{"id":1997,"date":"2023-01-17T07:01:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T07:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/17\/b2b-content-marketing-ahrefs-guide\/"},"modified":"2023-01-17T07:01:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T07:01:34","slug":"b2b-content-marketing-ahrefs-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/b2b-content-marketing-ahrefs-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"B2B Content Marketing: Ahrefs\u2019 Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>B2B content marketing is creating and promoting content to attract other businesses that are your target customers.<\/p>\n<p>Content marketing is essential for B2B businesses because education prospects help them make buying decisions.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/736848\/roi-digital-marketing-channels\/\">Statista<\/a>, 30% of marketers say content marketing offers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel. Furthermore, in HubSpot\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/hubfs\/2022_State-of-Inbound-Marketing-Trends_V712.pdf\">State of Inbound Marketing Trends 2022<\/a>, content marketing is one of the top three marketing strategies for B2B brands.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1822\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels.png\" alt=\"Perceived level of ROI generated by selected digital marketing channels\" class=\"wp-image-151199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-373x425.png 373w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-768x875.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-1349x1536.png 1349w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1822\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels.png\" alt=\"Perceived level of ROI generated by selected digital marketing channels\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-373x425.png 373w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-768x875.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-roi-generated-marketing-channels-1349x1536.png 1349w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>There are also plenty of real-life examples. Ahrefs, HubSpot, Shopify, Animalz, and Deloitte are some of many that have succeeded with this <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/types-of-marketing\">marketing type<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In this guide, I\u2019ll explain how we do content marketing at Ahrefs, a B2B business.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<p><h2>How is B2B content marketing different from B2C content marketing?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There are two main differences between B2B and B2C content marketing.<\/p>\n<h3>1. More decision-makers<\/h3>\n<p>Generally speaking, there are more decision-makers involved in the B2B buying process. There are plenty of times when the person using the product or service is different from the one buying it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, an in-house SEO may be the one using our toolset, but the chief marketing officer (CMO) or chief financial officer (CFO) may be the one who approves the purchase.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a result, your content will need to target more than just the operator alone. It\u2019ll also have to help the operator convince other relevant stakeholders to purchase your product or service.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2134\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center.png\" alt=\"Different stakeholders of the buying center\" class=\"wp-image-151201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-319x425.png 319w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-768x1024.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-1152x1536.png 1152w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-1536x2048.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"2134\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center.png\" alt=\"Different stakeholders of the buying center\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-319x425.png 319w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-768x1024.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-1152x1536.png 1152w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-buying-center-1536x2048.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>For B2C, the person buying is usually the person making the buying decision.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Buying motivation<\/h3>\n<p>Most B2B buyers are purchasing for the value you offer, specifically how you help them solve their problems.<\/p>\n<p>So you\u2019ll have to prove that value using your content. You\u2019ll also have to show you are trustworthy, you know your stuff, and that other brands have used your product or service successfully.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the buying motivation for most B2C products can be more impulsive, e.g., food, fashion, games, electronics, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" style=\"\"><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\"\/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style=\"\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<p><h2>How to do B2B content marketing, the Ahrefs way<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>There is no one right way to do content marketing for B2B. Your content marketing will differ depending on what you sell, whom you sell to, and your\u00a0goals.<\/p>\n<p>As such, it\u2019s impossible to cover every potential variation of the B2B content marketing strategy in this guide. Instead, I\u2019ll focus on how we do B2B content marketing at Ahrefs. Hopefully, that\u2019ll inspire your\u00a0own.<\/p>\n<p>Our B2B content marketing strategy is simple: We focus on creating content about topics that have search traffic potential, business potential, and ranking potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how we do\u00a0it:<\/p>\n<h3>1. Find relevant topics with search traffic potential<\/h3>\n<p>Your content must be discovered by your target audience for it to be consumed. The best way to do this is for your content to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-rank-higher-on-google\/\">rank high on Google<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So rather than treat SEO as an afterthought, we want to build it into our content marketing. We can do this by targeting <strong>topics that our target customers are searching for.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to find these topics:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Go to Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter a few broad keywords related to your site or niche (e.g., we can look for keywords like <em>marketing <\/em>and <em>seo<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Matching terms<\/strong> report<\/li>\n<li>Filter for keywords with Traffic Potential (TP)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1330\" height=\"874\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms.png\" alt=\"The Matching terms report, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms.png 1330w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms-647x425.png 647w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms-768x505.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1330px) 100vw, 1330px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1330\" height=\"874\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms.png\" alt=\"The Matching terms report, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms.png 1330w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms-647x425.png 647w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-matching-terms-768x505.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1330px) 100vw, 1330px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Traffic Potential is the estimated monthly organic search traffic to the top-ranking page for a keyword. Since pages tend to rank for many similar keywords and not just one, TP is a more reliable estimate of search traffic than search volume.