A Thought provoking piece by Rand over at Moz.com, but there is something he left out.
I always like the bear chasing story when educating about content, you have probably heard it but for those who haven’t.
Bear wants to kill two men.
One man quickly puts on his running shoes.
Other man says, “There is no point in putting on your running shoes. You will never outrun a bear.
Other guy says, “I don’t need to out run the bear, I just need to put on my running shoes and outrun you.”
It’s always been that way in SEO, you just have to get in front of the guy that’s in front of you and keep the guy behind you, behind you.
But things are a little different these days.
Actually things are a lot different these days.
There is too much emphasis on producing “killer content”.
Yes, you need to produce the best content than the other guy, but it’s the wrong focus.
You shouldn’t be focussing on building 10x content.
You need to build a brand that is 10x.
10x Content no longer cuts it in this town, baby. Let alone the “good content”, the average agency pumps out into the Universe.
Which is why Rand is wrong, the focus should not be on the content in the first place, the focus should be on, “How the hell do I want people to feel about my brand?”
Content should not be created simply by schleping over to buzzsumo.com and checking out a few search terms. It’s a dimensional shift from a keyword tool mouse click.
This stuff needs to be in your blood.
You need to be 10x passionate about your brand and get others excited about it too.
Of course you need content to get people excited, but that is only the symptom of your raging passion.
You need more than a tool, you need to know more, get up earlier, write more, meet more people, think longer, think harder than the other guy who is by now a high protein snack for the Grizzly bear.
People want to buy their stuff from people who are 10x living it. Who not only solve their problems, but provide insights into the future and a fantastic human experience.
People are hungry for experience.
Presenting a solution to a problem is becoming, megh. So what? Problems have become solvable at the click of a mouse, their value has been reduced.
But the value of the human experience has increased.
One thing I do think Rand Fishkin does very well, is that he has created a magnetic brand that is focused on tasty, human experience, which people find highly attractive. The 10x content Moz.com produces is simply a by product of that space.
But content is not about content.
It’s about the human experience, and how people feel when connecting to your brand.