Hi there, and welcome to issue #20 of the Outranked SEO newsletter.
Can't believe we're 20 issues in already. Thank you to all of you who keep reading week in, week out. I really do appreciate it!
Anyway...
In this issue, I’m encouraging you to think about the internal data you have available within your business, how you can go and conduct proprietary research and why this is SO valuable right now.
You’ll learn:
- Why first-party data gives you a competitive advantage in SEO
- What sort of data to use and how to use it
- How to produce proprietary research in place of, or alongside, internal data
Let’s get into it.
In an era where anyone can create content about anything they know nothing about, you need a way to add value.
Generative AI can produce consensus content, but that's not enough to compete on the SERPs anymore.
Think about it.
Anyone can now create content on anything they know nothing about in seconds with ChatGPT.
That's both incredible and mindblowingly worrying at the same time.
Google's now trying to do the Googling for you with AI Overviews (let's remember that people who turn to ChatGPT or AI Mode to search are actively choosing to do so, whereas AI Overviews are being shown to those who are using traditional search), and can generate it's own consensus content.
The baseline for informational content, especially, has dropped to near zero.
You need a new way (or, ideally, a few ways) to gain a competitive advantage, and one of those is to leverage first-party data as part of your search strategy.
The value of internal data & proprietary research
First party data, whether that’s your own internal figures or proprietary research you’ve carried out (such as surveys and studies) gives you something nobody else has.
And that’s valuable. Very valuable, in fact.
Unique data lets you:
- Add information gain to your content. That’s value (or, in this case, data) that goes beyond what other pages have.
- Get cited in AI Overviews (as well as AI Mode, ChatGPT and other similar platforms), with data and stats being a key way to be included here.
- Earn more (and better) links and mentions. Journalists, for example, absolutely love to reference unique data.
So, what sort of internal data should you be using?
Let me give you some examples that should hopefully inspire you to see what you can find within your own business.
- A car insurance company holds data on the average cost of insuring a vehicle in each town or city across the UK, as well as the average cost to insure different models of car.
- An email marketing company holds data on the average open rate by sector.
- A job board holds data on the average salary for different roles, or the most in-demand skills by sector.
- A travel company holds data on the most booked destinations by month, or the average spend per trip type (city break vs. long haul).
- A food delivery service holds data on the most popular cuisines in different cities.
- A property platform holds data on average time properties stay on the market, or which areas are growing (or shrinking) fastest in price.
- A recruitment agency holds data on average time-to-hire by role seniority or industry.
Note how none of this is 'sensitive' company information. It's all about pulling trends from the data a company holds behind the scenes. It's getting creative with the data that's available and using it in smart ways.
What if you don't collect this sort of data?
Not every business is lucky enough to capture this sort of information.
At the end of the day, there needs to be some level of size and scale in the data to pull trends.
But even for those that can't access this sort of internal data, there's still ways to conduct proprietary research that can be used in the same way.
Typically, this is through surveys and studies.
These, alongside or in place of internal data, let you obtain data that no one else has. And that's the goal here.
You could...
- Run a survey of consumers via a platform like TLF Research, OnePoll or YouGov to generate opinions and insights on consumer or audience likes, dislikes or trends.
- Run a survey of your own customers or mailing list.
- Conduct your own analysis of public data from somewhere like ONS to generate insights from.
- Obtain data via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Just because you don't have access to internal data that could be used doesn't mean you can't level up your content in this way. You just need to look for different ways to get hold of data other people don't have.
And how can you use it?
Internal data and proprietary research has a multitude of uses, including:
- To add value to informational content
- To increase engagement on sales pages
- As part of digital PR and link acquisition campaigns
There's multiple ways you can use internal data and proprietary research to add value to your content and drive the outcomes I highlighted above.
Here's some great examples...
For Sopro's 'B2B Cost Per Lead Benchmarks,' we update the content annually based on data from the brand's own State of Prospecting report.
This is a data-driven resource published on the site's blog.
This piece of content gets heavily cited in AI Overviews, thanks to the unique data presented.
Compare the Market uses it's own data on the 'compare broadband deals' page to highlight how much customers can save... right at the top of the page.
This is smart for the simple reason that claims like that (especially backed by data) help do two things ... (1) keep people on the page, meaning better user signals and (2) make them more likely to convert or at least get a quote.
We're all guilty of thinking about data as a way to enhance blog content and PR campaigns, but using it right at the forefront of 'sales' pages makes so much sense and something we should all be doing more of.
It answers that "why should I get a quote from Compare the Market?" The reason is you could save over £200. That's big.
Our UK Pothole Report for Blackcircles saw us issue FOI Requests for data around the pothole problem in the UK and paired this with a consumer survey.
This campaign even got talked about in Parliament as a result of sharing data that highlights the scale of the problem.
And as one last example, I'm back to our first in some ways.
Our 'lead generation statistics' content for Sopro rounds up 50+ stats and trends for the sector, with the majority of these being the brand's own data.
This is an effective link acquisition tactic, with content like this earning links on autopilot as journalists and content creators search things like "lead generation statistics" to look for sources for their own content on the topic.
But there's one challenge; if all you're doing is rounding up other people's stats, you're not really adding much value beyond what's already out there.
The solution?
Mix in first-party data, too.
This content has, to date, earned links from 146 referring domains this year, including from sites like Hubspot, GetResponse and Make.com; talk about relevance.
The takeaway…
AI has made generic content cheap, but unique data still wins.
Whether it comes from your own business, surveys, or research; first-party insights set you apart, create information gain earn links, and make you the result that deserves to rank.
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If you learned something from this issue or it’s made you think about SEO a little differently, please consider forwarding it to someone else on your team.
I’m on a mission to make sure more SEO investment actually has an impact on real business metrics.
Appreciate you making it to the end; same time next week?
- James Brockbank
P.S. If you ever need expert support with SEO or digital PR and want to drive results that actually matter, I’d love to chat. Let’s talk.
The annual Search n Stuff conference is happening between the 9th and 12th October at the Baia Lara Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. My friend, Yagmur, is running this amazing event in just a few weeks time; if you've not yet checked it out, I encourage you to do so whilst there's still a few tickets left.
After an incredible first edition, Search ‘n Stuff Antalya is back; bigger, bolder, and packed with even more insights, connections, and experiences!
This is not just another conference; it’s a movement uniting the global digital marketing and search community in a stunning 5-star, all-inclusive setting.
From SEO, content, CRO, and analytics to AI-driven marketing, eCommerce growth, and paid search, we cover it all with world-class speakers, actionable workshops, and unmissable networking opportunities.
Learn more here.
✍️ From the Loft...
Fresh from our side of the web; here’s a few things me and other Lofties put out into the world this week.
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📌 This week’s bookmarks:
If I could only send three links to a fellow marketer this week, it’d be these…
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👋 Hi, I'm James...
Managing Director & Founder at Digitaloft.
I've spent the last 10 years building an agency that's perfectly positioned to help ambitious brands to drive real business growth from SEO and digital PR.
You might have seen me speaking at events like BrightonSEO, SMX and the International Search Summit.
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