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From here, you\u2019ll want to go through the report to find keywords your potential customers are searching for.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\"><em>Keyword Research: The Beginner\u2019s Guide by Ahrefs<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>2. Check its business potential<\/h3>\n<p>Cameron Brown, a content strategist at content marketing agency Grow &amp; Convert, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.growandconvert.com\/content-marketing\/b2b-content-marketing-strategy\/\">writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Outside of the most revolutionary, category-creating products and services, <strong>almost every B2B business already has a group of people who are at the purchase stage, looking to solve their problems with a product or service like\u00a0yours.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Even though the ideal end state is to target every topic that can build your brand awareness, you\u2019ll want to prioritize those that can send you actual leads and customers (at least for\u00a0now).<\/p>\n<p>At Ahrefs, we assign a \u201cbusiness potential\u201d score to each topic. And business potential is how easy it will be to pitch your product while covering a given keyword.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the \u201ccheat sheet\u201d we\u00a0use:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1422\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential.png\" alt=\"The business potential table\" class=\"wp-image-151205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-478x425.png 478w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-768x683.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-1536x1365.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1422\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential.png\" alt=\"The business potential table\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-478x425.png 478w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-768x683.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-business-potential-1536x1365.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Go through each keyword you\u2019ve pulled from step #1 and give them a score from 0 to\u00a03.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Analyze each of their ranking potential<\/h3>\n<p>Some keywords are harder to rank than others. That\u2019s to be expected because there are only limited \u201cslots\u201d for each keyword on the SERPs. So while that doesn\u2019t mean you completely avoid difficult keywords (especially if they have business value), you should take ranking difficulty into account when targeting them.<\/p>\n<p>For us, a keyword has ranking potential when it\u2019s <strong>viable for us to rank in the top three with our available resources.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How do we know this? We look at the SERPs and assess three things:<\/p>\n<h4>Backlinks<\/h4>\n<p>Specifically, the quantity and quality of backlinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Backlinks are important because they\u2019re one of Google\u2019s top <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">ranking factors<\/a>. So if the pages you\u2019re competing with have a lot of high-quality backlinks, it will be difficult to compete.<\/p>\n<p>To see how many backlinks the competing pages have, enter your topic into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a> and scroll down to the <strong>SERP overview.<\/strong> You\u2019ll see how many referring domains and backlinks each top-ranking page\u00a0has:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1530\" height=\"718\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Referring domains and backlinks for the top-ranking pages for &quot;content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing.png 1530w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing-680x319.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing-768x360.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1530px) 100vw, 1530px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1530\" height=\"718\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Referring domains and backlinks for the top-ranking pages for &quot;content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing.png 1530w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing-680x319.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-serp-overview-content-marketing-768x360.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1530px) 100vw, 1530px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>You can see that the topic <em>content marketing <\/em>is super competitive, with each page having thousands of backlinks. Compare that to <em>B2B content marketing<\/em>:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1540\" height=\"808\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Referring domains and backlinks for the top-ranking pages for &quot;b2b content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing.png 1540w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-680x357.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-1536x806.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1540px) 100vw, 1540px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1540\" height=\"808\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Referring domains and backlinks for the top-ranking pages for &quot;b2b content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing.png 1540w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-680x357.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-serp-overview-b2b-content-marketing-1536x806.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1540px) 100vw, 1540px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>These numbers, however, only tell you about the <strong>quantity <\/strong>of backlinks. To assess <strong>quality,<\/strong> click on any of the numbers. This will bring you to each page\u2019s backlink profile.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1169\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks.png\" alt=\"The Backlinks report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-680x398.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-768x449.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-1536x898.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1169\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks.png\" alt=\"The Backlinks report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-680x398.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-768x449.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-backlinks-1536x898.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Eyeball the report and get a sense of the quality of backlinks the sites have using the guide\u00a0below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/backlink-audit\/\"><em>How to Do a Basic Backlink Audit (In Under 30 Minutes)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Authority<\/h4>\n<p>Website authority is an SEO concept that refers to the overall \u201cstrength\u201d of a domain. In this case, \u201cstrength\u201d refers to the likelihood of a domain to rank high on the\u00a0SERPs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even though Google representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MD6ABXMMuaI&amp;t=1427s\">said<\/a> Google doesn\u2019t evaluate website authority, many SEOs still believe authoritative websites have an easier time ranking. As such, they typically take a website authority metric, such as Domain Rating (DR), into account when assessing ranking difficulty.