seojealous

disclaimer: i am not calling rand fishkin out. honest.

while reading rand’s summer lull post on seomoz this morning, his commentary on the following point caught my eye:

20 to 25% of the queries we see today, we have never seen before 

yes, that’s a huge chunk. but is it ”daunting, overwhelming, all-consuming”? nah. i agree with rand that user generated content is a great tool for capturing long tail opportunities, but i couldn’t help but dwell on his choice of words (the emphasis is mine):

“no matter how proliferate a writer you are and no matter how excellent your editorial work, you can never match the power of UGC…”

here’s the inherent problem: seo is not about you. when you spend more time thinking about your techniques and the assets you can leverage than you spend thinking about your visitors, you’re forgetting marketing 101. marketing is all about the me - i’m your audience. i don’t care about you and your excellent skills. i’ve got a problem. i need something. i’m looking for stuff.   

the key to successful long tail optimization is knowing your audience, and anticipating their needs. before drafting content, do some homework. simple keyword research only scratches the surface. think about who you’re writing to. if you’re selling high chairs, cruise some new mommy message boards to uncover their most dreaded mealtime challenges. if you’re pushing skateboards, it’s not enough to slap ‘tony hawk’ in your title tag and call it a night. who’s on the scene right now? what are the sickest new tricks? and do the kids still say ‘sick,’ or was that so three years ago?

take some time to really research your ideal visitor. what does this person do when not busy buying your gear? think about what they read, what they write, and where they go to get information. are they afraid of something? (wrinkles? aging? getting caught wearing last season’s jeans?) facebook, people magazine, bad summer reality tv, political blogs, digg, the local record store - clues are everywhere, and pop culture is your friend. if you get really desperate, try something drastic: talk to some real, live people who you’d like to bring in to your site. if you’re in house for an online retail site, track down a customer service rep and ask if you can field a couple calls. if you’re consulting from the outside, get creative. go out and meet your target market. they’re folks like us, after all.

the long tail presents enormous opportunities, and if you understand your market and cater to your audience, you’ll be well-positioned to benefit. yes, go ahead and engage your visitors and let them supply you with delicious, free user-generated web content, but never trust them to do your dirty work. there’s nothin’ beats some highly targeted content, written in the appropriate vernacular, incorporating slang terms and synonyms, addressing current trends, supplying how-to tips, playing to your crowd’s hopes and dreams. your content is never ‘finished.’ keep writing.

and if you don’t have to write your own content, don’t forget to pay your copywriter. he/she is cranky, and delirious from lack of sleep. heck, go in there right now and tell him/her how fabulous he/she is. better bring some strong coffee with you.