If you have been posting content online for many years, you’ve probably seen the way that SEO strategy has shifted. Years ago, online content was primarily meant to connect companies to other companies, or professionals in the field. These days, consumer-focused content is the best way to get your company noticed online. Here’s how to tell if your content is really reaching the consumer.

Are you writing your content for your target audience?

SEO marketing only works when you are using the keywords that connect to the right audience. If you don’t know your audience, you won’t be able to choose the right content that connects to the audience. You have to hit the target, so to speak, by knowing your audience’s personality traits, their goals, their needs, their problems, and what makes them hesitate to commit to an action. Build that personality profile of your ideal customer, and write all your content to them.

Does your content make people feel something? If so, what?

Another way to ensure that you are more focused on consumer-based content instead of algorithm-pleasing SEO marketing is to consider what your content may make people feel. How do you want them to feel? If you are selling something, you likely want them to feel that there is a sense of urgency to buy your product. If you want to showcase yourself as an expert, you want your audience to come away feeling like they learned something.

Does your content turn the spotlight back to the consumer?

People love a business that focuses itself on being all about the customer, and you can do this in your content as well. Great consumer-focused content puts the focus back on their needs and behaviors, not on your product. Don’t talk about what your product offers, but rather what problem the consumer has that will be solved.

Does your content use business jargon that creates a wall?

The number one thing you want to do with consumer-focused content is to remove any sort of division between you and the consumer. You want them to feel like you’re all a part of the same team. One way to make yourself feel distant is to use business jargon that the consumer doesn’t use every day, and may not understand. This was part of SEO for business-to-business writing, but real customers aren’t doing searches for “value-added products.”

Does your content encourage engagement?

Finally, consider whether your content is making your audience want to engage. If you aren’t getting comments, likes, shares, and lots of views, you can probably bet that your content isn’t connecting to your consumers. Consider asking questions, encouraging debate, using hashtag games to connect to your audience more, and using other techniques beyond SEO to get more views on your pages.

If you want to learn more, contact Organically or learn more about our SEO marketing services here.