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Create Content for Your Readers NOT Yourself

By on October 18, 2012

SEO Copywriting ReportThere is this one little thing I noticed on a lot of blogs I read, and have to admit, my own too, that I think can be the end of some of our blogs. And we don’t even notice it happening, so we let it happen until we realize we are too deep into it to fix it ;)

When you start your blog, you have a target market, and a lot of beginners, in any niche, will have beginners in mind as their target market.

So if you are starting a blog about WordPress and blog design, you will start the blog by writing posts (or making videos) about how to register a domain, how to install WordPress, how to post, how to add an image to your posts and so on.

When it comes to blog design, you will talk about how to change font colors in themes that have automatic settings for fonts, how to change a header for themes that have one-button-header-settings, etc.

As time passes, you will start writing more and more about intermediate and advanced topics, like reinstallling databases, creating page templates for your blog themes and messing around with the php files.

And that is natural, because you learned more and more over time so you want to share it with your readers.

But unless you changed your target market, this is wrong! Yes, you learned more and you know how to do more complicated things, but if your target market are still beginners in your niche – then writing all this will push them away from your blog.

They are sticking around for what they are familiar with as your work and in this case those are tutorials for beginners, not something they can’t wrap their heads around. It is hard to remember how it was when you just started out, since you learned so much since, but just think how frustrated you get when you want to do something and you can’t because everything looks so complicated… That is how your readers feel when you talk about editing a php file!

So before you mess it up completely, stop doing what ever you are doing and analyze it all. Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Create Content for Your Readers – Questions to Ask

  • When you started – who was your ideal customer/reader?
  • What was your target market?
  • Has that changed since you started?
  • Has your content changed since you started?
  • Has it become too complicated for a beginner?
  • Have you noticed less returning visitors, less engagement?

If you didn’t change the idea of your ideal reader but your content has changed and became more advanced, you are doing exactly what I am talking about here. Demian Farnworth wrote a guest post on Coppyblogger about becoming an exceptional writer, but this will not help you if you are writing for the wrong audience.

Content Confusion

You have two solutions: you can either make your readers happy by going back to what they are used to reading from you, or you can make a sketch of your new ideal reader and start changing the direction for your blog.

The reason is that mixing it all together just isn’t going to work. You will lose your old readers with new content because it is too much for them or you won’t be able to get the new ones (advanced ones) to stick around unless you always write content for them.

Now, I can hear you saying “But won’t the beginners learn with me and move to intermediate and advanced users?” but the answer is “Most of them won’t”. See, some people are tech-fobic, some don’t have time to learn and some just don’t want to move ahead until they perfect everything they can at the beginner’s level.

On top of that, if your blog is your business and main focus, you will learn faster because that is what you do all day long, but most of your readers will have day jobs, family and maybe a second job to take care of, so they won’t have time to catch up with you!

So question what you are doing at the moment and if change in direction of your blog isn’t what is holding you back, line up your goals with your market and go for the win :)

About Brankica

Brankica Underwood is a social media sharp shooter who helps small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers gain followers and sales and build better websites. Get her book "99 tasks for fast blog improvement".

70 Comments

  1. Phil Moore

    January 9, 2013 at 9:39 am

    If you don’t focus on your reader then what is the point of blogging? Creating a readership will also help you to weather any search engine updates as you will be able to build a returning base of followers that will be keen to come back and read your new content.
    Phil Moore recently posted..Welcome To 2013!

    Reply

  2. Irfan Ahmad

    November 23, 2012 at 5:33 pm

    Thank you Brankica sharing your knowledge with us… I want to add a tip for those bloggers who don’t have much time for creating interesting content for their readers… Just add an infographic of your choice with few words of lines – your post is ready… And your visitors will like it…
    Irfan Ahmad recently posted..22 Ways To Living Calmer And Anxiety-Free Life

    Reply

  3. Ana

    November 17, 2012 at 6:56 am

    That would be one sad, sad day when I start writing for my readers…:)

    Ayayay – CL keeps sending me back here; settings need some tweaking?
    Ana recently posted..Skimlinks Review

    Reply

  4. Stacey

    November 14, 2012 at 9:29 am

    Agree on this post. Funny how most of us would just post articles and care less about their readers. Thank you for the article!

