People-first Content – The SEO Secret You Need To Know

The tag line “Content is king” is a popular term for a reason – it’s the lifeblood of websites, the fuel for social media engagement, and the secret sauce that keeps audiences coming back for more. But with so much content out there, how do you make yours stand out? The answer is a powerful approach called people-first content.

People-first content is about creating content that prioritises your audience’s needs and preferences. It’s about moving away from simple focuses like ranking factors and search engine algorithms and instead writing authentic content that engages, informs, resonates, and adds value to your readers’ lives. 

With our blog, explore how people-first content compares and differs from traditional SEO practices. We will also explore effective strategies that will help your content attract readers and rank higher in search results. 

More than a buzzword, people-first content is a philosophy based on three basic building blocks: authenticity, relevance, and value.

• Authenticity is all about making sure your brand is being transparent with your target audience. Your content should reflect your brand’s expertise and credibility and clearly express its unique qualities and voice. 
• Relevance is when your brand truly understands what your audience needs and wants and creates content based on that. It will require thorough research of your target audience and making sure you address your customers’ pain points and demographics accurately. 
• Value is all about making sure you are giving your audience something worth their time. You could provide practical information or insightful statistics, entertaining content, or content that invites deep discussions. When you deliver valuable content, you are seen as a trustworthy and reliable voice in your industry. 

Benefits of People-First Content

People-first content comes with several benefits for your business and audience. Let’s explore of the important advantages: 

• Improved User Engagement and Satisfaction: You are winning if your content is relatable to your audience. This increases their probability of spending more time on your website, engaging with your CTAs, and reading your articles with more attention. 
• Long-Term Audience Trust and Loyalty: When you consistently deliver high-quality and authentic content that resonates with your audience, you address their needs and build more trust and loyalty. More loyalty and trust mean you have higher chances of retaining your audience and having more repeat visitors, turning them into brand advocates, which ultimately leads to higher conversion rates. 
• Better Alignment with Modern Search Engine Algorithms: Most search engines, notably Google, now give more weight to intent and user experience. People-first content that offers real value is a perfect fit for search-engine shifts like this, helping your content rank higher in search results. 

For example, let’s consider a hypothetical blog topic: “Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets for 2024.” Traditional SEO would look for the keywords “kitchen gadgets 2024” and list generic products that do not meet user needs.

The people-first content approach would be to change the title to “The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Kitchen Gadget.” This title, above all else, speaks to what the user wants — quality versus quantity. It could be a comprehensive guide that considers budget, type of cooking, and even restrictions in kitchen space. The benefits of doing so are as follows: 

• Increased User Engagement: Readers feel the content understands their unique needs and are more likely to spend time reading.
• Improved Conversion Rates: Highlighting specific products that match target audience needs could lead to more specific and targeted product recommendations. 
• Enhanced Brand Trust: Brands can establish themselves as a credible resource by giving priority to users’ specific needs over generic lists that don’t stand out. 

A Brief Overview Of Traditional SEO Content

Before we explore more about people-first content, let’s take a quick look at traditional SEO content creation. Traditional SEO basically focuses on optimising content for search engines by including specific keywords, building backlinks from other websites, and making sure a website’s technical structure is search engine friendly.

Benefits of Traditional SEO

While people-first content is the future of SEO, traditional SEO still offers some advantages:

• Quick Gains in Search Engine Rankings: Traditional SEO techniques can help you get quicker results in search engine ranking, especially for highly competitive keywords.
• Structured and Measurable Approaches: Well-defined strategies and metrics are some of the foundations of Traditional SEO, which allows you to easily track progress and measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. 
• Effective for Highly Competitive Keywords: Traditional SEO techniques can help your content stand out when you are targeting highly competitive keywords. 

People-First Content vs. Traditional SEO: Key Differences

Now that you are aware of both approaches let’s explore some of the major differences between people-first content and traditional SEO:

Approach to Content Creation:

• People-First: Mostly addresses what the audience wants to read or learn more about, except that it tries to present quality and engaging content that can solve a problem or answer a question.
• Traditional SEO: Addresses the factors based on search engine ranking, which often leads to approaches of keyword stuffing and certain technical SEO methods that may compromise readability.

Content Quality and User Experience:

• People-First: Values high-quality, engaging content that provides value to readers. Prioritises user experience with clear navigation and appealing design.
• Traditional SEO: This might make the content good only for search engines, discarding readability and the user experience.

