Customer conversations within an SEO campaign

Understanding and responding to customers’ unique needs is critical. This can be done by analyzing customer conversations and applying these analyses in different aspects of an SEO campaign.
Clients offer a great deal of information on many aspects of the campaign – from keyword research and link building to sentiment analysis and leveraging featured snippets. This article provides valuable insights for optimizing online presence and creating a more focused and resonant experience for audiences.
What can you use customer conversations for?
Client conversations are very valuable and help develop and refine an SEO strategy. The examples below show when customer conversations help:
- Keyword research: listen to the language and terminology customers use. This provides insight into the keywords and phrases customers use when searching for products or services. Customers provide valuable information that can be used in developing a more targeted keyword strategy.
- Inspiration for content: customer conversations reveal what questions customers have and where their interests lie. This can provide inspiration for blog posts, FAQ pages or other content. The new content is then more responsive to the needs and interests of the target audience.
- A better user experience: it is important to understand what customers appreciate or dislike about a Web site. This provides important insights into where adjustments need to be made. The user experience becomes better and the bounce rate lower. In addition, visitors will spend more time on the website. This can improve SEO.
- Link building strategy: clients cite specific sources or references they find useful. These are seen as an opportunity to build relationships with other websites. Backlinks are also earned this way.
- Identify problems: customer feedback can ensure that problems are brought to light. Consider broken links, slow loading times or navigation problems. Address these issues to improve a website’s overall SEO performance.
- Sentiment analysis: analyze sentiment in customer conversations. This provides insight into people’s opinions about the website. Positive sentiment can strengthen a brand’s authority. It is also important to be aware when sentiment is negative. Understanding negative points allows for improvement.
- SERP featured snippet: address the questions customers are asking. Try to create content that answers these questions. Do this in a concise and clear form. This increases the chances of appearing in the “featured snippets” of Google’s search results pages.
Use customer conversations actively within an SEO strategy. In this way, a more customer-oriented approach can be achieved. This makes a website more visible and raises its ranking. It also improves overall performance.
Leveraging customer conversations for SEO in brief
Client interviews & the keyword research
Client interviews for keyword research provide insight into what terms and phrases the target audience uses. The questions below are examples to ask clients when conducting keyword research:
1. Identify target audience and topic
Before you start conversations, you should have a clear understanding of who you want to reach and what topics or products you want to discuss.
2. Make calls
It is important to be clear about the purpose of the conversation. Determine in advance the target audience and also the topic.
- General questions:
- “How would you describe [product/dienst]?”
- “What terms would you use to search for [product/dienst]?”
- Problem-oriented questions:
- “What are you running into regarding [probleemgebied]?”
- “What solutions have you searched online for [specifiek probleem]?”
- Competitive Questions:
- “What other products or services have you considered?”
- “What did you type into the search engine when you found our competitors?”
- Information-oriented questions:
- “What do you want to know about [product/dienst] before you make a purchase?”
- “What kind of information do you usually look for online regarding [onderwerp]?”
3. Analyze conversations
It is important to listen attentively during conversations and pay attention to recurring terms and concepts. Take notes or transcribe to retrieve the information.
4. Identify potential keywords.
Note specific words and phrases used by the target audience. These keywords are potentially included in the SEO strategy.
5. Use SEO tools
Validate the collected keywords and research them further using keyword research tools. Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Moz, or SEMrush. The tools help evaluate the popularity, competition and relevance of keywords
6. Implement the keywords
Integrate the collected keywords into website content, metadata, and ad campaigns.
Using customer conversations for keyword research, ensures that the SEO strategy is tailored to the actual language and needs of a target audience. This makes a website more relevant and makes it rank higher on search engines.
Customer conversations & content ideas
It can be a challenge on content ideas that resonate with the target audience. Through customer interviews, it is possible to hear directly from the target audience what they are interested in. To get the most out of the conversation, follow the steps below apply
1. Set content goals
Define the purpose of the content. Is this entertaining, informing or inspiring? Ask questions based on the type of content being created.
2. Identify target audience
What is the target audience? It is important to understand their needs, interests and problems.
3. Ask open-ended questions
Ask open-ended questions so customers indicate what kind of content they value. For example:
- “What topics do you find most interesting within [industrie/gebied]?”
- “Do you have any questions or issues that you have that you would like to know more about?”
- “What kind of content do you like to consume (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.)?”
- “What influencers, blogs or channels do you follow? And why?”
4. Asking for specific interactions with current content
If a Web site already has content, it is useful to ask for feedback and ideas for improvement:
- “What blog posts, videos or other content do you find useful or interesting?”
- “Is there anything you would like to see that we still have on the website?”
5. Encourage creativity
Allow customers to brainstorm and share ideas:
- “If you could make a blog post or video about [onderwerp], what would it be?”
- “What would you tell friends about [product/dienst]?”
6. Analyze competitors and trends
Ask about other content they consume and why:
- “What other brands or sources do you follow for information on [onderwerp]?”
- “What do you find attractive about their content?”
7. Analyze and collect insights
Gain insight into recurring themes, needs and interests. This provides inspiration for new content ideas.