    Reply

  5. Tushar Thakur

    November 7, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    Hi Brankica,

    Well you’ve mentioned awesome points about creating content, although to get loyal readers we must create content for readers not for us and for for search engines. So yeah its truth that some bloggers will create content for themselves and i think im one of them. But i realized the issue regarding it and loss for creating for own.

    Thanks a lot for the tips.
    Tushar Thakur recently posted..A Beginner’s Guide to Backlink Outreach

    Reply

  6. Abu Fateh Bappy

    November 7, 2012 at 8:20 am

    You’ve managed to educate beginning bloggers on their quest for audience and readers. Good luck on your next articles! And thank you for this one!
    Abu Fateh Bappy recently posted..Comment on How can I stop losing hair (for women) by Pepper Tan

    Reply

  7. gamertin

    November 6, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    I have started fresh deleting all previous poor quality content. Now I am writing quality posts to improve readership and subscribers instead of driving traffic from Google..
    Thanks for proving great tips..!!
    gamertin recently posted..Tải game Bubble X Slice cho điện thoại java (dofollow)

    Reply

  8. Colin

    November 5, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    I dont entirely agree that mixing doesnt work. It could work. You could set up an “beginners” and “advanced” category. The problem is that you have to keep more people happy so you have to write more content. As i said, it could work but i have to agree on the point that targetting a specific audience is a better way of creating more loyal followers.
    Colin recently posted..Gitaar leren spelen – wat komt daarbij kijken?

    Reply

  9. nikol

    November 2, 2012 at 10:57 am

    I’ve found that I need to SHOW clients now what it is to get organic traffic through SEO. They come at me first with all of these blackhat practices they read about online and heard from their business colleagues and I need to tell them everything they’ve heard is wrong. ;) Then I start blogging for them, just using keywords as a roadmap instead of the main event, and voila. Trying to teach and not implement doesn’t seem to work, everyone wants instant gratification.

    Reply

  10. Calra

    October 30, 2012 at 10:57 am

    An interesting post! As a blogger, you should really talk to your readers, and not talk about yourself. After all, you’re writing for humans, not robots.

    Reply

  11. Kelly

    October 30, 2012 at 7:45 am

    You’ve managed to educate beginning bloggers on their quest for audience and readers. Good luck on your next articles! And thank you for this one!
    Kelly recently posted..Project management for software development just got easier thanks to SuiteDash

    Reply

  12. Veronica

    October 30, 2012 at 6:30 am

    Very useful post by the way. You offered great tips especially for newbie bloggers. Keep writing!
    Veronica recently posted..New Years Eve 2011 Sydney Harbour Fireworks Cruise!

    Reply

  13. Steve

    October 29, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    I get caught up in creating content for the search engines some times and have to remind myself. Or a reader reminds me but making a comment about my article sucking for readers. Ouch.

    Reply

  14. Kristine

    October 29, 2012 at 9:13 am

    I couldn’t agree with you more–I always make it a point to have the interest of my readers in mind whenever I come up with articles, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would genuinely interested in a topic that’s way too advanced and complicated if you’re specifically targeting beginners. Thanks for raising the points we need to ponder on too :) Great Work!

    Reply

  15. Rob

    October 29, 2012 at 7:01 am

    I think the real solution to this is “stay on message”. I’ve heard it said to bloggers so many times, yet the ones that fail seem to go way off message. In effect, it’s all about staying on topic (as you said), but to gain more readership, you have to be willing to become an “expert” in your field- sticking with just the basics won’t let you grow your readership. However, expanding to include more “spcialist/ expert” stuff may loose you your original reader base, or they may have grown with you.
    Rob recently posted..Installing OS X on a Beige G3 and Powerbook Wallstreet

    Reply

  16. Joy

    October 29, 2012 at 5:19 am

    Niche blogging poses a real challenge since you also need to acquire the ability to keep your readers engaged consistently by being dynamic and versatile in terms of presenting your content. Thanks for the informative read.

    Reply

  17. CBhushan

    October 27, 2012 at 10:53 am

    Firstly, thanks for sharing you knowledge. I been struggling with getting traffic to my blog and I hope that your advices will help me increase the amount of visiters. Guest blogging seems lika a nice idea!

    Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33747/How-to-Create-Content-That-Actually-Resonates-With-Your-Readers.aspx#ixzz2AUmyF7zn

    Reply

  18. Dhruv Bhagat

    October 27, 2012 at 10:39 am

    Hi Brankica,

    After the Google Algorithms, many bloggers can’t sleep. Making money from blogs is not an easy task anymore. You have to be very careful at each and every step!
    I have started fresh deleting all previous poor quality content. Now I am writing quality posts to improve readership and subscribers instead of driving traffic from Google..
    Thanks for proving great tips..!!
    Dhruv Bhagat recently posted..Keep Check On Your Brake Fluid Level – Brake Fluid Tips

    Reply

  19. Soniya Sharma

    October 27, 2012 at 6:53 am

    Hie..This post is so Awesome. First thing is that Readers is most important thing. we should write according to the thinks of readers.we should think that we are writing post for bloggers not for own self. Well thanks for sharing for me.

    Reply

  20. Anna

    October 26, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    This is always true for writing: think of your readers and you will actually get any. It’s like a mantra at the moment in every blog about blogging: quality content wins, if it is targeted at your readers…

    Reply

  21. Ajay

    October 26, 2012 at 6:33 am

    content for readers that’s a cool trick
    but how can we make content like that which is also a copyright content
    Ajay recently posted..Item 1

    Reply

  22. akhilendra

    October 25, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    You are bang on target, we somehow get carried away by our own emotions and start targeting something new & ignore our core audience, it has happened with me too. thanks a lot for bringing my attention towards it.
    akhilendra recently posted..Paid Traffic-Is It Worth To Buy Traffic?

    Reply

  23. Ben

    October 25, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Haha, very interesting. Loved the line that you learned more over time and wanted to share it with your readers – but that would put them off! Very interesting idea. Would severely restrict you accessing new readers – presents the dilemma, though, given that some of your readers would have learned with you? So in effect you almost want a two tier system…?
    Ben recently posted..Gadget Girl

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 27, 2012 at 3:58 pm

      Yup, that is about it. Because what if you targeted the beginners, they start landing on your blog, but keep running into advanced posts… they probably won’t stick around. So you need to differentiate those two types of content somehow!
      Brankica recently posted..33 Actionable Steps for Blog Improvement in ONE WEEK (dofollow)

      Reply

  24. sanjay

    October 25, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    This is the same reason I do tutorials, because my readers asked me to do it. They love to learn and that’s what I do to help them. Great post Brankica!
    sanjay recently posted..Collection of High PR Commentluv Blogs

    Reply

  25. Adam

    October 24, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Content is a king.. Trafic is a queen.. write a great article, get trafic and have earning..

    But, worst is when we write content that we think cool.. In fact, not really cool..
    Adam recently posted..Berjalan Kaki 5,700km Demi Menunaikan Haji

    Reply

  26. prabhat

    October 24, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    hello brankica
    the tips you suggested are great. we should write the content which our readers would like to read but today most of the peoples are blogging just for money. they just simply steal other’s work which is not good for blogging, thanks for this post
    prabhat recently posted..Apple iPad Mini Release, Specifications And Price

    Reply

  27. Abhishek

    October 23, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    If you are writing as a niche blogger, it is very important to identify what will work with that particular segment and then write. In then end how many people are liking what you write is what matters. Thanks for this great info.

    Reply

  28. Sasa

    October 23, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    You do create content for your readers, but until you personally are not 100% satisfied, nor customers will. Meaning, as a writer you also look to your creative as a prospect.
    Sasa recently posted..Getting Paid For Online Surveys updated Mon Oct 22 2012 11:43 pm EDT

    Reply

  29. Jasmine

    October 23, 2012 at 3:12 am

    Good points there, Brankica. It’s very important to write useful content for your readers, and not for yourself. Write content that is easy to understand, and easy to apply.
    Jasmine recently posted..Jigoshop E-commerce Plugin Review (dofollow)

    Reply

  30. ioana moise

    October 22, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    Great post! I have not given the evolving nature of its content and how it fits into their goal. It is true that, your content to keep the same level of complexity…
    ioana moise recently posted..DS Games

    Reply

  31. Sanjib Kumar Saha

    October 22, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    Hi Brankica,

    You are absolutely true. We need to create content for our readers who love our blog. I too at times felt impulsive about writing on music and spirituality as I love them but they may not be accepted well. We should understand them.
    Sanjib Kumar Saha recently posted..Sneaky Ways on How to Meet Men

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 27, 2012 at 4:23 pm

      That is true, it is so easy to get distracted, especially in our personal preferences. If people like your blog and writing you tend to think they like you as well and that they would be interested in your personal life, but a lot of times that isn’t the case. So staying away from those topics is a good thing. I guess you can always make a more personal blog and tell people about it. Thanks for the comment.
      Brankica recently posted..Get Free Images For Your Blogs And Make Money From Them (dofollow)

