9 examples of brands using content marketing and appearing as a top result

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Even in 2025, there’s a big question: Is content marketing actually effective?

I wrote this post to highlight how thoughtful content creation in blogging can lead to powerful results for brands.

Here are examples of businesses doing content marketing and blogging right. As a result, they’re appearing as a top post on Google SERPs (search engine results pages) and getting traffic, leads, and conversions.

I’ve also added what these businesses are doing right (and wrong) and how their efforts can be improved. Dive in!

9 companies killing it with content and appearing as a top Google search result!

From small brands and individuals to massive corporations – here are examples to inspire you.

1. Foxtale (India)

This new skincare brand in India understands its audience’s concerns.

If you want to learn if the ingredient retinol causes purging, then Foxtale will help.

Typing in a keyword like ‘Does retinol cause purging’ or ‘retinol purging’ shows that Foxtale is at the top of the SERPs.

The two images above show how Google highlights different content in the description based on the exact keyword or phrase used.

If a person looks for ‘does retinol cause purging’ then the description under Foxtale answers ‘Yes.’

However, in the first image, just looking for ‘retinol purging’ gives you a short answer to what purging is all about.

What Foxtale does right:

The brand gives short and specific answers to variations of a query in the same post. This way, Google pulls up content related to what the user asks.
They have a pleasant reading experience on the blog itself.
They cover all relevant issues related to the topic in sufficient depth like How long does retinol purging last and how to minimize retinol purging.
Interestingly, Foxtale has blog content in multiple Indian languages! I’ve never seen an Indian cosmetics brand do this. It shows how serious the company is about their content marketing. Kudos to the team behind the effort!

What Foxtale can do better:

There’s a great deal of white space that can be used better. An offer or discount in the sidebar for the specific product could be the trigger a reader needs to buy.
Use more images within the content itself. Especially towards the conclusion where they describe how Foxtale’s retinol product can avoid skin drying and purging.

2. The House of Rose (India)

The House of Rose is a premier jewelry destination located in Mumbai, India.

The company blends innovative jewelry design with the use of natural gemstones sure to capture attention.

It currently ranks second for keywords related to whether gemstones are a good investment. This is specifically for the Indian market.

What it’s doing right: It knows that actual buyers are wondering if gemstones have investment value and it answers their question directly.

The site says: Gemstones are an untapped investment segment and therefore, have high potential. Like gold, they are a safe bet. During a recession, when the stock market is turbulent or when currency is losing value, gemstones haven’t failed. You may have a smaller set of buyers for your stone, but even in an economic crisis, a good gemstone’s value does not deteriorate. Source.

It also lists the most valuable gemstones for investment, the big four: tanzanite, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.

By answering the question directly and adding extra value by mentioning the best types of gems, it helps buyers and also invites them to explore what the brand has to offer.

What it can do better: The House of Rose answers the question well but could also benefit from getting leads via an optin form or popup that invites site visitors to get a free consultation.

3. Bob’s Red Mill (Global)

Type ‘blanched vs unblanched almond flour’ or ‘difference between blanched and unblanched almond flour’ and Bob’s Red Mill’s blog is at the very top. (It used to be a featured snippet but not holds spot no 2 after Anthony’s Goods.)

People who want more information can click on the link and learn more. This shows that Bob’ Red Mill is an authority on the topic and customers are likely to browse the site and buy products.

What Bob’s Red Mill does right: The page has a timely popup form that captures leads.

What it can do better: Bob’s Red Mill should create a recipe ebook and offer that as a lead magnet on this page. Most people look up almond flour recipes for healthier eating.

Bob’s could drive more leads with a recipe lead magnet instead of just inviting people to become ‘insiders’ – which is still good because it excites customers who want to be part of something exclusive.

4. Shopify (Global)

Shopify is a mega brand in The E-Commerce space and already ranks as a top result for anything to do with creating online stores.

However, it’s interesting to see how it targets a variety of ‘smaller’ keywords i.e. Once that have lower searches but are still relevant to its target audience.

For example, search for‘sustainable packaging solutions for small businesses’; Shopify is a top result.

What they do right: They have six incisive and actionable tips for sustainable packaging. However, the real value comes from the examples they use. They feature multiple real sellers who build sustainability into their small business practice.

The content is as much story as ideas and interested small business owners also get links to helpful resources. Shopify’s page also has a relevant call-to-action in the left page panel inviting new users to sign up.

What it can do better: It could address not only current business owners but also ones in the ideation and planning stage.

5. BBC Good Food (Global)

I typed ‘benefits of eating tofu’ and BBC’s Good Food website showed up at the very top.

What it does right: It gives a simple list of benefits – which is what the reader wants. It also expands on these points in more detail later. It provides sources for its claims. And it links to other recipes, videos, and pages – keeping traffic on BBC longer.

What it can do better: Not a whole lot actually. Given the topic and the industry, it’s following all the best practices. Although, the sheer number of ads might put many people off.

6. Huda Beauty (Global)

Huda Beauty is a world-recognized beauty brand that doesn’t need much help getting traffic or brand authority.

However, it’s clear that it has a great content team behind it. Search for ‘how to shape eyebrows’ and Huda’s blog on shaping one’s eyebrows ranks as the first result.

Huda ranks at the first spot because:

It’s a reputed authority in the beauty industry
It adds a helpful angle to the answer to how to shape one’s eyebrows – it focuses on flattering the face which is what most people want
It also features multiple face shapes

What it does right: It shares tips by experts, showcases helpful diagrams, includes visuals, and is comprehensive while providing real value. Most people would find all the answers they need right on the page.

What it can do better: This is the perfect opportunity to convert readers to buyers. Readers could use a 10% discount to buy an eye-product or head to another page related to eye makeup and care.