8. Content creation and testing
Create content based on the ideas collected. Before launching, test it with some of the target audience.
9. Stay in the conversation
Stay in constant conversation with customers. The needs and interests of the target audience are constantly changing. Regular conversations keep the content strategy dynamic and relevant.
Customer conversations lead to a host of insights for content creation. Talk directly to the target audience and really listen to what they say. This leads to new ideas for content that matches the real needs and interests of potential customers. This leads to stronger commitment and loyalty.
Customer conversations and user experience
A good user experience (UX) is critical to the success of any website. Customer conversations help tremendously in improving the user experience. To improve the UX, it is important to ask targeted questions. Examples:
1. Define target audience and goals
Know your target audience and what they want to achieve on your website. Based on this information, it is possible to ask targeted questions.
2. Making conversations
Conduct conversations in the form of interviews are, surveys or customer service interactions. Some examples of questions:
- Navigation and accessibility:
- “How easy did you find it to navigate through our website?”
- “Was there anything you couldn’t find or that was unclear?”
- Design and layout:
- “What do you think of the design of our website?”
- “Are there elements on the page that distract or hinder you?”
- Load times and functionality:
- “Have you experienced problems with load times or technical errors on the site?”
- “How smoothly do interactive elements such as forms or shopping carts work?”
- Content and relevance:
- “Do you find the information on our website relevant and useful?”
- “Is there any information you are missing or would like to see?”
- Mobile Experience:
- “How was your experience using our website on a mobile device?”
- “Are there features that don’t work well on your phone or tablet?”
3. Analyze feedback
Collect the answers and analyze them. Look for recurring themes or issues. Note both positive and negative feedback.
4. Create action plan
Identify which areas need improvement and create a clear action plan to solve the problems. Adjust navigation, speed up load times or rewrite content, for example.
5. Testing changes
Before making major changes, it’s smart to test them with a small group of users. Ask them for feedback. This way, it becomes clear whether the changes improve the user experience or not.
6. Monitor and repeat
It is important to continue to monitor website performance and feedback. So perform the above actions regularly. Users constantly have new needs and expectations. So stay in constant conversation with them.
Customer conversations provide a deeper understanding of which parts of a Web site are working and which are not. This reveals areas for improvement in terms of user experience and satisfaction. Ultimately, this can lead to higher conversion rates.
Client interviews & the link building strategy
Link building is very important within SEO. It’s all about getting backlinks from other websites. For a better link-building strategy, customer conversations are important. Below are some examples of questions to ask clients for the purpose of a better link building strategy:
1. Determine interests and needs
It is essential to understand where customers’ interests lie and what information they are looking for. In this way, it is possible to identify partnerships and content relevant for link building. Some examples of questions:
- “What other websites or sources do you visit to find information about [onderwerp]?”
- “Are there any blogs, forums or communities in which you are active within our industry?”
2. Find valuable partners
To establish new collaborations or opportunities in link building, it is recommended to ask customers about complementary brands, products or services. For example, ask the following questions:
- “What other brands or products do you value in relation to our services?”
- “Do you have any suggestions for collaborations or partnerships that seem interesting?”
3. Analyze competitors
Ask customers how they found competitors. This leads to insight into possible link sources. Questions may include:
- “How did you discover [concurrent]?”
- “What websites or sources have you read about similar products or services?”
4. Types of content
Different types of content help obtain link-building opportunities. Ask customers where their preferences lie:
- “What type of content do you prefer to consume (think blogs, videos, podcasts)?”
- “Would you find an informational guide or white paper on [onderwerp] useful?”
5. Create customer-focused content
Customer feedback can provide insights and help create content specifically designed to be shared and linked. To do this, ask questions such as:
- “What questions or problems do you have that you couldn’t find answers to online?”
- “What do you think people should know about [industrie/onderwerp]?”
6. Building relationships
Build relationships with websites, blogs and forums that customers value. Relationships are built through guest contributions, expert interviews or other collaborative opportunities.
7. Monitor and analyze
It is important to have regular customer conversations. Analyze the feedback to see where link-building efforts are leading. Should there be areas for improvement, please update them.
Talk directly to customers and find out what drives them. Adjust the strategy accordingly. Not only does this lead to relevant and valuable backlinks, it also strengthens overall brand reputation and authority in the industry.
Customer interviews to identify problems
It is essential to identify problems within a website, products, services or customer service. Thus, the overall experience and success of a business can be improved. Client interviews provide insight into which issues are problematic. Follow the steps below and ask the questions below for best results:
1. Determine the focus of the research
To discover problems on, say, a website, customer service, products or services, it’s good to be clear about where the focus of the research is.
2. Ask targeted questions
Ask open and honest questions. These questions encourage clients to share what they really think and feel. Examples:
- Website problems:
- “Have you ever had trouble finding anything on our website?”
- “Were there any technical issues that interfered with your online experience?”
- Product or service issues:
- “Are there any aspects of our product that did not meet your expectations?”
- “Have you experienced any problems using our service?”
- Customer service issues:
- “How would you describe your experience with our customer service?”
- “Have you ever experienced problems communicating with our support team?”
