You’ve got a great content strategy to drive traffic and engagement. So do your competitors. It’s undeniable that you have to make sure you’re going above and beyond if you want people to choose you over other sites in search results. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Millions of pieces of content get published daily, and half of that is lost in the ether, never to be seen or read.

So, I’m here in today’s Content and Coffee to give you three things you can do RIGHT NOW, literally as soon as this video is over, to start improving your content game. If you’re already ranking higher than your competitors, congratulations! Let’s give you some breathing room. If not, these tips can help you close the gap and move up in the ranks.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Number one: Key in to their keywords: It’s not enough to nail down your own keyword strategy. You need to know how it stacks up against your biggest competitors. If they’re ranking at the top of page one for your biggest keyword and you’re toward the bottom, or on page two, that’s a problem worth fixing.

Hop onto SearchMetrics and Google Keyword Planner and start crunching some numbers. Find out what keywords your competitors rank highest for and compare how you rank for the same words and phrases.

Number two: Do a little recon: Find out what others are doing in your space. More specifically, take note of what works for them and what doesn’t. If your competitors tend to stick in a certain realm of topics or styles, branch out and try something new. Offering something readers can’t get elsewhere guarantees an edge.

If everyone is posting graphics, but you don’t see a lot of video blogs (like this one!), maybe it’s time to get in front of a camera.

Number three: Go back in time: Most blogs use the set-it-and-forget-it strategy of writing about a topic once and then checking it off the list. But digging up an old post – particularly one that did well – dusting it off and rebuilding it for today, whether it’s six months or two years old, can breathe new life into your content strategy.

Newer posts will get more attention from search engines and stand out in results where older content can get lost in the shuffle.

The article below this video has more advice on putting these ideas to work, so check it out if you need some more inspiration. And as always, join us next week for more Content and Coffee.