7. NexGard (Global)

Animal lovers rely on search results to answer many important questions about their pets’ well-being.

For example, a cat owner might ask ‘what veggies can a cat eat’. An Australian firm called Nexgard answers this question with a helpful post on human foods cats can eat.

The brand ranks at the very top of the SERP. Cat owners can easily learn about the best foods for their cats and they’re likely to get curious about NexGard.

In all likelihood, a pet owner on this site will explore it to learn more about how the company helps protect their beloved animal family members.

What it does right:

NexGard answers the question ‘what vegetables cats can eat’ in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.
They also add helpful related information in the middle of the content like a video with a feline medicine specialist. This boosts their authority in the subject.
Readers will get curious about how NexGard products help animals and they’re going to stick around and learn more about the brand’s products.

What it can do better:

I don’t love the user experience over all. They can improve the page layout, use more readable fonts, and add more links or CTAs to their other pages and products.

8. Kastur Jewels (Global)

I like this example because it shows how a business can jump on a trend or seasonal topic and make it evergreen.

For example, Netflix’s Bridgerton series releases every few years and Season 2’s success led to a number of queries related to fashion and jewellery.

Someone who looks for ‘Bridgerton Kate Sharma jewelry’ or any variation of that key phrase will be interested in the source of the character’s earrings and necklaces.

And Kastur Jewels, London understood this well. They cleverly created a dedicated page for Kate Sharma’s jewelry and featured the popular earrings and necklaces fans adored.

The jewelry company is at the third spot in the search results, they get great branding, and they showcase their products to Bridgerton fans who are likely to convert.

Kastur Jewels didn’t miss a beat and ensured their business showed up for relevant terms.

The brand focused on storytelling and information – answering the audience’s desire to know more about the character’s jewelry.

What Kastur Jewels does right:

They leveraged a connection that was available to them! They already won big by getting their pieces featured on a prominent Netflix show. But they also took great advantage of an opportunity to organically drive traffic to their site. Many businesses fail to use such leverage.
They focused on the story of the products. Fans of Kanthony will likely leave the page if it’s only about the jewels and driving sales. The company was smart to feature the most popular scenes around the romantic protagonists and allow readers to explore their other offerings on their own time.

Sorry, I love Bridgerton S2. I had to include this.

What they do better:

I believe they’ve done great from a content marketing perspective. They could create more Bridgerton-inspired campaigns and jewelry for fans (though this is probably not possible due to licensing issues).

9. Coursera (Global)

Coursera is a top e-learning platform that has some serious content chops behind its online presence.

A student or business leader who looks for ‘how to think analytically’ will find Coursera as a top result with the answers they’re looking for.

In the image above, Coursera appears as a featured snippet for ‘how to think analytically’.

However, it also ranks at the second spot for ‘what is analytical thinking’ and even the broad keyphrase ‘analytical thinking’.

Coursera is in a unique position to benefit from ranking for these terms. As an educational platform, it has a special opportunity to sell its courses on critical and analytical thinking.

What it does right:

Coursera uses its authoritative status to rank for relevant keywords and terms.
Even though the actual keywords are about developing critical thinking skills, the site knows that the searchers are open to online courses to develop these skills. They include courses to data analytics and related programs users might be interested in.

What Coursera can do better:

While it does target the right keywords, the actual content promotes data analytics, security analytics, and similar courses. It does push the boundary when it comes to actual relevance. But Google is rewarding the site anyway, so what do I know?

Missed opportunities in content marketing

There are many opportunities and areas where brands are failing to leverage content marketing.

Most businesses hyper-focus on immediately obvious keywords and fail to consider lesser searched-for questions and problems.

For example, there are almost no art websites and e-commerce stores answering the question: Do watercolors get mold?

The top results belong to Quora and a small artist studio. Online art brands like Jackson’s Art Supplies and Faber-Castell are sleeping on an opportunity to help their communities and appear as top search results to their ideal customers.

Another example is ‘What is amapiano music?’.

Blogs and media houses can get on this keyword fast by creating detailed posts. At the moment, Wikipedia holds the top place for this term. But imagine the opportunities to rank for this by creating a cluster of posts surrounding a main post on amapiano music fundamentals.

These are just a few examples of countless opportunities businesses can tap into. Next, look at how you can find keyword opportunities.

How to tap into missed keywords and phrases

Dive into your product, and audience’s lives: Don’t just learn about your product – get viscerally involved with it. This means using it daily, joining forums and talking about it, and experiencing problems as your customers do. Untapped pain points and keyword ideas will emerge naturally. List them and start making content.
Take notes the old-fashioned way: Use a notepad or paper and a pen to list ideas as they come up. Brainstorm all the pain points and needs related to a subject and get started with those ideas. You can build on such content as
Use Answer the Public: This has to be one of my favourite tools ever! Answer the Public gathers together all the auto-complete suggestions when you type a query on Google. Search for ‘best AI…’ and Google suggests completing this term with ‘tools… software… tips’ and so on. ATP just gathers them all together in an organized way.
Use Also Asked: This tool gathers together questions other users ask in relation to a query. If you look for ‘study tools’, Google tells you that others also asked ‘What are some good study techniques?’. Tap into these opportunities for content creation.
Be active on forums: Reddit, Quora, Substack, Y Combinator, Indiehackers, Tom’s Hardware, Bodybuilding.com, and others are places where people ask questions related to your business. Be active in the right communities and forums and look for opportunities to provide value through answers and blog posts.

You find content marketing opportunities by doing constant research. It’s not a one-and-done situation where you only use topics generated by Semrush or Ahrefs and build your content.