Recently we have talked about a lot of deep subjects on Blogussion and now I want to blend them all together into a very practical application of deeper concepts.
Most of the discussion we had with our readers about the different subjects all lead to a similar conclusion > the user’s perception is what really matters. With concept in mind I will briefly summarize our 3 articles and their effects upon our conclusion.
What is Quality Content? – The first article this week discussed in depth the perception of quality content. As the discussion has evolved readers have lead me to ask a few questions. Is quality content in the eye of the beholder? Also if it is in the user’s perception then does it really matter what we teach as long as its presented well? You see we had a great comment that reminded us that teachers everyday spend hours teaching students information that is unoriginal. The key is that the information is new to the students/users. Also many teachers try to present the material in a unique way. So I guess a conclusion is that the user’s perception of the content is all that matters.
If the users like list posts, short summaries, etc. then provide what they want. You are there to teach them in the way they like the best. The heart of the quality content issue is the conclusion > quality is in the eye of the user.
Reaching New Customers – Our next article discusses the concept of changing our perception of the user to increase our ability keep our users happy and increase customers. Some of the useful ideas coming from our comments section included ideas like:
- Keeping current users happy is easier than trying replace them
- Business is Personal > Develop relationships with your blog users
- Time spent on your blog should be valuable to the user
Using these ideas to understand how to keep current readers and get new visitors helps us see the importance of developing relationships with our users and providing them with a unique experience.
We View Making Money Blogging Badly – The third article this week focused on us as bloggers. We bloggers are so limited to a few income streams. Mainly we look at advertising, unless you are Blogussion (No Ads), to make our six-figure income without thinking about diversifying our incomes through other means.
The heart of the make money blogging discussion comes back again to the user. What does the user want to buy, click on, and participate in? How can we provide resources worthy of paying for? The answers to these questions come back to providing quality for our users by understanding them and building a relationship with them.
I hope now you are seeing where I am going with this post. Its all about understanding and getting to know the user. The more you know about the user the better you will be able to ask the right questions, promote the right products, and write the best posts. Customizing your blog to meet these unique concepts is important.
Designing with the User in Mind
Your blog design is a massive part of how you interact with your users. Getting a custom design or customizing your design to fit the needs of your users and providing a natural funnel to help them convert your goals into reality is important.
I recently wrote the article: Designing with the User in Mind
Focusing on designing for advertisers, products, membership sites, and content helped me see how important getting a custom design built for your needs was. Here are a few things I learned about design that you should think about.
- Blog Design should be natural and focused on your goals and objectives
- Blog Design should funnel the user to end up always on your primary goals… clicking advertising, buying products, reading your messages.
- Blog Design should be helping you keep readers and build new relationships
- Blog Design is the meeting place for getting to know your users… so make it attractive
Also I would ask yourself the question: What do users see when they visit my site?
If you don’t know the answer to that question then make sure you experiment with it. For instance try going to a new blog you have never been to and perhaps not in a niche you are familiar with. Then right when you go to the blog notice what you see first. Where do your eyes go? What do you look at? What do you think there goals are for you as the reader? Did they accomplish them?
After doing this little experiment try to go back to other sites you are familiar with and do the same thing.
Writing with the User in Mind
We often try different approaches based on different users and I think it works great. For instance Blogussion’s sister site is Unique Blog. Unique blog’s approach to writing is very different then Blogussions. Here on Blogussion we focus on longer articles with lots of details to get you thinking. At Unique Blog the focus is on very different things.
Unique Blog approach to writing for the user:
- Make the posts short and easy to understand
- Write less than 350 words for every post
- Make the posts about one detail
The key is not the length of the articles but rather the focus. The point of Unique Blog is to offer quick tips to readers looking for a specific answer. Another feature of the blog is to focus the reader to coming to Blogussion. Its purpose then is to funnel its readers to our content on Blogussion. After analyzing the way the writing is working statistically – - I would say it is working quite nicely.
Marketing with the User in Mind
DoshDosh is an excellent blog every blogger should read. Recently there was a powerful article on social media marketing and it takes the reader into the mind of a user.
I think article is powerful in describing how to better market to users after we know more about them. Here is a fantastic quote from the article:
“If you’re trying to build links, your target audience should be people with the ability to link or influence links. (e.g. bloggers, social media users). While your social media goals may partially determine the crowd to target, your business model is also an important factor to consider. What are you selling and who is likely to be interested?”
Marketing to the user means you are seeking to build natural connections with your readers and future users. The best way to market to maximize your new users is by focusing on potential users who can (1) Help you promote (2) Connect more naturally. The fastest and easiest way to build users to your blog is by connecting with like minded people first. If you write a blog about traveling then the fastest and easiest way to build a readership is by finding the avid travelers. They will connect with you easily and spread the word for you. Then over time your reach will increase and include non-travel related individuals.
