If you believe posting great content will itself attract a lot of links to it, you are not wrong, but you are just not seeing the whole picture. The internet is already crowded with the “great content” that nobody links to. Because in the SEO world, visibility is not rewarded for effort but for smart strategy. The Skyscraper technique is one such strategy that can help you do more than just create good content and hope for the best. If you’re already investing time in crafting high-quality pieces, you owe it to yourself to make sure they get seen and linked to. And skyscraping is how you make that happen. Let’s learn what it is and how it works.
What is the Skyscraper SEO Technique?
Skyscraping SEO technique is a link-building strategy with three key steps:
- First, you have to find high-performing content with a lot of backlinks. If a piece of content has already attracted links, there is proven demand for that topic.
- After finding the high-performing content in your niche, you need to find its strengths and weaknesses.
- Then, you have to create something better, either more detailed or up-to-date.
- In the end, you have to reach out to the right people, especially those who are linked to the original content, asking them to consider linking to your version.
This strategy was created and popularized by Brian Dean (Founder of Backlinko) in 2015. The technique became famous soon after Brian introduced it because it offers a clear and repeatable way to build backlinks, which is considered one of the hardest parts of SEO.
What Is Skyscraping SEO Technique Like In 2025?
Since so much has changed in the world of SEO, it’s natural for marketers to question whether the strategies that once worked still hold up. The truth is, most proven techniques still work. Even as Google’s algorithms evolve, you just need to stay updated and align your approach with the changing landscape.
The same applies to the Skyscraper Technique. It’s not outdated. It just requires smarter execution and sharper relevance. When Brian Dean introduced the concept of the skyscraper technique, SEO used to be different. Back then, simply writing a superior content piece (in terms of word count, mostly) and building links through it would help you outrank the original blog post. But things don’t work that way anymore.
What Skyscraping technique used to be:
- It was all about creating a longer-form content piece that would outperform comparatively short-form pieces.
- Getting more backlinks by using the Skyscraper Technique and doing outreach used to quickly boost your rankings.
- Even small changes, such as adding a few extra sections or improving the design, could have a significant impact, especially when there is little competition.
How it has changed now:
- AI has made it easy to create long-form content, so Google no longer values content just because it’s lengthy.
- What matters now is whether your content actually provides value to the reader. Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) clearly highlight the kind of content that gets favoured today.
- Your content should be accurate, up-to-date, and avoid making assumptions or statements that could contradict verified facts.
Why Use the Skyscraper Technique in 2025?
Now you may wonder if creating and publishing longer forms of content does not help anymore, what is the point of the Skyscraping technique?
The answer to it is that the Skyscraper technique was never really based on word count and link quantity. Its goal was to make a superior content resource for a given topic, and it’s still all about that.
In 2025 Skyscraper technique will work for you if your content:
- Meets and satisfies the search intent
- Offers topical depth
- Keeps users engaged
- Offers a good user experience
- Demonstrates trustworthiness and authority
- Is relevant and up-to-date
Now, before heading on to how to use the Skycraping technique, let’s discuss why they matter even in 2025:
Search Intent Alignment
Google now gives better rankings to pages that clearly match what people are looking for. When your content answers the user’s question or solves their problem, it gets more clicks, keeps people on the page longer, and stays higher in search results.
If you have old or thin content, updating it to better match what users actually want can make it more useful and more likely to rank. It also lowers bounce rates, which is a good sign to Google that your content is helpful.
Builds Authority and Reduced Bounce Rate
Google favours depth over length. Now that the whole concept of Skyscraping is based around enhancing the topical authority of pre-existing content. In order to success with your strategy, you need to make your content well-detailed. This ensures users do not jump back to the search results to find a better answer to their query.
Strong Link Profile
The main goal of skyscraping is to attract high-quality backlinks. When you create the best, most useful resource for a specific search query, your page is more likely to earn links naturally, build domain authority, and climb the rankings faster.
Google sees relevant backlinks as one of the strongest signals of trust and authority, and that’s exactly what the Skyscraper Technique helps you earn.
Step-by-Step Guide to the Skyscraper Technique
Now, let’s discuss how to find content and improve it to create something more valuable and position it as the best resource out there:
Step 1: Find Link-Worthy Content
It starts with choosing the right content you can act upon. Now, please note that not every high-ranking page is worth investing your time into. You need to be highly selective because if you end up choosing the wrong target, you will waste weeks building something that will earn you nothing. So, be careful with your first step. Here are what things you need to consider before making your first move:
- Make sure the topic you pick is highly relevant to your niche.
- It should have a good number of backlinks. A good backlink profile tells whether the content is valuable or not.
- Look for the scope of improvement in the content, like outdated information, lack of visuals, bad UX or thin sections. You need to leverage these weaknesses to make your content look superior.
- You should choose a topic that will stay relevant over time. Avoid subjects that only trend for a few days and then quickly fade away.
