that's a really good question, and honestly it's one I see a lot of people wrestling with. think of it like building a better house versus just adding a nicer front door to the one next door.
If you try to inch closer to the current #1 by making your #3 page 'a bit better' in the same way they're good, you're playing their game. They're established, they've got backlinks, they've got authority. You can win a few battles that way, but it's exhausting and they'll always be able to pivot back.
what often lasts longer is looking at what the #1 does and asking, 'What would happen if we solved the same need in a completely different way?' A tangential angle, a new format, a fresher structure. it's not about outranking them on their own turf-it's about creating a new piece of turf where they'd have to rebuild their entire foundation to compete. that's a much higher barrier for them.
So no, not a stupid question at all. you're already thinking about long-term defensibility rather than just a short-term bump. Keep that instinct