      Reply

  32. christina

    October 22, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Hello Brankica,

    I’m Glad of this article, I write my blog Content of my own wish & I never thought that it may be a big reason for slow traffic on my blog. I wasn’t aware that Content must be Readers wish not own wish. thanks Brankica for sharing this wonderful articel. I really Glad of you. :)
    christina recently posted..Fish Jumanji Charters

    Reply

  33. Richard

    October 21, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    Its all to easy to fall into this trap and get carried away with your own knowledge and experiences and forgetting the actual reader or visitor. Keep it simply and dont use jargon
    Richard recently posted..Removing Coffee Stains from Upholstery (Car Valeting)

    Reply

  34. Ali

    October 21, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    I agree that a blogger should get into his readers mind, but i think you have to write for more readers not just the beginners , i mean to talk to a bigger audience would be nice , right?
    Ali recently posted..How To Get Your Ex-Girlfriend Back – The Ultimate Guide To Get Her Back

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 27, 2012 at 4:26 pm

      Not if you start to write for beginners. You need to stick to what you start with not to lose your audience. If you want a blog that isn’t just for beginners, then you should start it that way from the beginning.

      Reply

  35. Gautham Nekkanti

    October 21, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Ofcourse, Blogging is all about sharing what you know to others, not to yourself, Thanks for the awesome post
    Gautham Nekkanti recently posted..8 Best Antivirus for Windows 7

    Reply

  36. vishvast

    October 21, 2012 at 11:58 am

    all good stuff for one and making content for the readers will bring more users to your blog/site.So focusing on the readers rather than the blog is the key to success.
    vishvast recently posted..Huawei MediaPad 7 Lite Tablet (Silver, Wi-Fi, 3G)

    Reply

  37. Richa Shrivastava

    October 21, 2012 at 11:56 am

    I Completely agree, these days bloggers are producing content for seo and not for visitors. Apart from this, 90 percent of the blog post are not even offering relevant info, they are just meant for seo and search engine ranking.
    Richa Shrivastava recently posted..Aspects Microsoft Surface Must Implement In Order To Beat Apple iPad Family

    Reply

  38. Disha

    October 20, 2012 at 10:13 am

    Hi Brankica,

    I am 100% agree with this article ! Content should be written for Readers not for own self. I have seen that most of writers write their content according to their wish but thats totally wrong point ! Content must according to Readers because as long Readers like content as it will get value.

    Reply

  39. Phil Moore

    October 19, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    A very good article and you hit the nail on the head. Its serves to highlight the big gap between the ‘organic’ bloggers who write with passion because they are interested in the subject matter and those who do so merely to make money. This is why those blogs that are written organically will stand the test of time. Those merely looking to make a quick buck tend to come and go.
    Phil Moore recently posted..Key Benefits Of Trading Binary Options

    Reply

  40. Maja

    October 19, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    According to my understanding in blogging a blog should be a source of knowledge in its niche and it must have contents that in form of tutorials and current updates.
    Maja recently posted..Massage at Hair Salons

    Reply

  41. Shandi Tan

    October 19, 2012 at 10:43 am

    I really think it’s less about compartmentalizing your audience than providing value to your readers in general.

    Unlike most people who frequent this blog, I’m no heavyweight blogger but perhaps second only to adding value, blogging is as much about writing as it is about building a community.

    When you hastily lump together older, more experienced readers away from first-timers, you’re breeding a culture of exclusivity, rather than one of inclusion.

    Still, at the end of the day, it’s still what we put up there on our sites. I don’t believe in littering the Internet. All content must be original – nothing spun or half-assed.

    Add value and build a community. Success isn’t slow to follow.
    Shandi Tan recently posted..Understanding the Costs of Social Media Marketing in the Philippines

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 27, 2012 at 4:32 pm

      I agree with that, but I also do think we need to maintain the readers we get from the beginning because those are the ones that start our success.
      But you are right, nothing beats content.

      Reply

  42. Amit Gupta

    October 19, 2012 at 10:39 am

    Actually writing is almost process of sharing thoughts, but you point is must that your thoughts must be understand by others….

