Writing for Potential Customers Not for the Machines!

Hi everyone,

Back in the days (early 2000’s), you could write your targeted keyword about 50 times per page, do a few other tricks and you had made it. Hooray! This “tactic” was used by many for search engine ranking purposes.

But did it serve any real marketing and public relations value? The answer is quite clear.

Today, in 2016, the search engines are much much more advanced and sophisticated. Google’s algorithms have tremendously evolved and decipher content in a completely different fashion.

Writing Content for Your Customers

First let me say that content is not a dead topic. It is more alive than ever. And the future of content looks bright.

The winners at this game of content will be those who write for their customers or potential clients. It will be those who write “naturally”. Naturally? Well, I meant natural as opposed to content that totally feels “artificial” because it’s trying to place keywords every other words.

A different approach to content is needed today. Content should convey exactly what desired effect you intend to create. And that’s not about keywords.

Definitely a new perspective on content. Well, I should say “new”. As it did go astray for a few years with this search engine game. Content didn’t use to be all about keywords, right?

Writing with this in mind, you gain time in the long run. You also gain quality content. And you gain customers. Content, marketing and public relations all meet at the same dinner table and that’s how you save time.

Content with HELP Stamped All Over

What is the keyword usually associated with a company of great reputation? Isn’t usually HELP. You could probably also call it service.

Help will usually be felt when it’s sincere.

Today, you will see some beautiful piece of content that are doing just that and at the same time hard selling their product/service.

Hard sell doesn’t necessarily mean flashing neon, buy now buy now buy NOW and billboards in your face. I view hard sell as lots of care and help toward the customer, plus asking for the sale (of course). But I’ve seen too many times sellers who really care barely have to ask for the sale. The customer is just sold.

Here, Help is translated by giving the exact information that the customer needs throughout your content.

Also when looking at the competition, not two companies offer the exact quality service even when in the same industry. The customer needs to know that (put it in your content).

Additionally, you can get extra traffic from the search engines by providing articles that are specifically orientated toward tips, advice, how-to’s, etc. These are usually appreciated. And though they may not directly lead to a sale, know that it’s presence and that your company as been seen.

If your company as a lot to say, say it “naturally”. Don’t even bother with the keywords, they will just show up, well, naturally. And that simply because you are talking about that particular topic.

Aim at Not Being Redundant in Your Content

If a company seems to not have much to say, then some may get caught in the trap of keywords. How? By listing out a bunch of similar popular keywords and writing a page about each of one of them. This technique may still work but if your company has little to cover, then work on quality. Make the best page for that particular keyword/topic.

But do you know an industry where there isn’t much to say? If you know of one, let me know. And that’s where a content strategist comes in. Usually with some research we can double or triple the number of topics in cases of “there wasn’t much to say”. (And yes, of course, there are industries that have a much smaller scope, less depth, to start with.)

When writing articles for the main body of your website based on a list of similar popular keywords, articles can start to sound the same, and that is getting trapped in the game of keywords. And again, writing for the machines. Google doesn’t like redundancy, it makes for a poor quality website. Writing blog posts about updated news on the same topic is different, I’m mainly referring to the core articles of your site.