What does it mean to be unique? Being unique is simply being original. If there is one thing I have avoided so much in my years of being a writer, it is duplicate content. From my experience, I will tell you that it really pays to create unique content.
Due to increasing competition in content creation, a lot of content creators are fighting to be at the top, and writing a duplicated or plagiarised article is the best way to take yourself out of the equation. When I started my content writing, I lost lots of gigs because I was trying to manoeuvre the hard way but hey, listen, sometimes the hard way is actually the best. Create something unique of your own and get it done for once.
So, how do you create unique content? In this article, I will give you a guideline on how to create unique content, tools for creating unique content, how to measure the success of your unique content and common mistakes people make while creating their content.
What is Unique Content?
Unique content is content that has to be original and different from other articles online. Creating unique content doesn’t mean writing or making a video on a topic that someone hasn’t written before. Creating this kind of content is extremely important because it can enhance search engine optimization ( SEO).
Unique content refers to original and distinct material, whether written, visual, or multimedia, that hasn’t been copied or republished. It is content that the SEO hasn’t indexed anywhere else. Creating unique content is not just about avoiding plagiarized content but also creating something that has meaning and adds value to your readers. It doesn’t only benefit SEO efforts; it also plays a crucial role in brand building and establishing long-term connections with your audience.
Key Points
- Unique content, distinct from duplicated or plagiarised content, significantly enhances search engine optimization (SEO) and contributes to brand building and long-term audience connections.
- Plagiarized content, which involves copying others’ work without permission, can severely damage a site’s credibility and result in penalties from search engines, negatively affecting visibility and rankings.
- Effective unique content creation involves understanding your audience, conducting thorough keyword research, and consistently updating and promoting your content to maintain relevance and engagement.
Unique Content vs Duplicate Content vs Plagiarized Content
In the world of bloggers, it is essential that you are aware of the different characteristics and implications of unique content and plagiarised content.
Unique Content
Unique content is content that isn’t found anywhere else. It includes specific information, like locations and combinations of words that haven’t been repeated anywhere else. You can decide to add uniqueness to your blog or site by adding personal information or personal experience.
Characteristics
- Made for a specific audience, ensuring it adds value for them
- It hasn’t been republished from other sites
- Offers a fresh viewpoint or analysis
Benefits
- Attracts and maintains loyal customers
- Reduces the risk of incurring search engine penalties
- Increase engagement on social media
- Boosts SEO by enhancing website credibility and authority
Duplicated Content
It’s content that appears in various places on the internet in various places per single URL. So if a text appears more than once on your site, you have a duplicated article. That way, search engine bits struggle to understand which one is more relevant for specific queries.
Characteristics
- Content copied from one site and republished on another without significant changes
- Repetition of content across various Web pages
Implications
- Duplicated content can lead to dilution of link equity if multiple versions of the content receive backlinks.
- Search engines might struggle to decide which version of the content to index, which could hurt the visibility of all versions.
- It can result in a poor user experience as users might encounter the same content on multiple URLs.
Plagiarised Content
Plagiarized content is just the opposite of unique content. It means copying other people’s content word for word. Some companies also prefer using plagiarised content, thinking they can outsmart the algorithm. But this effort is in vain because it always ends in failure, as Google always penalizes any site or blog that violates its core policy by stealing other people’s work.
Characteristics
- It is often done without the original creator’s knowledge or permission
- Direct copying of content without attribution
- It’s reusing content with minimal changes, such as paraphrasing the content.
Implications
- Plagiarized content damages the credibility and trust of the plagiarized blog or site.
- It is painful to the original content creator as their work is being used without references or credit
- It is highly unprofessional and leads to several consequences, like Google deranking the article
- Google can also penalise the site or blog by making the article virtually invisible in search results.
Unique Content and Search Engine Optimization
There are a lot of things that actually make unique content so important to our blogs or sites. The first thing is that it provides something valuable and attractive to your customers. Unique content is the most important element of search engine optimisation. It helps in increasing the rank of your blogs or sites on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. You don’t expect to use plagiarised contents to top the articles of other blogs that were written with originality.
As a reader, you will always want to read something different from what you have read somewhere else. It gives you this refreshing feeling that the site or blogs you are reading from are giving you original content that is authentic. Writing unique content can easily turn your readers into loyal customers; that is, they will always search for your blog when they want to read about something.
