How to Do Skyscraper Technique for Content

What the skyscraper technique is

The skyscraper technique is a content method where you find a popular page that already earned links, create something noticeably better, and then reach out to the people who linked to the original. You build on proven demand rather than guessing what might attract attention.

The logic is simple: if people linked to a good version, they will often link to a better one. The hard part is making yours genuinely better, not just longer, and then doing the outreach that actually earns the links.

How to apply the skyscraper technique

1. 1
   Find a linked-to page

   Use a backlink tool to find a popular page in your niche that earned many links.

2. 2
   Identify the gaps

   Study what the original does well and where it falls short.

3. 3
   Build a better version

   Make yours deeper, fresher, more visual, or more useful.

4. 4
   Find who linked

   Pull the list of sites that linked to the original.

5. 5
   Reach out

   Contact those sites and show them your improved resource.

Ways to make yours better

Going deeper than the basics

Once the core steps become routine, the real gains come from depth rather than from doing more of the same. Spend extra time on the parts that decide whether the work pays off, like choosing the right target, validating your assumptions against real data, and measuring the outcome after you act. Most teams have the mechanics down but skip the verification, which is why results stay flat even when effort is high.

A useful habit is to write down what you expect before you start. If you predict a page will rank for a certain term, or a tactic will move a certain metric, you have something concrete to check later. Expectations that miss are more valuable than ones that hit, because they show you exactly where your model of how this works is wrong. Treat each project as a small experiment and your judgment compounds quickly.

Do not overlook the tools that make this repeatable. Options like Ahrefs, Semrush, BuzzStream remove the manual drudgery from find a linked-to page and free you to focus on the decisions that actually move the needle. The goal is to spend your attention where it matters, not to do everything by hand to prove a point.

Signs your version is truly better

• It covers important points the original missed.
• The data and examples are current, not stale.
• It is easier to read or scan than the original.
• A reader would pick yours over the original without prompting.

Skyscraper technique in rough numbers

Putting It Into Practice

The hardest part of any new process is the first run. Pick one real page or project and work through every step end to end before you roll it out across your whole site. A single completed example exposes the rough edges and gives you a template to copy for the rest.

Once the first one works, write the steps down in a shared doc so the process does not live only in your head. A short checklist that anyone can follow turns a one-off effort into a repeatable habit. The aim is steady, measurable progress rather than a perfect first attempt.