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re on that side as well, you can easily see the top-ranking pages\u2019 DR scores in the <strong>SERP overview<\/strong> section:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1398\" height=\"696\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Domain Rating (DR) scores for the top-ranking pages for &quot;b2b content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing.png 1398w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-680x339.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-768x382.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-400x200.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1398\" height=\"696\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing.png\" alt=\"Domain Rating (DR) scores for the top-ranking pages for &quot;b2b content marketing,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing.png 1398w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-680x339.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-768x382.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-serp-overview-content-marketing-400x200.png 400w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px\"\/><\/figure>\n<h4>Content quality<\/h4>\n<p>The best content is one that provides more value in less time (and that includes entertainment value!).<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019re able to deliver on that front too\u2014if you wish to beat the top-ranking pages.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few questions you can ask while you\u2019re assessing the content quality of the top-ranking pages:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Does it provide accurate and up-to-date information?<\/li>\n<li>Is it written by a subject matter expert?<\/li>\n<li>Does it contain unique information?<\/li>\n<li>Does it cover the topic in\u00a0full?<\/li>\n<li>Is it well written?<\/li>\n<li>Is it properly formatted?<\/li>\n<li>Is it well designed?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If they\u2019re missing a few of these aspects, it\u2019s your chance to beat\u00a0them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-difficulty\/\"><em>Keyword Difficulty: How to Estimate Your Chances to Rank<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>4. Create content for these topics<\/h3>\n<p>You now have a list of topics that\u00a0have:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Search traffic potential<\/li>\n<li>Business potential<\/li>\n<li>Ranking potential<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It\u2019s time to create content that\u2019ll rank for these topics. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n<h4>Match search intent<\/h4>\n<p>Google wants to rank <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/relevant-content\/\">relevant content<\/a>. It does this by constantly figuring out <em>why <\/em>the searcher is making that query and then serving content that fulfills that. This is known as search intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you want to rank high on Google for your target keywords, you have to match search intent. We can do this by analyzing the SERPs for the three\u00a0Cs:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Content type<\/strong> \u2013 Are they blog posts, landing pages, product pages, or something else?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content format<\/strong> \u2013 Are they listicles, how-tos, recipes, tools, or something else?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content angle<\/strong> \u2013 Is there a dominant selling point, like how easy it\u00a0is?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For example, let\u2019s say we want to target the topic <em>how to drive traffic to your website<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1546\" height=\"706\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website.png\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;how to drive traffic to your website,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website.png 1546w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-680x311.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-768x351.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-1536x701.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1546px) 100vw, 1546px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1546\" height=\"706\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website.png\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;how to drive traffic to your website,&quot; via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website.png 1546w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-680x311.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-768x351.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-serp-overview-how-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website-1536x701.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1546px) 100vw, 1546px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Analyzing the three Cs, we\u00a0get:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Content type<\/strong> \u2013 They\u2019re all blog\u00a0posts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content format<\/strong> \u2013 Despite the \u201chow to\u201d modifier, searchers are actually looking for\u00a0lists.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Content angle<\/strong> \u2013 There are a variety of angles here, from \u201cproven\u201d to \u201cfree and\u00a0paid.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If we\u2019re creating content for this topic, we\u2019ll have to create something similar. (Which we did, and we\u2019re now ranking in position #5.)<\/p>\n<h4>Cover the topic in\u00a0full<\/h4>\n<p>The best result for a query usually covers everything the searcher wants to\u00a0know.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are two ways to find potential subtopics to\u00a0cover:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Look for common subheadings among top-ranking pages <\/strong>\u2013<strong> <\/strong>If most of them have a similar subheading, then it\u2019s likely important.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Look for common keyword rankings among top-ranking pages<\/strong> \u2013 These are often important subtopics to\u00a0cover.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to execute the second method:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Go to Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter your target keyword<\/li>\n<li>Select a few top-ranking pages in the <strong>SERP overview<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Click \u201cOpen in\u201d and choose \u201cContent gap\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option.png\" alt=\"Opening the top-ranking pages in Content Gap, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151217\" width=\"534\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option.png 890w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option-582x425.png 582w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option-768x561.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option.png\" alt=\"Opening the top-ranking pages in Content Gap, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151217\" width=\"534\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option.png 890w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option-582x425.png 582w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-ke-open-in-option-768x561.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1202\" height=\"1058\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report.png\" alt=\"Content Gap report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report.png 1202w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report-483x425.png 483w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report-768x676.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1202px) 100vw, 1202px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1202\" height=\"1058\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report.png\" alt=\"Content Gap report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report.png 1202w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report-483x425.png 483w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-content-gap-report-768x676.