One thing Google doesn’t tolerate or leave unpunished is plagiarised and duplicated content. They may make the content either appear at the bottom of the page or in search engine results or make it invisible to readers, meaning search engines won’t even index the page at all. Plagiarizing content is so bad that even if you meet all other SEO features, you will still be penalised. I don’t think, as a content creator, you want any of your content to be unavailable in the search engines.
Read Also: Tips for Creating Truly Unique Content That Stands Out
The more unique and original your contents are, the more visitors that come to your site and stay longer. They are also more likely to interact with you when you post materials that benefit and educate them. This is the most effective way to increase traffic to your site.
When people come across original and unique content, they are more likely to share it with their networks. This sharing of your sites, in turn, increases your brand’s visibility. It sparks interest, encourages user engagement, and cultivates a loyal following.
Invest in creating unique content that adds value and emotions and watch as your traffic increases because of originality. Search engines will always penalise duplicated or plagiarised content. So the best thing to do for your site or brand is to avoid plagiarising other people’s content.
Steps on How to Create Unique Content
Creating unique content is not only nice to have; it is also crucial for your articles to be ranked by search engines. The only way your content will thrive in today’s environment is if it has a different value and meaning. The steps include the following:
#1. Create a Persona for Content Marketing Strategy
You can’t develop a unique content marketing strategy without creating a persona. You should be able to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and actually observe and understand their needs, problems, and challenges.
Before identifying their issues, it is best that you first create the general profile of your audience. You can do this by grouping them based on demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, income, etc.), behaviours, their values and goals, their various challenges, and their source of information.
Then go ahead to conduct market research and see what is trending on Google and what your competitors are talking about. Please do not forget to run an internal survey. Once you have a clear picture of your persona, you can go ahead and define the other aspects of your unique content marketing strategy, such as the tone of your voice or your reader guide.
#2. Keyword Research
This is the fundamental step for understanding your customers and blog idea generation, making it an integral part of content production. You will need keyword research tools like Senrush and Ahrefs, which will be explained later in this article. The role of this keyword research is to make your content more visible, relevant, and value-driven. You need keywords for your page to be relevant and seen by people typing in so they can find your unique content among the results.
Your keywords should be distributed strategically throughout the log to help search engine bots. Make sure to include keywords in:
- Context text
- Headings
- ALT text
- Meta description
- Meta title
- Links and anchor text
#3. Ideation
Ideation is just brainstorming your ideas. You can use the hub and spoke strategy to develop article ideas and understand a single subject from a 360° perspective. These two tools focus on a comprehensive pillar page that discusses several related topics. After providing some information about the subject, you transfer readers to your other article to explore the issue in depth. It is organized brainstorming that keeps your readers engaged with several articles once they enter your site or blog.
#4. Set up Content Calendar
One thing this content calendar has helped me with is consistency. At least something that will constantly remind me that I have something to do. Once you create the list of upcoming articles, you should find the best way to plan, produce and measure your unique content. This content calendar is just a simple method to coordinate all the actions and divide your workload into clear, manageable pieces.
Some tips for setting up a calendar include:
- Set your goals
- Choose the platform
- Define your content writing style guide
- List preferable content types
- Create a list of upcoming blogs
- Set clear goals and deadlines for each article
Here is a FREE downloadable content calendar template for you because your convenience is my priority!
Unique Content.Pdf
#5. Create Brief
A brief is something like a receipt that includes instructions and directions on how to make the final product successful. It includes a set of requirements and recommendations. A good brief is supposed to provide a written record of content expectations.
Without a brief, your content will lack structure and goals. When creating a brief, it is better to go slightly above than below, giving less information than is required. A brief varies depending on the project at hand but there are general practices that you should follow when creating a brief. You should consider the following when creating a brief:
- Questions the content should answer
- the goal of the content
- Background research
- FAQ’s the content is meant to answer
- Outline of the content and sections
- Deadlines and milestones
- How the writer should match search intent
- Requirements needed for external and internal links
#6. Start Writing Unique Content
The most important step here is to start writing. When I started at first, I was always hanging up on what to write and how I’m supposed to write about it. However, I learned that the best way to deal with it is to start writing. It might not make sense at first but just write and put two words together on paper. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan your content. Planning is essential for creating high-quality content. But do not spend much time worrying about the minor details. Just start writing and worry about the finer details later.
