A 10-Step Guide on How to Accurately Research Your Online Content

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Many people have a great passion for writing, but they find difficulty when it comes to writing online content. The major obstacle for them is the lack of knowledge about researching online content. Due to this inability, many writers had quit writing online content. If you are one such person or is in search of new methods for accurately researching online content, then this blog will be helpful. By following the ten-step guide provided below, you will better understand the techniques to prepare the best content. Not everyone has knowledge about the magic behind researching online content. Once you comprehend the techniques, Google will easily recognize your content. Your readers can trust your content and consider it an authoritative source only if you develop well-researched content. Only through proper research can you write content that is attractive and imparts knowledge to your audience. 

Given below is the 10-step guide to researching online content accurately :

1. Use Google Scholar

You know that now most people have their websites with many blogs and articles containing online content. It is very difficult to identify which is reliable and which is not. If you want to develop content that provides the right information, you have to keep one main point in mind. One method for accurately researching online content is to refer to Google Scholar. It is a credible source that provides content for reference. Google Scholar is a web search engine containing research papers that scientists prepare after rigorous testing. This information is reliable and informative. Google Scholar does not encourage the use of irrelevant websites or blogs. It is freely accessible and was released on November 20, 2004. 

Google Scholar contains online academic journals and books, theses and dissertations, technical reports, conference papers, preprints, abstracts, and other scholarly literature, including patents and court opinions. Only the content that meets certain criteria will be indexed in Google Scholar.    

Steps to use Google Scholar :

Enter Google Scholar in Google‘s home page. 

Open the homepage of Google Scholar.

Do a search on the topic related to your content.

Refer the top pages in the list and use the information relevant to your topic. 

You can completely trust the information available in the research papers that you find in Google Scholar. 

2. Use Google Books

Like Google Scholar, another platform that you can completely trust while researching online content is Google Books. It contains short books, long books, eBooks and other courses. Various publishers and authors provide the books through the Google Books Partner Program or Google’s library partners employing the Library Project. To digitize their archives, Google has partnered with several magazine publishers. Google Books was launched in October 2004. While researching online content, Google Books gives a full-page view if the book has no copyright issue. There are four access levels available in Google Books,: full view, preview, snippet view, and no preview. 

Google Books provides you information based on general topics you need for your online content. It will not always be able to give you details based on a specific topic, i.e., topics that are not used frequently. It can be your guide if you want to write evidence-based articles, an eBook or about a particular course. With the assistance of Google Books, you can develop articles having a length greater than 5000 words. 

Steps to use Google Books :

Open Google’s homepage and search Google Books. 

Open Google Books.

Search the topic related to your content. 

Many different books based on your topic will be available to choose from.

3. Learn a course

The very easy step to unlock the secrets for researching online content is to learn it through a course. There are Digital Content Writing courses available, and the course trainers will help you know about the techniques to follow while researching online content. Henry Harvin is the top institute that provides this course. According to India, Today reports, Henry Harvin is one of the top five institutes offering Digital Content Writing courses. They are recognized by UKAF, the Content Writing Association of India, American Association of EFL, UK Cert & MSME.

Features of their course

• Conducts Bootcamp sessions each month
• Provides study materials containing information based on current trends
• Access to their LMS, which contains recorded videos of sessions and other relevant materials
• 100% placement support and internship assistance 
• Receives job notifications each week, and thus they aim to provide the best job for you
• Gains access to the complimentary module, which includes soft skills development 

Benefits of learning

• Gains information about writing more than thirty types of content
• Develops knowledge on how to earn using your online content
• Develops your language skills and will gain confidence to write for international clients
• Learns to transform your thoughts into words
• Gains technical knowledge of starting websites and personal blogs
• Learn the graphic skills for designing PPTs, logos, newsletters, etc.
• Gains the skills for researching online content
• Develops the ability to find the target audience persona for your online content
• Learns the skills to find freelance projects from all across the world
• Builds the ability to develop an effective content strategy that will capture the attention of your target audience

Course Duration

The Course duration is 36 hours

Course Fee

The course fee for the self-paced course is INR 13500 and for the live instructor-led training is INR 15000.

4. Refer Authority Websites

Another strategy for researching online content is by using Authority Websites. Authority websites are those that can be trusted, and the information it provides is genuine. The online content available on these websites is of good quality and contains detailed data about different topics. These websites are non-profit websites, or those run through government or other educational institutions. The information available in Authority Websites are published after rigorous testing and research. Some of the high authority websites are those with the extension .org, .edu, .gov, etc. While researching online content, it will be useful to know the high authority websites. 

If your content provides educational or academic information, there are some best websites. 

Some of the top .edu websites are :

• Academia.edu
• Mit.edu
• stanford.edu and 
• harvard.edu

If you provide online content specific to a particular country, you can refer to .gov websites. When your target audience is from India, you can search .gov.in while if it is from the UK, then search .gov.uk and so on. Use Google’sGoogle’s Advanced Search option to narrow your search.