    Reply

  43. Steven Jude

    October 19, 2012 at 9:32 am

    Wow, this is surely an eye-opener for me. What you say is very true about subconsciously switching your target readers without the blogger even realizing it.
    Steven Jude recently posted..You don

    Reply

  44. Elena Anne

    October 19, 2012 at 7:44 am

    Such good points, and it really is something that we can completely overlook as we go along. For someone who has already built up a successful blog that caters to beginner-level enthusiasts of their niche, a second blog might be something to consider. If there is a market for the more intermediate information, give it a home! :)

    Reply

  45. Maurice

    October 18, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    SEO optin, oto, squeeze page, php, css, html are but a few of the abbreviations that are second nature to seasoned online marketers. Using these on a site that targets newcomers has to be done taking this in mind. Or we should do as you suggest, Brankica, reassess if we want to move on or stick with the target population we started out with.

    Reply

  46. Luis

    October 18, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    This is so very important. To often I come across a post that was obviously written with keyword placement and SEO in mind. What’s the point in attracting visitors if they take 1 read of your material and never come back?
    Luis recently posted..WordPress 3.5 Beta 2

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 19, 2012 at 3:05 pm

      You know there are always ways to write a post that is completely SEO-ed without it sounding wrong! I\’ve seen it a lot of times. It is an art itself, but not many do it right.

      Reply

  47. Anthony

    October 18, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    I agree with the advice provided, too many bloggers fail to realize they are writing for their readers not themselves. Keep the content consistent to the topic that your readers show interest in and they will reward you with social shares and repeat traffic.

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 19, 2012 at 3:23 pm

      Exactly, but you know, the longer you do it the easier it is to get lost in it, I think. You get overwhelmed and forget about why and how you started, lol
      Brankica recently posted..Moving a Blog from GoDaddy to Hostgator (dofollow)

      Reply

  48. Pavel

    October 18, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Great post! I haven’t considered the evolving nature of one’s content and how it fits into their target audience. It’s true that as we learn more details about something we will reflect that in our content and it’s counter intuitive to keep your content on the same level of complexity. I will try and follow your advice in the future.

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 19, 2012 at 3:24 pm

      Hey Pavel, if you are a fast learner you will definitely learn more than others and then it is easy to forget that people need to catch up with it.

      Reply

  49. Sneha

    October 18, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    Hi Brankica,

    Great Post…

    We should create blog post for our readers not for our own self as a reader come to gain some knowledge and we have to provide them with that knowledge not just trying to create money.
    Sneha recently posted..Investing Money for Retirement

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 19, 2012 at 3:24 pm

      Right, unless you want to write for your grandma and the cat (I love that example).

      Reply

  50. Steve Markson

    October 18, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Writing something on blog or website is must be for people. Cause people comes to your website or blog for some help or taking suggestions. In blogging my moto is always write for human not for search engine bot. Your content is not helping people then what is the use of writing that content.

    Reply

    • Brankica

      October 19, 2012 at 5:56 pm

      Well, there are blogs that aren’t about informing and teaching people, but more about just sharing their life :)

      Reply

  51. Rahul Kashyap

    October 18, 2012 at 10:30 am

    you are right @Brankica. me agree with you. now days customers are very important for our business. thanks for sharing this post :)
    Rahul Kashyap recently posted..Mayday! Bering Sea (2010)

    Reply

  52. Naina

    October 18, 2012 at 10:01 am

    Helping others can bring all good stuff for one and making content for the readers will bring more users to your blog/site.So focusing on the readers rather than the blog is the key to success.
    Naina recently posted..Financial Accounting Software

    Reply

  53. Aditya

    October 18, 2012 at 6:45 am

    Brankica,i agree with you totally.Creating reader’s interest can only be done by writing for readers and not just for the reason that blog needs another content.One has to re-think and consider what is more important the readers or they themselves.Its the readers which makes your blog work after all.
    Aditya recently posted..MLM Software in Noida

    Reply

  54. Bhushan

    October 18, 2012 at 6:36 am

    Yep!
    Agreed that customers are the very valuable at all the time On which main focus should be.
    This can be your bonus and increase visitors because customer will be happy if there is something respective and handy for them.
    Bhushan recently posted..Inventory Management Software

    Reply

  55. Sam

    October 18, 2012 at 6:18 am

    Yes i am totally agreed with you when a blogger will think about their readers according to their niche then he/she will get true success in blogging world and for that blogger should involve himself in blogging network as well.

    Reply

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