#7. Edit Your Draft and Unique Content
Now it is time to edit those words you have put together. Arrange them in such a way that they will answer the questions your readers have been asking. Keep in mind that this is not the last step in editing. It is very normal to find errors in your writing in this step and I must say, sometimes it can be very discouraging but do not allow it to stop you from achieving your goals. Fix as much as you can as you are going through it. You can edit the complex ones later.
#8. Promote the Content
By now, you should know that creating content is important but what about promoting the content? If you don’t promote your content, it won’t sell. Coming up with a strategy to promote your blogs, articles, and whitepapers is as crucial as writing the content. Companies that started producing content in the early days had a much more comfortable environment. All they needed to do was publish blogs, as there were fewer competitors struggling for the search rankings. But these days, content promotions have become an inseparable part of off-page SEO and every business tries to create as much noise as possible in the content world.
Common Mistakes People Make When Making Unique Contents
In this section, I will explain a few of the common mistakes people make while creating their unique content. The mistakes include:
#1. Creating Duplicate Content
This can happen with a site or across a domain and it is one of the most common mistakes. This can be resolved often by using canonical tags or 301 redirects.
However, if identical texts exist on multiple websites, it can be challenging to control and may result in a poor user experience. Another issue here is duplication under plagiarism, that is when content is duplicated by another person. It can range from discussion forum postings to items listed for sale in an online store. When Google detects your content as a duplicated copy, it automatically de-ranks it or makes it unavailable for readers.
#2. Not Using Keywords Strategically
Yes, keywords are the foundation and basis of your content but that doesn’t mean it should be overused. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not using keywords strategically. Keyword research requires knowledge, but after a while, you will understand the space, keywords and audience.
Another mistake people make is creating content first before doing keyword research. This value-rich piece may have great information but won’t perform well if users can’t find it using a search engine. One thing with keyword search is that determining the keyword is very hard. There are a lot of factors to consider, such as competition level, relevance, and SERP features like images or videos that may steal traffic from your sites.
#3. Not Creating Enough Content
When it comes to creating unique content, frequency matters. It doesn’t end with creating a great topic that attracts people to your site and then relaxing. One piece of content is not enough; there should be something to keep bringing them back. 2-4 times per week provides the best results in traffic and conversions. The purpose of the frequent posting is to keep them busy whenever they come to your site. I know you want to celebrate one win by taking a break, What if you can utilize that opportunity to get another win? Think of it this way before you decide to relax.
#4. Not Determining the Goal of Each Blog
Ignoring the content marketing funnel that visualises the customer’s journey from the first interaction to purchase is not a good idea. The four stages of the content marketing funnel consist of awareness, evaluation, purchase, and delight. Each blog you craft should focus on that stage.
In the first stage, which is awareness, you should keep in mind that the customers are unaware of your product or topic. So try creating something that will be more oriented toward educating them. When writing, use very simple words that are easy to understand for beginners. The whole point of this is to write with a goal in mind. What do you want to achieve with this content? Is it to educate your readers? To hand over more information to them? Is it to solve their problems? As you are creating your content, bend towards the goals of your blog, not just creating any content without adding an advantage to the customers.
#5. Not Updating Old Content
Yes, you have created content about this topic. Do you plan on just leaving them like that for years? One thing people forget so easily is that the information in this content can change at any time. Your blog was ranked and people interacted with it. But as the years passed, you didn’t add anything new to it. Don’t you think your content will be outranked by competitors and your customers will move? Leaving your content un-updated is not a wise decision to make when creating unique content. Rather than uploading a new page, it is better to update existing content.
Tools for Exploring Unique Content Ideas
There are several tools that can help creators identify trends, understand audience needs, and derive inspiration. Some of these tools include:
#1. Google Trends
It is a free online tool provided by Google that displays how often specific research terms are related to the site’s total search volume over a given period.
Benefits
- Trend analysis
- Regional breakdown
- Related queries
- Compare terms
- Real-time data
Application for content creation
- Content relevance
- Niche exploration
- Understanding your audience
#2. SemRush
The SemRush keyword research tool offers an all-in-one content marketing solution. With this keyword research tool, you can identify trends, list valuable keywords for your campaign and understand how your competitors use keywords. You can also use the free feature of SemRush but it will limit you to only 10 searches per day.
