Effective content marketing requires a steady infusion of new material. Outright plagiarism would be unethical and also negatively impact your company’s SEO. However, deriving ideas and inspiration from your competitors is a valid and efficient strategy. Here are some tips on how you can use existing content without risking the deleterious effects of plagiarism.

Share Your Perspective

When you come across material on the websites of your competitors that you find interesting and informative, read it over carefully. Consider fresh insights that you might be able to add and unique conclusions you can draw. When you write your own content, use whatever information that inspires you from the previous article, but add your own perceptions and perspective.

Obtain Ideas

Sometimes, as mentioned above, you may want to rework content to provide your own perspective, but other times you may simply pull basic ideas from the content of your competitors and adapt them for your own purposes. For instance, if certain keywords that your competitors are using help push them higher in search rankings, use these keywords in your own content. If the design of your competitor’s website strikes you as particularly effective, consider what aspects of it you can incorporate in your own company’s web presence.

Make It Your Own

The main consideration in coming up with effective content is to derive inspiration from the efforts of others but avoid copying their work. Blatant plagiarism in the form of copying and pasting the content of others is wrong and will be viewed unfavorably, but using ideas you have read as a springboard to launching your own original content is a valid means of article creation.

Add Your Opinions

Sometimes on the internet certain content takes off and becomes viral. Monitor the writings of your competitors, and if you notice that some topics are trending, take advantage of the opportunity to write and share your own viewpoints.

In conclusion, there are numerous methods of drawing inspiration and ideas from the content of your competitors without incurring the stigma of plagiarism.