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There's nothing worse than publishing content and getting zero views from Google. You did all the research, you wrote all the content, and you still didn't even crack page one. So, this video is about why that's the case and
Eliot Prince explains why content fails to rank on Google and offers four fixes: stop copying competitors, avoid the 'better content' fallacy, use specificity, and solve one problem deeply.
Key Takeaways
- Don't rely on competitor research to copy what already ranks; you'll be starting far behind.
- Longer content is not better content; add original insight or a fresh perspective.
- Narrow your keywords with qualifiers to match your ideal customer and face less competition.
- Focus on one problem or micro-niche and become the definitive authority on it.
What the video covers
- Publishing content that gets no Google traffic is a common frustration; the video explains why and offers four solutions.
- Copying competitors' content puts you behind established sites that already benefit from compounding SEO results, like a runner starting 200 m behind a motorcycle rider.
- Simply writing longer or more comprehensive versions of top-ranking articles adds no new value, so Google has no reason to rank them higher.
- Original insights, fresh angles, and content that teaches something new are what Google and users reward.
- Specificity, adding qualifiers to broad keywords (e.g., 'how to pack light for a winter trip to Europe with kids'), reduces competition and attracts better-fit, higher-converting visitors.
- Vague, high-volume keywords tend to attract users high in the funnel who are hard to convert into customers.
- Scattering content across unrelated topics (freelancing, crypto, accounting) prevents a site from building topical authority.
- Becoming the definitive source on one specific problem helps both Google and customers recognize a site as an expert.
- Using a plumbing-marketing example, Prince shows how combining existing expertise with a narrow industry can produce a comprehensive resource few competitors have built.
- The overall strategy favors deep, original, niche-focused content over imitation and keyword chasing.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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four things you can do to change it. Point number one, stop doing competitor research. I know 99% of SEO strategies and experts will start with competitor research. We need to match them. We need to do what they're doing. We need to
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provide the same content. And it goes a little bit something like this. You look at the content your competitors are producing. You look at all the people in the top 10 of the SER and then you go and create a similar piece of content
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because you think that's what Google wants to see. Now, there's several problems with that. And the first one is that people forget that you're moving into a crowded space and your competitors are doing SEO at the same time. That's why they rank highly on
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Google. You're essentially entering a running race where they have a head start. Think about it. If your competitors are, let's be generous and say, 200 meters ahead of you and you're just on the start line, you think, "I've
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got to run this 200 meters. I've got to produce this content in a similar format and I'll catch my competitors up." Well, you're wrong. Because while you're just getting started, your competitors are already moving forward. So, you haven't
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just got to run 200 m. You've got to run 200 m and then further to even catch up with them. And the way SEO worked with compounding results, they're probably riding a motorcycle while you're still just running. So by the time you get to
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200 meters, they're not just 400 meters in front of you. They've done a whole kilometer because they've got a head start. They're moving faster. So if you're just copying competitors, you're never going to outrank them. Which brings me on to my next point. Point
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number two, don't fall into the better content fallacy. Now, traditional SEO theory says to look at what's already ranking and write better content. Now, we've already established don't bother with competitor research because it's not going to be helpful for you. Number
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two is if you're just looking at the SERs and trying to write better content than people, which let's be honest, you're probably just thinking, I'm going to summarize what they've got, but I'm going to write 10% more. I'm going to
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write a few hundred words more and add add an extra section cuz that will be better. It's not better, it's just longer. All you're still doing is summarizing all the information that's already out there and presenting it back
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to the user. Just because you produce something more comprehensive doesn't mean you're putting any extra value or insight into the world, which is what Google wants. Why? Think about it. Why would Google decide, do you know what?
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This website is providing the same information but just a bit more detailed. Why would I put that at the top of Google when actually what I'm already providing users are happy with and it's providing them the answers to
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their results? It wouldn't. So you need to be original and you need to provide new insights so that your audience, your readers, people on Google are getting something different out of your article.