#3. Ahrefs
This tool helps you research multiple terms and receive reports based on specific phrases. The tool provides you with a huge amount of data solely based on keywords and guides you to understand the following criteria geographically:
- Search volume
- Search Traffic
- Keyword difficulty
#4. Editorial Tool
To assist writers in producing high-quality content, several editorial tools have emerged. Two of the most notable editorial tools include the following:
- Grammarly
Grammarly is an AI tool that helps users correct grammatical errors, enhance clarity, and refine the overall tone of their content. Features of this tool include a spelling and grammar check, a tone detector, clarity suggestions, a plagiarism detector, and a personal dictionary. With Grammarly, you can enhance accuracy, produce more clear content and also reduce worries about unintentional plagiarism.
- Hemingway Editor
It is an online and offline tool designed to improve the readability of content. It highlights complex sentences, adverb overuse, passive voice, and other common pitfalls. Hemingway editors encourage clear, bold writing by identifying areas for potential improvement. It also provides instant insights into the strength and clarity of content. With the readability grades, writers can ensure their contents align with their intended audience’s comprehensive level.
#5. Tools for Visual Content
Here are some of the leading tools that facilitate the creation of eye-catching visual content.
- Canva
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design platform that allows users to create a wide range of visuals, from social media graphics to presentations, without needing advanced design skills. Its versatility is suitable for both beginners and design-savvy users. Many of your features are available in the free version, with premium options available for advanced users.
Its features include:
- Templates
- Library
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Giphy
It is a platform and search engine for discovering and sharing animated GIFs. GIFs can make content more relatable and engaging, especially on social media. Its features include:
- GIF maker
- Sticker maker
- Library
- Ceros
It is a platform designed for creating interactive and immersive digital content like infographics, e-magazines, and more. It produces high-end visuals and infographics with ease and also adds interactive elements to increase the engagement of your content with readers. It’s features include:
- Templates
- Interactivity
- Collaboration
How to Measure the Success of Your Unique Content and SEO Efforts
By tracking metrics, content creators and marketers can gauge the effectiveness of their strategies and make necessary adjustments. Here are some of the crucial metrics to consider:
#1. Website Traffic
This is just the number of visitors that come to your website over a specific period of time. It reflects the overall visibility of your website in search results. It also indicates the success of your promotional efforts and content reach. It can be measured using both Google Analytics and similar platforms. It is advised to monitor both the unique visitors and the returning visitors to gauge audience loyalty.
#2. Time on Page
This is the average amount of time a visitor spends viewing a specific website page. The longer they stay, the better the quality and relevance of your content to the audience. To improve time on page, ensure that your content is well structured, engaging, and offers value to the reader. You can incorporate videos and pictures to make the video more interactive. It can be measured using Google Analytics.
#3. Bounce Rate
The bounce rate is the percentage of people who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate might indicate that visitors didn’t find what they were looking for or that the web pages weren’t user-friendly. To reduce bounce rates, ensure that your web pages load quickly, are mobile-optimized, and have clear calls to action. Also, provide relevant internal links to keep users engaged and navigate through more of your content.
How Can I Get Unique SEO Content Ideas?
You can use Web resources to develop new, unique content SEO ideas. Web resources such as
- Wikipedia
- Quora
- Keyword research tools
- Youtube
- Online course table of contents
- Google image tags
- Amazon
Does Google Punish Duplicate Copy?
Duplicated content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the duplicate content intends to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site is suffering from duplicate content issues, Google does a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results.
What Type of Content Is Good for Social Media?
The types of content good for social media include the following:
- GIFs
- Meme
- Polls and questions
- Live streams
- Influencer collaborations
- Infographics and charts
- Webinars and events
- Contests and giveaways
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding and acting upon the metrics listed in this article can provide valuable insight into the success of your unique content and SEO strategies. Continuous monitoring and adjustments based on these data points will lead to improved audience engagement and better search engine rankings. Staying true to these principles while keeping your finger on the pulse of changing trends ensures that your content efforts yield the desired outcome. You need to give your audience the kind of content they’d like to see.
If you want to improve your content engagement, create content that resonates with your audience.
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