The majority of well written blog articles include anchor text with backlinks going to other reference source web pages. Follow that backlink path, find out what article that article references, and then write a better article!

 

Pro Tip: Once you write a thorough article, you can reach out to the writer of the original article and ask them to consider adding your new and improved article as a backlink source! If you’re article is well written and applicable, you’ll most likely earn a backlink. This has a tendency to send a strong message to Google that your web page is an authoritative source and will start to rank you higher as a result!  

 

The great outcome of your new skyscraper content being used as a reference is the ability to reach out to your target audience. Once another writer agrees that you should use your web page or media as a source, you can ask them to share their updated article with their specific audience, and you can do the same with yours! You’ll be able to reach regular members in your audience, but also potential new contacts as well.

 

Now, as a word of caution, all the content you post and publish SHOULD NOT be skyscraper content. It is important to have original content on your website as well. However, the skyscraper technique is a great option if you’re short on time or feel like there’s a specific gap you can fill in a topic.

 

 

 

 

In Conclusion

 

The skyscraper technique is a great content marketing strategy for small businesses because it removes a large part of the time commitment burden placed on small business owners. Creating skyscraper content is also a great way to boost ranking in SERPs, while increasing brand awareness and web traffic.