Ways to use the Advanced Search option are :

• Search your topic in Google
• Select Advanced Search from the Settings option
• In the site or domain section, type .org, .gov or .edu based on your requirement
• If you want to select a specific country, language or region, you can make those selections
• Click Advanced Search

5. Insert the latest information

There is increased competition in the content industry, so your online content should be unique to attract readers. The main point you have to remind yourself while researching online content is to add the latest information. Readers always prefer referring to the latest news and updates. Hence while researching online content, search for the most recent information. If you add this information to your content, then readers will find it to be more informative and updated. 

For getting the information based on the recent updates, you can use Advanced Google Search. There is a block called “last update” where you can type as “upto a week ago”, and thus, Google displays the recently added information. 

6. Use BuzzSumo

One of the best platforms for researching online content is BuzzSumo. BuzzSumo is a cloud-based platform that makes your research an easy job for you. Once you search the topic based on your niche, multiple websites appear. These websites are the ones that are on Google’s top priority list. The information available on these pages have also been searched a maximum number of times by other users. BuzzSumo thus increases your efficiency of researching online content, which will not be so if done manually. 

When you prepare your content, your chances of being listed in the priority list by your readers while researching online content will be high. Through BuzzSumo, you can find the best engagement content and find the best opportunities. The four major areas to BuzzSumo are Content Discovery, Content Research, Monitoring Media and Influencer Research. 

The major uses of BuzzSumo are :

• Discover new content ideas
• Lessen the amount of money spent on ads
• Analyze the cross-channel performance
• Discover new publicity and media opportunities
• Keep track of your competitor’s brand
• Track content published by a particular website
• Perform advanced content analysis
• Analyze content patterns and trends 
• Backlink analysis
• BuzzSumo’sBuzzSumo’s influencer tool helps to find the best influencers that help to boost your brand

7. Use Ahrefs

Another tool for best results while researching online content is Ahrefs. Ahrefs is an SEO toolset that helps you analyze the SEO health, keyword rankings and other features of your competitor’s profile. In the top pages section of Ahrefs, you can see the pages of other websites that have high traffic. Through this data, you will get an idea about the type of content that provides you high traffic. By practising so, your website will be ranked at the top. In the best pages section by links, you will get information about the pages that received more backlinks.  

8. Use Keyword research tools

By doing keyword research, you will understand what the audience is really interested in hearing from you. Through keyword research, you can decide your niche and develop content that helps to generate traffic and money. While researching online content, one of the best keyword research tools is Ubersuggest, which is a free-to-use SEO tool. In Ubersuggest, enter a keyword-based on your topic of research. In relation to your topic, Ubersuggest will recommend many other keywords with high traffic. Through this SEO tool, you can find the monthly search volume of different keywords. Ubersuggest was originally built for blogging and website users. Neil Patel developed it to help new bloggers or new website users find keywords. 

Using Ubersuggest, you will get content ideas, and it also provides you information about the number of backlinks for different websites. Hence while researching online content, Ubersuggest can be a great aid. 

9. Use comments on blogs

While researching online content, you can get a better idea about the interest of your target audience through their comments. These comments may appear on others blogs or your blogs. Search the blogs that prepare content based on your niche. By scrolling through people’s comments, you will understand what more your target audience wants to know from you. Thus you get an opportunity to develop content according to the requirements of your target audience. Posting different questions on your blogs that require your readers to answer opens up a scope of getting new content ideas.  

Thus, by reading the blog comments, you can reduce the pressure of finding new topics for your content. Your audience will unknowingly provide a thread for your next topic. Blog comments thus have a great role while researching online content. 

10. Use Quora

Quora is the best place to learn and share knowledge. Here anyone can share their information based on their understanding, and anyone can ask queries related to a wide range of topics. If you type a keyword based on your topic, a large number of conversations arise in relation to your keyword. By scrolling through this information, you will get an insight into the thought process of your target audience. You will get the idea about the understanding of people working in different domains about this topic. Through this knowledge, you can prepare well on where to give more importance to your content and where not to. 

You can better understand if your audience knows about your content even before you work on it. Quora thus can be a great help in researching online content. There is an additional and hidden advantage in using Quora. If you feel that the person who responds to a query has good knowledge of a particular topic, you can ask him to write a guest post on your blog. By doing this, you can improve your website traffic. Most bloggers are unaware of this secret. 

Conclusion

In this content-driven world, developing a website or writing for others is not a new phenomenon. You might have heard about the saying that Content is the king. It is true, but if you are not aware of the tactics of researching online Content, even if your Content is of good quality, it might take lots of time to get it recognized. So before preparing your online Content, equip yourselves with the knowledge of how to make it get identified by Google. The ten techniques listed above will give you an idea about how to prepare before posting your first Content. If you have already posted your Content and are deeply troubled inside due to the lack of good traffic, then you too can follow the ten steps or tips. 

Not everyone’s website can receive proper recognition soon after entering into this online content world. All that is needed from you is patience and consistent efforts. Write consistently. Even if you are wholly engaged with other activities, dedicate some time to writing. The most important need is to identify your niche. If you are confused about choosing your niche, use keyword research tools to identify the keywords having good traffic. Learn more about the topics related to that particular keyword and start preparing your Content. Never back off, and if you are a beginner, money should not be your prime focus. Focus on quality, then traffic and money will follow.

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