Information Gain Scores is an interesting topic discussed earlier this summer by SEO expert Bill Slawski at Go Fish Digital, through his excellent research into Google’s patents.
The gist is that addressing not only common topics around your content’s theme, but adding unique information, could be a ranking factor.
Anecdotally, my natural bodybuilding blog, a hobby site allowing me to conduct SEO experiments as well, ranks better than expected. This happens despite lacking countless backlinks versus my competition. I know this occurs in part since I do a thorough job of covering subjects yet add new insights.
Competitor research is a powerful way to improve SEO, since ranking signals differ based on search query. Nonetheless, it’s not enough to just match their content… do it better by adding something distinct!
Extra tip… format your new insights using headers below bulleted lists, tables, or short paragraphs to maximize the chances of featured snippets.