Establishing your Content Identity

So many published content in the web today – it is an infinite sea of words. Do we need another SEO article published from SEO Hacker when there are so many SEO articles to choose from already? Why don’t you just sit back and relax Sean – we have more than enough publishers choking out content about SEO.

This is part of a tutorial series entitled Content Strategy from SEO School where you can learn SEO that works.

Yeah there are so many publishers. So many bright minds. So many great, exceptional content being churned out every day. One thing they don’t have. One thing unique to me.

My content’s identity. Writer’s voice is how some will put it.

This voice is unique to each and every writer. What makes your voice unique? What makes it attract people?

Simple.

There should be only one person your content is addressing. One person your content is talking to.

That person is your perfect kind of reader.

User Profiling

Think of the one person you are going to talk to with your content. Is that person in a hurry? Is that person frustrated? Looking for a solution? Looking for fun? Or perhaps just looking to learn?

For me that person is someone who has little to no knowledge of SEO and who doesn’t want to beat around the bush in learning it.

This person is busy. This person is hungry for SEO info. This person is curious. This person is who I was when I was starting out as an SEO specialist.

And I write having that kind of person in mind. My content’s identity centers around my voice and how I address this person (which is perfect because this person was me before – so I know what this person wants, how this person feels, and how I can deliver).

When you’re doing user profiling, you need not go so far as to profile the age, sex, height, weight, and whatnot of the person you’re trying to address. Just the important ones. The ones that make them such a perfect reader to you.

Writer’s voice

No ones wants to listen to an automated phone operator. Dial 1 for this, dial 2 for that. This is a machine talking to you. It wouldn’t really understand your concern. It’s voice is stale and repetitive. It’s manner of speaking does not emit any notion of care or warmth at all. It has a voice but it does not have a personality.

You don’t want your blog to be an automated phone operator. You want it to have a voice with a personality. Your personality. Don’t try to be someone else when you write. Trying to be someone else means that there are now two of you – which means you’re the excess.

Notice how I write? It’s about the same way I write as all my other content even in my God and You blog. This gives off consistency – and the people who like my writing style get to keep on enjoying it.

I certainly hope you do.

The best thing about writing as SEO Hacker is that I’m me – and it’s so easy to be yourself. Being a company with a lot of writers / bloggers is a different thing. That’s why I encourage the writers not to hide behind the brand – but let yourself be known.

See the ‘About Sean’ author bio below every one of my post? That tells you that the content is written by me and not a guest blogger. You owe it to your readers to tell them why there is a change of voice – often because it’s a different writer.

Niche

I don’t talk about life insurance in my blog. The obvious reason is that my blog is all about internet marketing. To narrow it even further, my blog is about SEO. There is a niche that I’m sticking to. This niche reinforces my content’s identity.

SEO Hacker = SEO and internet marketing

Narrowing it down even further, my laser-focused niche is all about teaching SEO in simple terms. My writing style about teaching SEO is simple, concise, straight to the point, immediately applicable, and easy to understand.

Are there any other websites in that niche? Perhaps.

Does that make me only one of the many publishers? Probably.

That is why you have to make sure that in the laser-focused niche that you’re in, you are the best.

I’ll be writing about a ‘User Experience Approach to Content Strategy’ for the next lesson of this tutorial – this is where I tell you how to be the best in your laser-focused niche.

Like this entry? There are so many more free tutorials in SEO Hacker School – why don’t you check it out?