Long-Term Impact and Sustainability:

• People-First: Builds a feeling of belonging and trust with users. Value and trust keep the content meaningful and relevant at all times.
• Traditional SEO: Might need constant updates and changes with newer and ever-changing algorithms. Highly optimised content tends to get old very fast.

5 Strategies To Create People-First Content That Converts Readers

1. Create Informational, Relevant and Useful Content:

• Get to know the audience through demographic data, interests, and pain points.
• Search for their queries and questions using keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs.
• Produce content that answers their needs and solves their problems.
• What would be considered informative and useful to the reader? Some examples might be blog posts answering specific questions that customers often have, how-tos, in-depth industry reports or product reviews.

2. Use Language That is Straightforward And Easy To Read:

• Focus on writing styles that provide clarity and are simple to understand instead of complex, technical jargon. 
• Always try to write content using an active voice so that is easy to scan through and read. 
• Use examples that relate to customer experiences and draw in readers – this will help your audience feel connected to your brand. 

3. Seamless Design And Website Navigation:

• Design and navigation are some of the most important elements of a website.
• Make sure every aspect of your website has a clean design, including all menus for user-friendly navigation.
• Make your content mobile-friendly so that anyone can enjoy it on any device.
• Always ensure your website is speedy and has fast loading times. Slow loading times can be off-putting to the user experience and might deter your potential audience.
  

4. Utilise The Power Of Social Platforms And Influencer Marketing:

• Share your content with a larger audience using major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 
• Always run social media ads that are specifically targeted to reach your exact demographic. 
• You can also collaborate with credible influencers from your industry to promote your content and reach potential new target audiences via their channels.
• Utilise social media platforms to boost your engagement. Respond to comments, engage with your audience, and participate in conversations—this will make your audience feel seen and heard. 

5. Use Audience Insights to Create Credible Content:

• Using data to track your performance is critical. Analytics tools like Google Analytics can quickly and easily monitor your customers’ user behaviour to give you a notion of how well your audience is engaging with your content.
• Pay attention to page views, time on the page, and bounce rates.
• Surveys and polls are made to capture the direct feedback of the audience for what they like and need.
• Use the information you are gathering to iterate on your content strategy, creating new content that is far better aligned with what your audience expects.

What Kind of Content Shouldn’t Be Used?

As you’re building your people-first content approach, there are going to be things that work against it. You want to keep watch for these red flags: 

1. Non-credible Content That Is Not Authentic:

• Misinformation and lack of credibility detract from the trust a user may have in your brand.
• Make sure the facts in your content are correct and come from a credible source.
• Thorough research helps build trust and establishes you as an authority.

2. Non-valuable Content:

• What you should avoid is creating filler content for the sake of it, which provides your audience with zero value. 
• Create insightful and informational content for your readers that leaves a lasting impression. 
• Quality over quantity; it’s always better to create content that makes a difference.

3. Inappropriate Content:

• Be professional and ensure your content is relevant to your target audience.
• Never debate or discuss hurtful or controversial topics unless they have a direct link to your niche. You must be sensitive and respectful.
• Be concise; avoid ambiguities or misunderstandings.

4. No Matching Target Audience in Content:

• Understanding the target audience is key in developing content that really strikes a chord with them.
• Create content for specific demographics, developing the content in their preferred writing style. Demographic segmentation involves categorising your audience based on various factors and then producing diverse sets of content to meet each distinct need or interest of those groups.

5. Non-Promoted or Poorly Promoted Content:

• Even the best content will fail to reach its full potential without promotion. Develop a clear content promotion strategy through various channels.
• Follow search engine optimisation best practices to ensure good organic search visibility.
• Use email and social media marketing as channels to promote your content and drive more visitors to your website.

Ready To Supercharge Your Business?

The future of SEO is centred on people-first content creation, where the focus shall be on the value you give, the trust you will gain, and the positive user experience that will make them want to read. With the strategies and techniques listed above, you will be able to create meaningful content that resonates with your audience and drives long-term SEO success.

However, building a business is hard work, and implementing these strategies could be a huge task. When either time or resources are not available to implement a plan, it is best to reach out to the experts.

Primal is an award-winning SEO agency in Thailand that can help you develop a comprehensive content strategy that effectively fuses people-first content creation with robust SEO techniques.

Our team of experts will help you get to know your ideal customer through in-depth research, craft high-quality content that truly speaks to your audience, optimise it for search engines to maximise visibility, and develop a strategic promotion plan to capture traffic back to your website, thus positioning you as a thought leader within your industry.

Let Primal be your partner in creating people-first content that drives results. Contact us today for more about our content marketing services and how we can help you achieve your SEO goals.