According to an article on Siteefy, there are around 193 million active websites today. Having such an online landscape where there’s more information available than anyone can read in their lifetime inevitably causes content saturation. As its name suggests, content saturation pertains to the sheer abundance of content available which leads to many others getting buried in the search results despite their quality.
Content saturation is a huge hurdle for businesses aiming to get their online content out there to be read by more people. For instance, even if you have a well-researched and thought-provoking blog post, it could still go under the radar not for lack of quality but because it’s simply not appearing in people’s searches. When this happens, your efforts on content marketing only end up being wasted. Hence, here are some ways to combat content saturation and help your own content stand out.
Fill In the Gaps
Depending on the nature of your business, you may find that some popular topics and keywords in your industry are already oversaturated. For instance, if you’re in the travel industry, then “how to travel on a budget?” is perhaps one of the most-searched topics out there. Hence, if you only keep making content around that topic, then you’ll find it difficult to break into the top results as the field is already highly competitive.
Your first step then to combat content saturation is to look for gaps. Going back to the example, research travel-related keywords or topics that don’t have much competition yet and make content for those instead. This allows your content—and in return, your business—to be seen by more people. For this part, you may consider hiring a Singapore SEO company with the expertise to help you determine which keywords and topics would help in landing your page on the search results. Instead of trial and error, it’s much more efficient to consult with SEO experts to figure out the gaps in your niche that your content can target to fulfill.
Update Existing Content
You may think that the solution to content saturation is to just churn out tons of new content until something sticks. However, this approach is just wasteful for your business’s time, effort, and resources. Consider updating your existing content instead. This means going back to old published content and tweaking it to include new information, additional content, or add a new perspective.
Despite the familiar nature of your content, offering the promise of new information is more likely to draw the eyes of readers who are too fatigued to read other content about a completely new topic. Moreover, this can be a cost-effective way to extend the lifespan of your current content and even introduce it to a new audience, thus also extending its reach.\
Focus on Creating Evergreen Content
Together with updating old copies, make sure you’re creating evergreen content for your website as well. Evergreen content is a type of content that stays relevant, no matter how much time has passed. These usually cover educational topics such as tips for beginners, how-to guides, frequently asked questions, product reviews, and busting industry myths, to name a few. Make sure your website has evergreen content that will always stay fresh even if someone reads it years after it was posted. Moreover, you can periodically re-upload these posts at opportune moments to save time on having to make content from scratch.
Explore New Content Formats
Using different formats is also a great way to overcome content saturation. For instance, if there are already too many listicles in your niche about the top restaurants in the city, then why add another one? Instead, you may create a vlog where you actually visit the restaurants in the area and review their food. Even if the topic is essentially the same, your unique format can give your content an edge over others.
Other content formats you can try out are podcasts, infographics, ebooks, and webinars. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be producing articles anymore, however. Rather, try to intersperse them between other formats so that you don’t saturate your audience with just a single type of content.
In addition, you may try to convert old content into different formats to give them a fresh look. For example, not everyone may have the time to read a long ebook, so having its key takeaways listed in several shorter articles could be a format that resonates with an audience who just wants a quick read.
Get Your Audience to Participate
To get more eyes on your content despite the saturated market, consider tapping into your audience for their participation. This includes audience-submitted stories, feedback, or reviews that can go into your content. Not only is this a great way to generate new content, but it also makes your community feel more involved and invested knowing they’ve participated in creating it. Hence, they’re more likely to continue reading your content, allowing you to generate more buzz for your website.
With so much content being put out there on the internet each day, it’s inevitable that content saturation will happen. But that doesn’t have to spell the end for your business’s content marketing strategy. Use the tips above to improve existing content and plan new ones that can surely rise above the saturated playing field.