Mozcon 2017: Joel Klettke

Joel Klettke at Mozcon 2017

DISCLAIMER: This post is written as a live blog from Mozcon. There may be typos and grammar to make my high school English teachers weep. Please excuse those … it’s a fast-paced conference with back-to-back sessions and no time for proofing or even proper writing.

Joel Klettke takes the stage after the first break to chat about content development. He says the usual path and layout can be great but can also lead to a boring, useless page. He started a task to create great content and with the understanding that every conversion is a conversation – answering questions.

His 6:

  • What is it
  • Who is if for
  • Why should I care
  • How does it work
  • Why trust you
  • What next

If we apply this to sites we understand where the gaps are in our sites.

In the head – why should I care, what is it and who is it for, in the body – how will it improve my line, how does it work and why should I trust you. and in the footer, what’s next.

He warns that we focus on demographics but too little on motivation.  Motivations guides us.

We need to understand:

  • pain points
  • anxieties
  • priorities
  • outcomes

Create copy that speaks to the users – listen to your customers. Talk to your customers.  Here are three tactics:

  1. Customer Interviews
  2. Email Surveys
  3. Reviews & Testimonials

There is a structure to listening to users. We are not looking for opinions we’re looking for experiences and that means asking for their story.

Here are the questions that prove to be effective:

  1. What was going on in your business or life that sent you looking for a solution?
  2. What else did you try and what didn’t you live about it?
  3. What almost kept you from buying from us? (or “What made you confident enough to give us a try?”)
  4. What made <blank> the best solutions for you?
  5. When evaluating  *sorry – he went too fast but check his slide deck below*
  6. What can you do now or do better than you could have before?
  7. Give me an example of when <blank> made a difference to you?

What are we looking for?

  • Commonly used words (you should use them too)
  • Recurring themes
  • Look for things that are well said by your customers and use that
  • Look for quotes that are insightful

Pro Tip: Read your competitor’s bad reviews and spotlight on your site their problem as a solution.

Pro Tip Two: Write for the person with the buying decision.

Download his slide deck here.