SEO Content Building and Critical Thinking and Writing-
Congrats to me!
I’m out of the sandbox! Really that doesn’t mean a whole lot except I passed the 90 day mark of my probation time at MorePro, I have more hours to work and the SEO team hasn’t killed me from the infinite list of questions I have. But the fact of the matter is that even though I’m out of the Sandbox, I’m still very much covered in sand. I’m still learning a lot. Lucky for me (someone who gets bored way too easily), SEO is always changing and it’s CRITICAL to keep up on the changes or you will be left in the trail of deleted link dust that reaks of spam…
I was hired here at MorePro for my writing skills and experience with Internet related skills. Although I am also learning all of the technical stuff of Search Engine Optimization I’m also applying the writing and technical communication skills that I learned in college. One of the things I’m talking about today is critical thinking and writing.
Let’s not kid ourselves, SEO CONTENT IS IMPORTANT- Your content will be your stationary salesman. If your potential customers are reading your content, then how important is it to get through to them?
Let’s break this down into our basic rhetorical factors. This may seem very elementary, but way too often do writers forget about what the purpose of the document is about and focus on just expressing their point.
Who? – Who is your audience? Old? Young? Skilled? Unskilled? Is there a history behind your clients? What social class are you writing to? Any kind of description is helpful in this situation – The writing of your content needs to be first focused on “who” your audience is because if you forget who they are then you will never get through to them in the first place. Remember, YOU’RE writing this, but it’s not FOR YOU. What makes sense to you may not make sense to them? Does this mean you need to be breaking down technical terms and jargon for new readers or perhaps using technical terms and jargon to save time for your skilled audience? Remember WHO you’re writing for, because it’s not about YOU!
What? – What are you writing? Website content? Emails? Articles? Instructions? Descriptions? Once you’ve figured out who your audience is, you have to DEFINE what you’re writing. Beyond what kind of document you’re writing, there are infinite other versions of “what” you’re writing like “what you want out of it”? Do you want the reader to take action, be informed, be persuaded, or in most cases, just click the back button adding to your bounce rate percentage? I was once told the difference between dreams and goals is that dreams are in your head and able to shift but goals are defined, something written down that you can begin working towards. The same applies to the WHAT section of this blog. Define your writing and the purpose of it without forgetting who your audience is.
When? – The “when” section of this blog could or could not be relevant to your writing, but it should be. Some questions to ask when are, when should the reader take action, when is the event happening, when will you be available for feedback or interaction? There is an infinite and ad hoc list of when’s that will appear in your writing. The important part is to have a when because by not providing a time frame, you’re not putting your readers in a situation where they must make a decision. If your readers are reading your content and don’t find a time frame in your writing, they will most likely move passed it and within a few minutes forget it. Don’t let your customers forget you-
Where? – The where of writing is pretty self explanatory but very critical none-the-less. Your reader needs to know where to go once you have convinced them to take action. Do they need to go to your physical location, web site or other affiliates etc? Consider the where step number one for the list of actions after you’ve convinced your reader to take action. In which the where, may bring another whole set of rhetorical thinking behind it (In PPC Marketing, this element is the most crucial one to work with because of the limited characters and space).Many writers will lose sight of this step because they were too focused on explaining how great their product and or service was. If you forget to have direction for those who are convinced to take action it will be about as useless as a “insert your niche here” fairy tale. It’s just a story at that point.
How? – Considering the “how” of you’re content is also rhetorical in nature and intertwines with some of the other elements in this blog. How will your reader take action? How will your subject benefit the reader? How do you plan on keeping their eyes on the content? How is your subject feasible? There are infinite possibilities and results for a “how” on your content, but every how must have two elements and that is simplicity and feasibility. Your reader needs to know that the action they’re going to take is going to be easy and that it can ACTUALLY be done. Don’t make your readers life a pain in the neck with complex instructions that are only partially convincing or beneficial.
In conclusion, I have listed these elements as tips to benefit both the writer and the reader the writer is writing for. Because content building is such a grand opportunity for organic search results and link building strategies, you’re content needs to be 100% quality. Out of all this, there is one INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THEME!
NEVER EVER FORGET YOUR AUDIENCE!
Don’t find yourself getting caught up in explaining what is going on in your head, because more than likely it won’t make sense to the reader. And be listening to your customers, they’re not stupid, they’re always right. Someone that is unwilling to take feedback from their customers has already lost this battle anyways.