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Welcome to the second post in the series “Write Killer Content” for your blog. In the last post in this series I discussed why we should create killer content for our blogs in the first place.
I discussed how crucial is killer content for your blogging career altogether and ultimately how killer content will help you become a problogger.
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In this post I will focus on defining the characteristics of killer content. After all, if we don’t know what makes a killer content, we won’t be able to create one, right?
I will discuss 4 crucial characteristics of killer content. After reading this post, if you go back to your blog and analyse your blog posts you should be able to know if your content is worthy to be called a ‘killer content’ or not.
Of course, I understand that you can also identify that from how viral your content has gone.
But still, not all viral content is killer content – certain types of content go viral for crazy reasons. This happens with most Youtube videos. Some videos go viral for no reason.
So let’s dive in to analyse the characteristics of killer content.
Content that fills a gap
You know, there’s always a gap that needs to be filled in any niche – no matter how crowded or popular the niche is. There’s always something that needs to be addressed, and that’s not addressed by anyone else yet.
Killer content identifies and fills that gap – or at least points out that there’s a gap and does something in an attempt to valuably fill it.
That is why it is necessary to write blog posts always by researching what’s “needed” in your niche. If there’s a scarcity for something and if your post addresses the issue, there’s no doubt that your blog post (or content in any form) will easily become a killer.
Of course, I’m assuming that you don’t just point out the gap but do something to help people to
(i) become aware of something crucial,
(ii) get some value out of it and
(iii) ultimately find the post useful and practical.
Content that is original
This may sound like a no-brainer, but most bloggers forget this very fact and publish re-hashed content hoping that it would become a killer pillar content for their blog.
Today, in an attempt to create cornerstone content for their blog, most bloggers start with the “popular blog posts” in a popular blog. Although there is nothing wrong with studying what the popular bloggers are doing, re-hashing their popular posts won’t result in a killer post.
Researching is different. And it should not end up rewriting what you learned from researching; although I totally understand the urge to do so.
Of course, if something is already popular, something similar has a great potential to become popular too, right? Wrong and Right.
A killer post can be attempted to be written based on an already popular post by a popular blogger, and yes it has a great potential to become a killer IF and only IF it puts forth a crucial missing piece. Or at least if it puts forth a different angle to the mostly sought after problem (see below for more on this).
Content that is sought after
Creating killer content should always start by identifying the most sought after topic in your niche. That’s how it should begin, technically and practically speaking.
If it begins with identifying what’s already popular in a niche it won’t work out as expected. If someone else has already done a killer on the topic, revisiting the same topic and rehashing will only make it duplicate.
Remember, when you copy (well I don’t mean verbatim copying or auto blogging here, but you get the idea), you’re not the first to do it.
1. Find out what is the most sought after issue or a problem in your niche on which people are quite hungry to get the answers/solutions.
2. Identify who else is talking about the problem. Find out who else is providing a solution to the problem and creating a buzz on it.
3. Find out what those people (who offer solutions or address the problem) are still missing out? What more needs to be done to fill that gap.
If you’ve identified this, that’s your sweet spot. You can create an awesome killer piece of content
(i) that’s original,
(ii) stands out from the rest of the world,
(iii) solves a real problem and
(iv) fills a gap.
People will simply love you for that.
Content that is comprehensive
Killer content is not an average 300-500 word blog post. It is not content that is written for the sake of it.
Killer content is comprehensive. It provides everything under one roof. I can quote hundreds of examples here but the one that strikes my mind right now is this post by Glen from Viperchill. The post is aptly titled “Wordpress SEO: The Only Guide You Need”.
It is not a surprise that the post covers everything about WordPress SEO under one roof; it is comprehensive.
Of course, as Corbett mentions here, epic or killer content doesn’t have to be long. Length of the post doesn’t correspond to the value it provides. But here we are talking about killer content which will be the pillar content for your blog.
Such content has to be comprehensive and somewhat complete. And I believe such an in-depth information cannot be conveyed in an average 300-500 word blog post.
Takeaway
Well I am not going to claim that I’ve completely defined what a killer post is. But these are the signatures that you need to look for, if you attempt to write a killer post. After you’ve conceived the idea for the post (and before you start writing the post itself) ask yourself these questions:
- Will my post fill a gap in the niche?
- Is my content original? Although it might have been started based on a popular post do I end up offering something novel?
- Is my content sought after? Are there people who are hungry about the topic? After all, if you’re writing about something that no one is interested in, there’s no point.
- Is my content comprehensive? As I said, its not about the length. But do you offer a comprehensive or a complete solution/insight or an angle at the post?
Time to get to work!
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I appreciate your comment as always!
PS: I highly recommend Danny Iny’s Write Like Freddy training program to give yourself a kick in the butt and start writing killer content both for your blog and for other blogs (guest posting).