Conclusion
If you blog with the user in mind you will find much great success in all of your blogging ventures. Remember to design, write and market for the reader to find the greatest success. Otherwise you will just be blogging for yourself.
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?Simply to say, put yourselves in the shoes of users or readers. That could help to grow more and this is applicable to all the niches. My answer to the blog title is, “Yes, the User Really Matters and the one the matters most”.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Whats wrong with Mashable !! Or is it a CMS issue? =-.
Well you are correct! The user matters most and putting yourself in the users shoes is the best way to find out how to improve.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Indeed! And the important point form article – build natural connections. Target the audience which can help you achieve your goals. If you have ‘gainign authority’ as your goal then targeting people who themselves have little or no authority will not work.
Users matter more than most people think. I created website strategies and tactics for some of the biggest companies in the world and when I redesigned my blog recently, I still solicited feedback.
No one should ever claim to know what the users want until they listen to them first. More often than not, no matter how great we think we are, we miss the mark on what our users really want.
.-= Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..10 FREE killer WordPress themes in 2009 =-.
I think you are right on point. We experiment all the time and try to understand our readers, the demographics, desires, experience, etc. We are also always trying get an idea of posts readers want to. But like you say it is a constant process.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
I agree with Gabe on users mattering more than most people think.
It never is about us bloggers, and getting into the right frame of mind from the start is essential.
When we’re always thinking of “how can I help?” or “how can I be of use?” then we’re working to offer ourselves in the best way possible to our users.
I also like the point on feedback. Sometimes readers can surprise you with what they will give in response and it’s the best indicator of the true needs of readers as they have leeway to offer suggestions and point out what they don’t like.
.-= David Walker´s last blog ..Live Webinar – Thursday 3 December 5pm EST =-.
This is the kind of post I like to see! Great topic, and loads of useful information. I agree with what you are saying…. I feel that so many people are out there ‘blogging’ with the goal of making money – that just doesn’t cut it.
Nathaniel
Right its not enough to have a goal if you are not helping your users help you reach it.
They will have a positive relationship with you when you give them useful information/resources and you will with them when you reach your goals.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
The readers will only give you feedback and constructive criticism if you don’t approach them as they are your customers. You need to make them feel as part of your community. A community where they can open their mind and share their thoughts.
I always encourage my readers to leave comments. This is because I want to know their opinions. Especially if they have opposite view to what I wrote on my blog. This helps me to learn more about them and also helps me to learn from them.
.-= Internethow Blog´s last blog ..Phobia of Writing New Blog Posts =-.
I like that a lot. Its true readers need to feel more than just that they are being used by you to make a living.
Some of the best bloggers are very open about what they make and still friendly enough that readers actually like helping them make their goals.
I think its not always bad to be open with your goals.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Wow! Great piece of advice there. So true, approach them as customers and they will feel distant which is the least we want as bloggers. Strong community can and does wonders.
Well of course the reader matters, they’re the one’s visiting your site and giving your blog the high rankings that it’s getting!
I know it seems pretty obvious Jake but way too many bloggers don’t act like they matter by the way they design, market, and write for their sites.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Not only User matters, they are all that matters. Even google says that design and write for your readers not for search engines.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Guide to Simple and Minimalist Meditation Corner =-.
Google is right.. because they make the rules! Also its the best thing for everyone.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
It is said that there is nothing new under the sun. Most bloggers write topics that somebody wrote before. But for some readers, the posts are still meanful.
.-= David Wei@Your Money Online´s last blog ..Make Money with Forex Trading =-.
I think your write. I think about many blogs I go to. For example I don’t know much about health care but if I went to a blog about health topics and so did a doctor we would both have a very different look at what was written.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
So true. In middle of humongous crowds of people who are blogging about the same subject ‘originality’ stands out. People don’t want to hear same stuff again, they want refreshed perspective so when they combine their perspective (as mentioned in above article) new things come out. Voila! you just co-created unique content.
Be original, be famous, be meaningful and be everything you asked for.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Guide to Simple and Minimalist Meditation Corner =-.
Great post Seth!
Quite simply, I’ve ways said – A blog is nothing without the people
You need people to ENGAGE in what you’re doing in order to grow and prosper. It never makes sense to me when I see blogs that don’t allow comments.
Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com
.-= Sarge @ beginnerblogger.com´s last blog ..How To Keep Yourself Under Pressure and Perform With Your Blog? =-.
Its very true that without people we are just writing a journal. If only most bloggers would believe this. If bloggers actually believed it they would blog very differently.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Yea, People make blog come alive otherwise whom are you blogging for?
So true, so many blogs out there are just blogging for the sake of blogging, even if they blogged for the fun of it, things’d change and people’d love it.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Guide to Simple and Minimalist Meditation Corner =-.
So, the first step will be knowing what your users want and need.
