Are you struggling to break into the first page of search engine results? It’s a cutthroat competition out there, and to secure a place among the top ranks, you’ve got to steal one of their spots.

The key? Publishing content that not only matches but surpasses the quality of what’s already out there.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. We all wish we could write better. In fact, we all think we’re writing better content than the top 10. Yet… our page ranking at the bottom of Google results says otherwise.

So in this article, we’ll be sharing with you practical and effective tips on how to produce content that can surpass the top-ranking pages using SurgeGraph.

When Do You Need This Most?

Not sure whether you do or do not need this strategy?

Here are 3 situations that are tell-tale signs that you need to deploy the tips outlined in this article.

1. When you have underperforming content

We all have those old, stale content that aren’t performing well (read: buried in Google’s search results and not bringing in traffic). But don’t give up on these content just yet. Give them a refresh through the tips in this article, and give it some time to bear results.

2. When your niche is highly competitive

Not all of us are blessed with a fresh niche that is not covered well and filled with tight competition. If your chosen niche is saturated with authoritative, high-DR websites, you need to ensure you have a competitive edge over all those giant websites to ensure you stand a chance to rank and get traffic.

3. When you’re looking to publish content that’s not new

The truth is, most of us write content similar to what’s already out there. We publish these content and put our utmost faith that Google will somehow “notice” them and “want” to rank them high. Most of the time, this blind faith fails, and our content sinks to the bottom of search results. So when you’re looking to ambitiously publish content that’s already widely covered, make use of the tips in this article to equip it with some superpowers so it can rank.

What You Need To Know Before We Start…

There’s something important you need to be aware of before diving into the strategies shared in this article.

In case you haven’t heard of it, there exists a technique called “Article Spinning”, which is essentially taking an existing article out there, rewriting it, and then publishing it as is without any original input.

This is basically content duplication, and is considered a black hat SEO technique. Hence, doing this can lead to terrible consequences for your website, like getting penalties from Google and ruining your chances of ranking or getting traffic.

This guide is NOT meant to help you with doing article spinning; the strategies shared in this article aren’t to help you merely copy and paraphrase a competitor article.

👉 It’s to produce content that is substantially better than the top ranking pages so that can you take their spots in the top 10.

Make sure to keep this in mind while reading this article and applying the strategies to your workflow, and you’re all set!

Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty.

How to Write Content That Outperforms the Top 10

To write content better than the top 10, there are 2 different approaches you can take.

The first method involves using a custom outline based on a competitor’s article. This method might take slightly longer, and has more steps to it, but we recommend this over the second method.

The second method involves importing an existing article (it can be your own article or a competitor’s) and then improving it. This skips the outline process, so it is overall faster and requires fewer steps than the first method.

However, if you’re not careful with this method, you might end up with content that is too similar to the article you first started with, which beats the whole purpose. If you choose to go this route, make sure to practice extra caution.

Next, let’s go over each method.

Method 1: Import Custom Outline Inspired From Top Ranking Pages

As mentioned before, this method involves generating content that is based on a competitor’s outline.

To do that, follow the steps below:

1. Get The Competitor Outline

To get an outline from a competitor article, you don’t have to do it manually. You can streamline this process by using the SERP analyzer in SurgeGraph’s Keyword Research Tool.

First, open the Keyword Research Tool, and enter your target keyword.

Then on the right side, under SERP analyzer, you will see a list of the top-ranking pages.

Choose one that you like, and click on it.

You will then see the content brief of the page, which are the headings (H2s and H3s). Keep this tab open.

In another tab, open the Content Writer, enter your target keyword, and then click on the Document once it’s done loading.

You will be brought to the Generate Outline stage, where you will see a “Custom Outline” toggle.

Toggle this, and copy-paste the respective headings from the content brief into this field.

To change a heading to a H3 or H4, hit the space key on your keyboard.

If you don’t like any of the top 10 ranking pages and want to use a different page that is not listed instead, you can use any free heading tag extractor tool available online.

You would only need to insert the URL, and then the tool will extract the headings (H2, H3, H4, etc.) for you. Then copy-paste those headings into the custom outline input field.

Note: While it’s fine to cover the same exact topics covered by another page, remember that the aim here is to produce content better than the top-ranking pages.

So if you choose to cover the same set of topics, you want to focus on adding more depth by expanding on the topics. You can do this by covering them in greater detail or covering the topic from a different angle.

Another way is by adding topics not covered by following the next method.

2. Fill Up the Topic Coverage Meter Using the Top Topics Suggestions

After generating your outline, you’ll go to the Edit Outline stage.

First, you want to gauge how comprehensive your topic coverage is by using the Topic Coverage Meter.

If the score is low, you can add topics not covered by the outline through the Topics tab.

Of course, the higher the score, the better, but you don’t have to aim for a perfect 100. Aiming for an excellent range is fine.

Clicking the plus icon next to a topic will add it as a H2 heading at the bottom of your outline. You can then rearrange the order by dragging the heading to where you want it to be (Pro tip: collapse the heading so it’s easier to drag and drop).

And then, to fill in the details, simply click on the “Autofill heading” button on the right panel.