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1202px) 100vw, 1202px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>In this example, we\u2019re targeting <em>inbound marketing, <\/em>and we can see a few subtopics to\u00a0cover:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is inbound marketing<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing examples<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing strategies<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing tools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Make it unique<\/h4>\n<p>We want to match search intent and cover the topic in full. But we don\u2019t want to create copycat content that no one wants to\u00a0read.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1359\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content.png\" alt=\"How SEO tools lead to copycat content\" class=\"wp-image-151220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-500x425.png 500w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-768x652.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-1536x1305.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1359\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content.png\" alt=\"How SEO tools lead to copycat content\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-500x425.png 500w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-768x652.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-copycat-content-1536x1305.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Not only is copycat content not useful for your readers and your business, it\u2019s also detrimental to your SEO efforts because there\u2019s no incentive to link to it. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.animalz.co\/blog\/information-gain\/\">Google filing a patent for information gain<\/a>, unoriginal content may also be deprioritized and rank lower in the future.<\/p>\n<p>To solve this, you need to create something unique. That can be a unique angle or unique ideas within your content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, we could have created a generic B2B content marketing guide. Instead, we decided our personal experience doing B2B content marketing would be more interesting, helpful, and even stand out amongst the SERPs. (Do you\u00a0agree?\u00a0\ud83d\ude01)<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re struggling to come up with unique angles or ideas, here are a few prompts that may\u00a0help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Personal experience <\/strong>\u2013 If you\u2019ve successfully (or even unsuccessfully) done something, write about\u00a0it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expert interviews<\/strong> \u2013 Reach out and interview experts in your field or ask them to contribute an opinion to your\u00a0piece.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crowdsource<\/strong> \u2013 Get multiple people to contribute their opinions, expertise, and\u00a0ideas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Original research<\/strong> \u2013 Add data to your post. You can do this by running a study, survey, or\u00a0poll.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Contrarian<\/strong> \u2013 Be the devil\u2019s advocate. Consider an opposing viewpoint.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong><em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-content\/\"><em>SEO Content: The Beginner\u2019s Guide<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>5. Promote your content<\/h3>\n<p>Your content will practically be invisible if you don\u2019t put it in front of people who care. Here are a few ways you can promote your content.<\/p>\n<h4>Create a weekly newsletter<\/h4>\n<p>At Ahrefs, we send a weekly newsletter to 200,000+ people with our latest content:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1308\" height=\"1692\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter.png\" alt=\"An issue of the Ahrefs' Digest\" class=\"wp-image-151221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter.png 1308w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-329x425.png 329w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-768x993.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-1187x1536.png 1187w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1308\" height=\"1692\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter.png\" alt=\"An issue of the Ahrefs' Digest\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter.png 1308w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-329x425.png 329w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-768x993.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/13-newsletter-1187x1536.png 1187w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>An email list is one of the best ways to distribute your content. You can directly reach people who want to hear more from\u00a0you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unlike social media platforms, you are less likely to be restricted, prevented, or blocked from accessing your audience. You <strong>own <\/strong>the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The best way to grow your email list is to offer something in return for subscribing. This can be an ebook, an email course, a PDF, or more. For example, Intercom offers a free guide for download. This is shown as a sticky opt-in box on the side or at the end of the article:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1222\" height=\"1020\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom.jpg\" alt=\"Intercom offers a free guide in return for subscribing\" class=\"wp-image-151223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom.jpg 1222w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom-509x425.jpg 509w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom-768x641.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1222px) 100vw, 1222px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1222\" height=\"1020\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom.jpg\" alt=\"Intercom offers a free guide in return for subscribing\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom.jpg 1222w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom-509x425.jpg 509w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/14-free-guide-intercom-768x641.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1222px) 100vw, 1222px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Learn more: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/grow-email-list\/\"><em>8 Easy (But Effective) Ways to Grow Your Email\u00a0List<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Build a personal brand on LinkedIn<\/h4>\n<p>According to HubSpot\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/hubfs\/2022_State-of-Inbound-Marketing-Trends_V712.pdf\">State of Inbound Marketing Trends 2022<\/a>, B2B brands are more likely to use LinkedIn and find it effective. That makes sense\u2014after all, LinkedIn bills itself as the \u201csocial network for professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked David Fallarme, a marketing consultant, for his best tips on how to grow a personal brand on LinkedIn. Here\u2019s what he shared:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\">\n<div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p>Most people starting their LinkedIn journey obsess and agonize over what to publish. This takes them hours, if not days (or even weeks) to finally publish something. Then, they barely get any engagement and swear off publishing on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p>For most people going from zero to one on LinkedIn, the way to get engagement on your content is to give engagement to other content first.