What Is Skyscraper Content, And How Can You Use It?

Table of Contents

• What is Skyscraper Content?
• How to Use the Skyscraper Technique to Build Links?
• 5 Examples of Skyscraper Content 
• Key Takeaways
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Did you know that 71% percent of marketers want to increase website traffic, while 75% want to improve the quality of leads they create? 

As a result, despite the massive volume of information, we produce now, we continue to demand more from our efforts. This is one of the reasons why most companies produce long-form content, popularly known as skyscraper content.

If you’ve been planning to switch to skyscraper content marketing strategies, it is important you understand what it really means and how it can be used. Without any further delays, let’s explore what is skyscraper content first.

What Is Skyscraper Content?

Skyscrapers are known to be long-form pieces that range between 1,200 and beyond. When building skyscraper content, you follow all the conditions that assist you with webpages and the SEO blog writing process. A skyscraper focuses on a relevant search keyword or hot subject, providing in-depth material that drives traffic, shares, and backlinks.

You can build engaging and in-depth content pieces such as: 

• Blogs
• Whitepapers 
• eBooks 
• Help articles 

The list can go on. Since skyscraper content helps you curate multiple forms of content, you get to meet your target audience’s needs efficiently.

How to Use the Skyscraper Technique to Build Links

Are you finding it harder to hold your target audience’s attention? Can’t seem to live up to the expectations? The competition in today’s marketing environment is fierce.

If you don’t market your material, it won’t get very far, no matter how unique or valuable. When it comes to skyscraper content marketing, content marketers and bloggers have realized that link-building might help them reach a larger audience.

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The fact is, however, that obtaining links takes effort, let alone getting high-quality links from credible sites. As a result, SEO and skyscraper content marketing specialists have constantly looked for methods to make this process easier. The skyscraper content technique, which we’ll talk about in this piece, is one of them.

1. Look for content that you would like to skyscrape

At this point, you should start looking for material that is relevant to your topic and has a lot of backlinks. There are several tools available to assist you with this process.

You may locate information in various ways, including searching by term, subject, or reputable source. Here’s how to do it:

Using the keyword 

You may use a keyword explorer search tool to find information based on keywords. Enter a broad keyword (for example, prospecting) to see the article ranks higher than other pages in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) summary.

A KD (Keyword Difficulty) filter of 40 is advised, as sites for keywords with a high KD generally have a lot of backlinks.

Topic by topic 

To locate information by subject, use a content explorer search tool to type in a broad topic of interest (for example, sales prospecting) and arrange the results by referring to websites. Skip site links and individual product pages in favor of a high-ranking page.

But what if I’m still undecided about the subject?

That is an excellent question. You may still use the site explorer search function if you don’t know what topic to cover but have an authoritative website in mind.

According to the authoritative site 

To discover content from a reliable website, use the site explorer search function and type in the required URL. The only option left is to put in the relevant topic and look for the article. Using the Best by Links report, you may acquire a list of top-ranking pages.

2. Improve the original content significantly

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Okay, you’ve figured out how to get to the summit. It’s now up to you to outperform the original. Here are a few pointers to help you win the game:

It should be lengthier

Don’t pass up the opportunity to add anything to the existing post. Extend the present content to provide additional value to the audience by adding more information, listing more things if possible, etc. The data must be reasonable and pertinent.

Make it more specific

Consider how you can provide more detail and make the skyscraper content more engaging. You’ll need to do additional study to convince folks that you’re informed and willing to share that information in your post.

To build an engaging content piece for your target audience, you can:

• Incorporate statistical data.
• Explain any unfamiliar words.
• Include examples or use cases.
  

Make it more realistic

The world is evolving at a breakneck pace. Without a doubt, your industry as well. Even though the original post was written two months ago, you can always add something fresh to it.

You may give antique items a new lease on life by presenting them with modern perspectives. People are enthralled by the newness of the updates, trends, and inventions.

Make it more vibrant

Embrace the task. In this era of imagery, design reigns supreme. The most difficult task for 23.7 percent of skyscraper content marketers is creating visual content. Adding infographics or current photos to the original piece might produce more links than poor or no visuals.

3. Find high-quality leads

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Now that you are done improving content, it is time to capture and identify qualified leads that result in conversions. The skyscraper content technique’s primary goal is to locate individuals who have already shown interest in similar material. This suggests that the best prospects for you are one of the following

• Those who occupy your niche
• Those who are interested in your subject
• Those who’ve previously linked to a similar article

Finding possible placements, structuring the filtered and listed data in the spreadsheet, and locating the prospect’s contact details are all part of the process.

Let’s have a look at an example of how this procedure may work. 

• Using SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Majestic, and others, you may uncover backlinks to the original item, other top-ranking sites, or old material.
• The list of backlinks is exported as a CSV file.
• You go through everything carefully to ensure there are no article portals or discussion links (you want quality connections, right?).
• To locate your customers’ email addresses, you can use the email lookup tool.

4 Examples of Skyscraper Content You Can Learn From

1. Over three years, AuthorityHacker accumulated 4,306 backlinks

According to AuthorityHacker, one of the major marketing education businesses, the skyscraper technique is the most popular cold outreach approach. It’s hardly unexpected, given that the shotgun skyscraper approach is used in 92% of their connections. This volume strategy entails sending many automated, semi-personalized emails to obtain as many links as feasible.

2. Backlinko boosted organic traffic by 652% in just seven days

Brian Dean, the creator of the Backlinko SEO site and the one who deserves credit for proposing the Skyscraper Technique, continues to astonish the business world with the impressive results he’s accomplished with it.

When Brian Dean understood that the Skyscraper Technique wouldn’t function until he discovered and fulfilled user intent, i.e., the primary aim of a user’s Google search, that was the turning point. Skyscraper Technique 2.0 was the name he gave to this iteration.

3. Ryan Robinson generated almost $700,000 with a single post

To outdo a Fast Company piece on a freelancing actual wage calculator, Ryan Robinson, a well-known blogger, decided to apply the Skyscraper Technique to marketing. He wrote an e-book and incorporated high-quality graphics describing the stages of starting a freelancing job.

Robinson used BuzzSumo to find other companies and blogs posting and distributing material around “freelance hourly rates.” He contacted them and asked if they would be interested in republishing the infographic with the updated material.

As a result, Ryan’s piece has been shared over 8,200 times and may outsmart the Quick Company article for the crucial search term “freelance hourly wage.”

It received over 72,000 page views and 3,648 different email subscribers, not to mention several important backlinks and re-published copies of the graphic, which is still being utilized in freelancing work all over the internet.

4. Report on B2B content marketing benchmarks

Every year, the B2B Content Marketing 2020: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America report is unveiled by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute. For marketers, referencing this report is an industry norm. Just think of the backlinks.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, skyscraper content is strong, just like any great idea that works, but it’s also often misunderstood. That’s a pity since, when used correctly, it can be a content development process that benefits both readers and businesses.

Key Takeaways

• The goal of SEO skyscraper construction is to be larger, better, newer, more engaging, and more relevant than the other websites on your topic.
• Skyscrapers are seen as long-form content pieces that range from 1,500 words and beyond. This content marketing strategy helps you generate backlinks and identify better opportunities for conversions. 
• It is important to identify content that can become a part of this skyscraper content marketing strategy. 
• You should also analyze your existing content and identify skyscraper content marketing opportunities. All you have to do is understand which sections can be improved with graphics, studies, and more content.
• As you update your content, your next step is to track its performance using the right tools and recognize backlinks that bring more business.

FAQs