.-= Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Big No Thanks in Thanks Giving =-.
Right, a good poll or some thoughtful emails will definitely help this.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
It’s almost amusing how many new bloggers write junk on their blogs and expect to have people flock to them to buy their products and click on their adsense boxes.
It just ain’t work that way…
.-= Robomaster @ CoolAppSite´s last blog ..CoolAppSite is now open to Guest Posts! =-.
So true! So true! Junk In = Junk Out!
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Guide to Simple and Minimalist Meditation Corner =-.
“a great comment that reminded us that teachers everyday spend hours teaching students information that is unoriginal.” I concur!
This is a bot of a rant, but everyone these days wants to be a consultant, but to do that successfully (if measuring success by income) you need real authority – hence why teachers who have studied and gained life experiences get paid, and students who want to learn form those sorts of people pay out tens of thousands for a formal education. This also explains why most bloggers earn zilch.
Most bloggers are just putting out a scant minimally researched collection of words peppered with anecdotes and opinion based on not very much, and they expect to earn money? A bit like a bloke in the pub charging for his opinion, or a tradesman charging for a quote that generally is provided free. Nothing wrong with that aspiration, I guess, except the “business model” provides no perceived added value that equates to money.
Put another way, blogging for money is primarily an emperor’s new clothes paradigm, and I reckon, that in years to come, society will actually be poorer for blogging. Just look at the issues for the real journalists and researchers out there who are losing their income source because of the publics expectation of free info. RSS and knee jerk sound bites from anyone with a mobile phone and a video cam are replacing input from considered professionals. So in this example, while pro journalists’ knowledge is being adjudged as valueless by society, the rest of us blog superficially and also expect to earn money? Doesnt make sense.
You on the other hand are an exception and are putting together well researched info and should do OK financially!
.-= highlights on hair´s last blog ..interesting hair sites =-.
You are right about the need for expertise. I think bloggers would be far more successful if they blogged about what they love and know a lot about rather than what they thought would make them money.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Hey Seth!
I’ve already expressed much of my views on the subject. Here is something I’d like to share and you might like to add to Bloggsion Quote Collection:
I know you already said that.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..Guide to Simple and Minimalist Meditation Corner =-.
That is a fantastic quote! Thanks for adding another great insight to this topic.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Dare you thank me like that! LOL
Blogussion is my own, my preciiiouuss! LOL
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter =-.
Seth your every point is really very nice. As you mentioned here about doshdosh blog, yes that is one kind of blog that explain all things very nicely. I am a regular reader of that blog but I think he is not updating his blog since some day.
.-= chandan´s last blog ..Sponsored tweets- great work at home opportunity =-.
He actually has started updating again! DoshDosh took a 5 month break or so but he is now back! Probably wanted to increase his income.
.-= Seth´s last blog ..Does the User Really Matter? =-.
Break from blog? Wow! Seth, you have a new topic to write on buddy,
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter =-.
Cool article Seth, enjoyed reading.
specially designing, keeping User in Mind.
Some nice points there..
.-= Enk.´s last blog ..How to Generate Sitemap for Wordpress ? =-.
Actually the first reader is ourselves. if we hate to read what we write, then nobody will like to read what we write
.-= scheng1´s last blog ..Questions to ask before you buy a franchise =-.
So true! If we can’t enjoy our company/read our blog then we should not expect others to do that either.
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter =-.
Asking yourself questions as you are writing as if you are a reader will help you write for readers.
We all have the same wants needs, questions, so if you can handle them as you write, half your work is done.
.-= John Paul´s last blog ..6 Simple Steps To Increase Blog Traffic =-.
Great idea John!
Ask yourself questions as reader!
.-= King Sidharth´s last blog ..10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter =-.
It’s mind-boggling how obvious and common-sensicle (a word cause I say so) this really should be, but so many still don’t get it. *sigh*
It’s all wrapped up in a neat little bow with the very last line – Otherwise you will just be blogging for yourself.
Of course that’s one of them “blue in the face” discussions.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Simons Running A Contest – Over $800 In Prizes! =-.
Great post, web users are usually fact-oriented, they prefer to read content that quickly gets to the point, providing them what is needed. You should update the blog on a regular basis and write content that fits your niche in order to keep your visitors coming back for more…
I’ve never asked myself questions before as I was writing a blog post, but that’s a good suggestion.
IMAGINE THAT! Put the user first? I see and talk to so many bloggers that have completely lost sight of that! I would say I occasionally do myself, but I hope that someone would point that out to me on one of my blogs if I did!
.-= Keith @ Business3.0´s last blog ..Upgrade to Wordpress 2.9 Problems =-.
Blog with the users in mind and at the same time have the passion for the content. These two components in blogging makes the difference between good or not so good content.
For Bloggers Who want to Stop Writers’ Block
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