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your first job: to find and add people who are relevant to you and your target audience. Add a few influencers in your niche, then use the \u201cPeople also viewed\u201d function to see who else LinkedIn suggests. These are typically people who post regularly, which means you\u2019ll be exposed to a lot of content in your\u00a0niche.<\/p>\n<p>After following ~10 &#8211; 15 influencers, you should build your LinkedIn writing muscle by commenting on their posts whenever you log on. This does a couple of things: first, it trains your brain that posting on LinkedIn is nothing to be scared of. Two, it gives you new ideas for your own content\u2014every comment you leave is the seed for future posts. Third, when you leave thoughtful comments, and when you reply to others who have left comments, others who also follow that person will visit your profile and respond to your connection requests.<\/p>\n<p>All of these increase the chances that when you post something on LinkedIn, it\u2019s relevant to your target audience and you\u2019re not just yelling into the void. You always have new connections who are exposed to your content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote-info clearfix\">\n<div class=\"quote-photo\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"David Fallarme\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1521291264211.jpg\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload\" alt=\"David Fallarme\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1521291264211.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4>Repurpose your content<\/h4>\n<p>Make your content go the extra mile by turning it into multiple formats.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we turned our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OJJXxc-9pBs\">video on holiday SEO<\/a> into a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/holiday-seo\">post<\/a>. We also turned our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/is-seo-worth-it\/\">post on whether SEO is worth it<\/a> into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-XYtBGifGxY\">video<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/repurposing-content\/\"><em>The Complete Guide to Content Repurposing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Build links with link\u00a0bait<\/h4>\n<p>We\u2019ve established that links are important. But link building is hard. It\u2019s even harder if you <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/email-outreach\/\">don\u2019t have an existing brand or reputation<\/a>. Worse still, people may even ask you to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/buy-backlinks\/\">pay for links<\/a>\u2014a massive no-no in Google\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>If links are crucial, but link building is difficult, how do you get links? Well, the simplest answer is to <em>earn it.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some pages naturally earn links better than others. In the SEO world, they\u2019re known as \u201clink bait.\u201d Take, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-traffic-study\/\">our study<\/a> where we found 90.63% of pages get no search traffic. That article received 6,500 backlinks from 2,900 referring domains:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study.png\" alt=\"Links and referring domains pointing at one of our studies, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151225\" width=\"500\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study.png 1000w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-680x340.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-400x200.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study.png\" alt=\"Links and referring domains pointing at one of our studies, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151225\" width=\"500\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study.png 1000w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-680x340.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/15-ahrefs-study-400x200.png 400w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>If you can create more link-earning pages, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">add internal links<\/a> from those pages to your other content, thereby potentially boosting their rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to find good link bait\u00a0ideas:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Enter your competitor\u2019s domain into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Best by links<\/strong> report<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report.png\" alt=\"Best by links report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-151226\" width=\"501\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report.png 1002w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report-370x425.png 370w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report-768x881.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report.png\" alt=\"Best by links report, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151226\" width=\"501\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report.png 1002w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report-370x425.png 370w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/16-best-by-links-report-768x881.png 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Eyeball the report to see what kind of formats and topics resonate with people in your niche. For example, we can see that the SEO industry loves data studies, which is why we\u2019ve been consistently <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/category\/data-studies\/\">producing them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learn more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-bait\/\"><em>What Is Link Bait? 7 Successful Examples<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Run ads<\/h4>\n<p>If you have the budget, you can always run ads to promote your content. If the big networks are scary and too expensive, consider smaller networks too.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, we run ads for our content on\u00a0Quora:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs' Quora ads\" class=\"wp-image-151228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-680x214.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-768x241.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-1536x483.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"628\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads.png\" alt=\"Ahrefs' Quora ads\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-151228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-680x214.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-768x241.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/17-quora-ads-1536x483.png 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Learn more: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ppc-marketing\/\"><em>PPC Marketing: Beginner\u2019s Guide to Pay-Per-Click Ads<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019ve been following this strategy religiously for the past few years, and it has worked well for us. Hopefully, our content marketing strategy has inspired your B2B content marketing strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Any questions or comments? Let me know <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/siquanong\">on Twitter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/b2b-content-marketing\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>B2B content marketing is creating and promoting content to attract other businesses that are your target customers. Content marketing is essential for B2B businesses because education prospects help them make buying decisions. According to Statista, 30% of marketers say content marketing offers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel. Furthermore, in HubSpot\u2019s State of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewebtoolz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}