Speed Dating: 7 Users You Should Meet -- Part I
I know it's a little early for New Year's resolutions, but if there's one thing I would focus on in 2010 -- it's outreach. By that I mean take the great content on your site, hand it a suitcase and a toothbrush and say, "Hit the road. Go out there and meet some new people."
When you cut through the latest technology associated with SEO, RSS, mobile, social media -- it all boils down to meeting new people -- or at the very least introducing yourself. To that end, I've detailed the first two people you should try to meet over the course of the next year. The only stipulation is that you identify your target audience. Whether you sell tennis equipment or the latest news -- there's a particular community that's interested in your content. And you need to meet those people wherever they congregate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridasupercon/ / CC BY 2.0
Ms. Cut-To-The-Chase
She needs the answer now and prefers a search engine to find her content -- usually Google, but she's sampling Bing. That means to meet her you'll need to hit the SEO gym and get your pages in search-engine shape. Don't worry, the basics of optimizing for search are not super hard. We're talking about picking the right keywords to target, getting your page titles in order, checking your keyword usage and adding the other on-page optimization details wherever possible. Link building is a critical piece, but we'll cover that with another speed-dating candidate.
Just consider what your site is best at, and which people stand to benefit from that content, service or product. Then identify the search terms they use, and optimize for them. Few strategies will get your content in front of more new people that are in your wheelhouse than a good SEO upgrade.
The Informer
This visitor's from Foley, Ala. and his favorite restaurant is Lambert's Cafe -- Home of the Throwed Roll. He can attest that at Lambert's, you're likely to catch a steaming hot roll in the ear. But everyone leaves with a full belly and a story to share about the one they caught or didn't catch. That's their gimmick. Customers spread the tale of the hot throwed roll. That's how The Informer heard about it, and consequently how his friends learned of it.
That's why you need to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to share your content. A user who signs up for a monthly newsletter might comeback 12 times a year. One who posts it on his/her Facebook, puts it in front of (on average) 130 friends. That's a recommendation from a trusted source, and that's the power of social media.
Next, make your RSS feeds prominent, but describe them in common language people understand like "subscribe." Display buttons for easy bookmarking and sharing within their social site of choice. AddThis offers free customizable buttons that are cut-and-paste. Even "e-mail a friend" and "print this" resonate with some users -- so give them options. Posting a simple "retweet button" urging users to Tweet your content to their legions of Twitter followers can make a dramatic impact. Video can, too. Most players offer embed and direct link functions that help expose your content to new audiences and put the accompanying linkbacks on new sites.
In short, people want others to think of them as knowledgeable. Therefore they want to share your content, especially if it's particularly newsy, funny, interesting or helpful. And not because it helps you, but because it makes them look smart, funny, interesting or helpful. This isn't Jerry Maguire's exact quote, but, "Help them, help you!"
Coming soon: Profiles of "Mr. I. Need-Validation" and "Wally Joiner"
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