If you’re regularly creating content, you’ve likely conducted research for various reasons. Perhaps you’re writing a very dense piece on a topic you’re not familiar with and need legitimate information on the subject. Or maybe you’re not sure what formats or topics to focus on to reach your goals.
Both types of research aid in the goal of creating purposeful content that not only resonates with your audience but converts.
Use these five tips to help you decide what and how to research when creating content.
Use Reputable Sources
Don’t waste your time sifting through sources and information you can’t use. When researching a topic you’re creating content for, use only reputable sources who back up their claims with legitimate information.
A great way to filter through the noise is to use Google’s Advanced Search option. This tool allows you to pick specific aspects of a search, such as a site domain, and choose what you’d like to see. For example, if you’d only like to search through government or educational sites, you could list .gov or .edu in this section.
You may believe you’re reading through a reputable source, and then notice spelling typos and grammatical errors. If this is the case, it’s in your best interest to simply not use information from that site, especially if you intended to use that source to establish authority or credibility within your own content.
And of course, always cite your sources!
Look Outside of the Box
When conducting research, you don’t have to stick to “traditional” sources such as scholarly articles, reports, and studies. Try finding an interview with an industry expert to watch or listen to, or perhaps a podcast hosted by knowledgeable professionals.
As long as they’re reputable sources, you can add insight and authority to your content by using quotes from the interviews or podcasts. You can also discover what’s trending in that specific industry and generate new ideas for relevant content.
Find Out What Your Audience Likes from You
Taking the time to look into which pieces of your past content resonated best with your audience will help inform what content you should focus on in the future. Use Google Analytics to see what was your best and worst-performing content.
Try to figure out what worked and what didn’t; why did your audience like one over the other? Take this information and decide what types of content or topics to hone in on and what content to avoid moving forward.
Use Keyword Research
Yes, keyword research is an essential aspect of your overall SEO strategy, but you can also use it to decide what words to use in your titles or find new/related topics to explore.
Find a tool you like (we use Moz) to discover what keywords work best for your content. You can use tools such as Moz to see keyword search volumes, related keywords, and the top-ranking posts for those keywords.
It’s all about finding what people are searching for! Then, you can craft your content around it.
Check Out Your Competitors
Take some time to peruse your competitors’ content across their social channels. Look at what types of content performed well on their pages. If you notice that a particular topic or format resonates with their audience and gets great engagement, think of how you can make it unique to your brand or product!
Where to start? Where to go?
Knowing where to start and where you should go on your quest to create content that resonates with and converts your audience isn’t always a straightforward path. Our content marketing experts are equipped with the skills to help you navigate the terrain.
If you’re looking for a healthcare marketing agency with vast experience in biotech, healthcare tech, and medical device marketing—let’s talk.