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It needs to be original, something that your competitors aren't doing. Gives a fresh take on an angle. It helps people learn something new or do something in a different way. That's what Google is looking for. That's what users are
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looking for. So I want you to ask yourself, what do I know that others don't know about a subject? And now you're probably thinking, gee, how do I do that? Well, that's point number three. Specificity wins. You can escape
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this shin kicking contest with competitors and trying to rank for the high volume, high difficulty keywords and attract higher quality traffic with easier rankings through specity rather than enter the running race 200 m behind. You're in a completely different
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race of your own where your competitors aren't even bothering to look. So, you're going to have a much easier time ranking and getting traffic from these untapped keywords, search terms, and problems that your potential customers have. So, for example, a travel company
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might look at a keyword like how to pack for a trip to Europe. Now, this has pretty vague intent. It has a really wide spectrum of users and it's probably pretty pretty competitive. The sort of person searching for that term is really
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high up in the funnel. They're it's really unclear. They don't necessarily have a particular problem they're looking to solve and they're really hard to convert into an actual sale. If you switch that up, instead of how to pack
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for a trip to Europe, you get really specific and start writing about topics like how to pack light for a winter trip to Europe with kids. That's going to have a really good chance of ranking because who else is writing on that
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subject? Yes, the volume might be lower, but the type of person that's going to be attracted to your website is going to be more likely to be a good a good fit for your ICP because presumably you're a
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winter travel company that serves families, for example. So providing that information is going to have a much higher chance of converting or bringing them into your marketing orbit. It's going to be easier rankings and higher conversions which is a win. Specificity.
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So when you're looking at your keywords and topics, add two or three qualifiers to your keywords and ideas so that you're the only person thinking about it and it matches directly your ICP. Which brings us on to the final key. Point
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four. Solve one problem deeply. You want to become the definitive source, the only place to go on a specific topic.
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And most people get this wrong because again, they start chasing competitors or they start chasing high volume keywords and they get a bit random. I was speaking to a business the other day and they were really struggling to rank. And
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when they showed me their content plan, one minute they were talking about freelancing, one minute they're talking about crypto and the next they're talking about best accounting practices.
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And while these were all related to their brand, they weren't really developing any authority on any specific topic. They were becoming a bit of a jack of all trades rather than focusing down on a particular niche where both
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customers and Google could understand that ah yeah, these guys are the most authoritative experts on this particular niche or subniche. Instead, they had no real authority to start ranking against competitors who were miles ahead of them anyway for these particular keywords.
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Again, they were just copying what's already out there and writing it a little bit longer. Take me for example.
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I'm working in SEO. So, for me to go out and build a website, whether it's my brand or an agency, to rank for a lot of highlevel SEO related terms, it's going to be really hard. What can I, let's
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say, I wanted to rank for keyword research as a as a search term. What could I realistically add to the subject that hasn't already be said in the how-to guides from all the top players in the industry? Probably very little.
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doesn't mean I don't know anything about it, but like there's no reason for me to be able to rank at the top because I wrote a longer article. It's not probably going to add too much more insight to what everyone already needs
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to know. But as I explained in a video the other day, I could easily go and dominate and go super niche in marketing for plumbers because everyone else out there probably only written one or two articles that sort of glaze over the
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surface but aren't that actionable to actually help plumbers and plumbing businesses. market their company. So, I could easily drill down, take my marketing and SEO expertise, pair that with the plumbing industry, and create the most comprehensive resource out
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there. I could solve that one problem of getting more customers to a plumbing business deeper than anyone else in probably not that much effort and not that many articles compared to if I wanted to go really high level and
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really broad. I'll rank really quickly and competitors aren't even going to notice that I've become a leader in this micro niche. Problem is, most companies don't really have the balls to go this niche and this closed and this specific.
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They get too greedy and spread themselves way too broad and way too thin, which leaves holes for everyone else like us to go and exploit. So, doing this will build your topical authority and you'll become a master of
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one trade instead of trying to broadly spread yourself across a whole industry. And that is how you're going to build authenticity, bring a unique perspective to a topic, and just beat the optimization and SEO tactics every single time to be the source of
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information, not just a summary of Information.
Topics:SEOcontent strategyGoogle rankingcompetitor researchkeyword specificitytopical authorityniche marketingcontent differentiationlong-tail keywordsEliot Prince