Be careful not to add topics that are similar or already covered by the content, though. Make sure to run through the headings to make sure there are no duplicate topics.

3. Inject Unique Perspectives & Insights Using Context Infuser

Next, you want to infuse unique perspectives and insights to add value to your content and make it stand out.

To do this, run through the headings and figure out which topic could use your expertise or more depth. Then click on the orange mortarboard icon, and you’ll see the Context Infuser input field.

Here, you can input any information and knowledge that the AI does not know about or cover, like current events, brand knowledge, technical information, or most importantly – your own expert insights.

Context Infuser accepts input in the form of text or URL.

4. Incorporate SERP Facts

Next, you want to supplement the outline with fresh data, statistics, case studies, or examples to enrich the article’s value.

Simply utilize the SERP facts feature located on the right panel. The facts are retrieved from the top-ranking pages, so including them in your content boosts your credibility and information depth.

5. Add Final Touches

Once you’re done customizing the outline, generate the content and review the output. It probably won’t be perfect, so you want to add the final touches to make sure it’s ready to dominate the search rankings.

Below are some things you can do:

1. Optimize for SEO

You don’t want all your effort in crafting the perfect content to go to waste by not giving it the best chance of ranking on the SERP.

Hence, make sure to use SEO features like the SEO score, Auto Optimizer, SEO Suggestions Checklist, Custom Terms and Links Optimization, and Meta Description generator to optimize your content for SEO.

2. Add images using Content Vision

Images are a crucial part of articles, but sourcing for images can take up a lot of time and effort.

Hence, use the in-app AI image generator, Content Vision, to generate AI images using simple text prompts.

3. Tweak specific parts using Expert Command

If you see any text that doesn’t look quite right or could use some tweaking, you can easily improve it using Expert Command.

Simply highlight the unsatisfactory text, hit Expert Command, insert some custom instructions, and allow Expert Command to transform the text.

Method 2: Import & Optimize Existing Content

Remember my earlier warning against treading the line of content spinning? Well, this method edges close to that line, so if you decide to use this strategy, make sure to proceed with caution.

Of course, to help you along, I’ll be sharing helpful tips to ensure you end up with unique content that’s not just a paraphrased version of an existing article.

On the other hand, this method can also be applied to your own existing article that you wish to update to boost its ranking performance. In this case, you should be 100% fine.

Follow the next steps for the specifics of this method.

1. Import Content

First, in the Content Writer dashboard, go to the Optimize Existing Content tab.

Next, enter the URL of the content you wish to import, along with the target keyword you aim to rank for.

Once the document is done loading, click on it, and you’ll be brought straight to the Writing stage, where the whole article should be imported.

2. Boost the Topic Coverage Meter By Adding More Topics

Next, gauge how comprehensive the topic coverage is.

If the score is low, add topics not covered by the content through the Topics tab.

Naturally, a higher score is desirable, but perfection isn’t necessary. Aiming for an excellent score range is sufficient.

Clicking the plus icon next to a topic will add it as a H2 heading wherever your cursor is.

Make sure to avoid adding topics that are similar to those already covered. Review the headings thoroughly to ensure there are no duplicates.

Before you worry, no, you don’t have to write a new paragraph for the heading you added from scratch.

In a new line under the new heading you just added, activate the Expert Command function, and simply use this custom instruction: “Write a section about [insert the added heading here]”

Then simply sit back while Expert Command works its magic and writes a few paragraphs for the heading section for you. If you like it, click insert and done.

3. Rewrite Each Section

The next step is making sure your content is different from the original content by rewriting the text.

To do this, you simply need to highlight a specific paragraph, and then use the Rewrite, Simplify, Expand, or Expert Command functions.

The Expert Command allows you to tweak or add new text using custom instructions.

Before rewriting any section, make sure to adjust your desired tone, creativity, and readability levels on the right panel.

4. Supplement Content With Additional Information

Remember, the goal is to create content that surpasses the top 10, rather than merely paraphrasing their content. To achieve this, it’s crucial to add substantial value and depth to your writing.

You can do this by using SERP Facts to add facts, data, and statistics from the top 10 pages.

You can also use Expert Command to inject the article with your own insights, perspectives, or experiences to differentiate it from the original.

5. Check For Originality

Finally, ensure that your rewritten content is substantially different from the original.

If there were images in the previous content, make sure to remove them and replace them with your own. To speed up the process, you can use the in-app AI image generator, Content Vision.

Once you’re happy with the article, export, publish, and sit back while it bulldozes its way into the top rankings.

Write Content That Outranks The Top 10 Now

If you read this post in its entirety, you’re more than ready to topple the high-ranking giants on the SERP and dominate search rankings.

Write content that’s 10x better than the top 10 pages now with SurgeGraph: https://surgegraph.io

FAQs

1. How do I ensure my content is not flagged as duplicate or plagiarised?

The main idea is to cover topics that the top-ranking pages are covering but in a better way. Provide more depth to your content by adding new information and supplementing it with your own expert insights and opinions. Then, make sure it’s SEO optimized to ensure it can rank well.

2. I have more questions.

Talk to customer support at help@surgegraph.io