- Choose the content targeting keywords with consistent search demand and interest. Avoid picking seasonal topics.
Step 2: Create Something 10x Better
The next step is to create something better. But remember, your goal is not to make the content longer just for the sake of it. Focus on making it more useful and satisfying for your audience.
If your content is too long without adding real value, it can frustrate readers and cause them to leave quickly. This can lead to higher bounce rates, which isn’t good for your SEO.
Google’s algorithms have become sophisticated enough to find out whether your content is helpful or not. Here are the things Google look at to judge your page:
- How long users stay on the page
- How well the topic is covered
- How easy the content is to read and understand
- The overall experience on the page
- Whether the content shows signs of trust, like sources, author info, or credibility markers
To make sure you are not missing any chances to improve, start by thoroughly auditing the original content. Once you have addressed the gaps in the original piece, review your updated content using the following points:
- Have I covered the important subtopics?
- Is my information updated with examples, recommendations and stats?
- Did I cross-check the stats or facts I used in my content?
- Is the structure good? Will the reader face any issues? (Make sure important info is not buried under the dense paragraphs)
- Is my content easy on the eyes? Is it visually coherent?
- Is my content presented in skimmable form?
Step 3: Outreach the Right Way
Simply writing superior content is not the end of the process. It will not start earning backlinks on its own unless you actively promote it.
That does not mean content quality does not matter. In fact, the better your content is, the easier it becomes to promote. High-quality content gives people a reason to care, link, and share.
Here are some smart ways to strategically promote your Skyscraper content in 2025.
Build Your Outreach List
You can start out by building a list of people and websites to reach out to. In this list, you want to include those who:
- Linked to the original article, you improved
- Often share similar content
- Post research roundups
- Are you active in communities related to your topic
You can use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, BuzzSumo, and Google Search to help you find the right people and websites to contact. These tools show you who’s already linking to similar content or talking about your topic, making your outreach much easier and more effective.
Send Personalized Outreach Emails
Now your next step is to send personalized outreach emails. Make sure during this step you are focused on the personalization element because generic outreach emails rarely work. People get so many of these that they usually ignore them. To stand out, you need to build a real connection so your messages need to be thoughtful and relevant. Here is how to do it correctly:
- Mention something specific about their business to establish a connection with them without sounding creepy
- Share your recent work
- Explain how your content would be useful to their audience
Go Beyond Emails
Emailing is not the only way to promote your content. There are other channels as well that can help you amplify your visibility. Put them to use. Share your piece in LinkedIn groups, Facebook communities, and industry forums.
You can consider repurposing your content to make a digestible form of content like short videos, social media posts, IG carousels and newsletter content.
You can also use retargeting ads on LinkedIn and Facebook to reconnect with the visitors who have previously shown interest in your content.
Summing Up
The Skyscraper SEO technique works best when you approach it carefully, sticking to its core principles. Those who have succeeded with this method understand that it’s most effective as part of a well-rounded digital marketing plan. Combining skyscraping with other strategies like social media promotion, email outreach, and paid advertising often leads to even stronger results.
As an experienced digital marketing and SEO agency, we know how to maximize these techniques to deliver real impact. If you are looking to boost your site’s authority and improve your sales funnel, our years of expertise can help you achieve your goals. Reach out today for a free proposal.
FAQs
Q1. What Are The Advanced Tips To Succeed With Skyscraper SEO?
The advance tips to success with your skyscraping technique include:
- Make sure your content is directly answering what users are searching for.
- Keep your user experience flawless as it matters alot these days.
- Keep your content updated with the latest information to boost its credibility.
- Include examples in your content.
- Anticipate the follow up questions users may have and go deeper into related queries. It will make your page comprehensive and extremely helpful resource. It will help you keep users engaged on your page for longer times.
- Link your skyscraper content from other pages on your site. It helps with SEO, improves crawlability, and enhances the user journey.
Q2. What Are The Common Mistakes To Avoid While Creating Skyscraper Content?
While using skyscraper technique make sure to avoid these common mistakes:
- Do not pick topics that lack search demand or long term relevance.
- Adding merely words and not being able to provide the substance in your content is a big mistake that many people make.
- Anything that can make your user experience bad, be it loading speed or bad formatting should be avoided at all costs.
- Don’t get carried away with keyword stuffing.
- Promoting your content is essential for success. If you skip this step, even the best content may never reach its full potential.
Q3. What Are The Best Tools For the Skyscraper SEO Technique?
You are going to need tools to find out what content is already performing well, and how you can make something better. They also help you find the right people to reach out. Here are some popular tools you can rely on:
- To find top ranking content and check backlinks, use Ahrefs or Semrush.
- BuzzSumo is great for discovering popular topics.
- Hunter.io is good for finding email addresses for outreach.
Q4. Does The Skyscraper Technique Still Work In 2025?
Yes, it absolutely does. But you need to do it smartly as explained in this blogpost.