- Link building and SEO issues:
- “Have you ever found irrelevant or confusing links on our website?”
- “Is there anything that prevented you from finding the information you were looking for in search engines?”
3. Attentive listening
Listen carefully to the answers. It is also important to ask follow-up questions to dig even deeper. Therefore, ask for specific examples and details.
4. Ask for honest feedback
Make sure customers are comfortable. Create a safe environment for this. This makes it easier to give honest feedback.
5. Analyze information
Collect and analyze the feedback. In this way, patterns and common problems are revealed.
6. Develop action plan
Determine which problems are most important, Then set a plan to solve these problems.
7. Communicate and implement
It is important to let customers know that their feedback is valued and measures are being taken to counteract the problems mentioned.
8. Monitor and repeat
Conduct regular customer interviews and adjust identified problems.
Ask targeted questions and actively listen to customer feedback. In this way, it is possible to identify problems that would otherwise go unnoticed. Addressing these issues improves the user experience. Also, customer satisfaction will be higher and the company will be more successful in the long run.
Customer conversations & sentiment analysis
Sentiment analysis involves determining the emotional tone and feeling behind words. This is mainly applied to understand opinions and emotions behind customer feedback. For sentiment analysis, customer conversations are important. For the analysis in the following way out:
1. Collecting call data
Record customer conversations. This can include phone calls, interviews, surveys, social media and reviews.
2. Ask targeted questions
To find out specific sentiment around certain aspects – think products, services and website experience, the following questions help:
- “How would you describe your experience with our product?”
- “How did you experience our customer service?”
- “How do you feel about the content we create?”
3. Using analysis tools
Several tools automate sentiment analysis. They analyze text from customer conversations and rate sentiment as positive, negative or neutral.
4. Manual analysis
Human analysis can also be useful, particularly to gain in-depth insights. Trained personnel understand nuances better than machines.
5. Analyze at different levels
Sentiment analysis can be applied at both the macro and micro level. Macro gives an overall picture of customer satisfaction, while micro focuses on specific problems or strengths.
6. Identify trends
Examine how people think about certain trends over multiple time periods. Is sentiment changing about a particular product or service? Also determine if there are seasonal fluctuations in how customers feel.
7. Take action on trends
Once customer sentiment is more insightful, it is possible to take action. With negative sentiment regarding customer service, for example, it is possible to investigate the problems and then address them
8. Sentiment analysis & customer information
By combining sentiment analysis with other customer information – think buying behavior and demographics, among others, it manages to get a more holistic picture of the customer.
9. Continuous monitoring
Sentiment can change constantly. Continue to constantly monitor and make adjustments to changing customer perceptions and market trends.
10. Be ethical
Respect customer privacy and consent when collecting and analyzing calls.
Through sentiment analysis, companies better understand how customers really feel about a brand, products, services, among other things. These insights make it easier to proactively respond to customer needs and wants. This allows companies to increase satisfaction and loyalty and make more informed decisions. This leads to positive results for a company.
Customer Calls & Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets are short snippets that appear at the top of search engine search results. The snippets quickly answer a user’s question. Featured Snippets are often referred to as “position zero.” They increase the visibility of a website.
Use customer conversations to obtain Featured Snippets. This helps understand what questions and concerns the target audience has. Follow the steps below:
1. Frequently asked questions surveys
Listen to customer conversations or use interviews and surveys. This will show which questions and concerns often recur. Ask questions such as:
- “What do you want to know about [product/dienst]?”
- “What questions did you have before purchasing [product/dienst]?”
2. Understanding the question
Pay attention to the way customers phrase their questions. Do customers use certain words or sentence structures? Using this information, understand the language of the target audience, tailor content accordingly.
3. Answering questions in content
Use the information obtained from customer conversations to develop content that directly answers customers’ questions. This can be done, for example, by creating blog posts, FAQ sections or tutorial pages.
4. Pay attention to structure
Content must be formulated in the right structure so that search engines can read it easily. Lists, tables and clear subheads help with this.
5. Keywords optimization
Add exact questions and related keywords to the content. This increases the chances of the content appearing in Featured Snippets.
6. Detailed answers
A Featured Snippet is short and to the point. Still, search engines love it when the snippet is part of a more detailed answer. Create a concise answer, but also provide more extensive explanations and details in the rest of the content.
7. Monitoring and measuring results
Constantly monitor content performance in search engines. Make adjustments as needed.
8. Stay in the conversation
Customer needs and questions change over time. So keep talking to customers to constantly know where their interests lie and what their concerns are.
Customer conversations provide insights into common questions and concerns. This makes it possible to create content that answers these questions directly, in a format that is search engine friendly. This significantly increases the chances of Featured Snippets. Not only does this increase visibility and traffic to a website, customers appreciate having their needs proactively addressed.
Summary
Customer conversations provide more useful information than just feedback. They are a strategic tool, so to speak. When used correctly strengthen SEO position. Listen to customers to create content that connects with the target audience. Customer conversations also lead to proactively identifying problems and improving the user experience. Also, a website will rank higher in Google.
This article provides comprehensive guide to effectively apply customer conversations in your SEO roadmap. Leverage these insights to become a customer-centric industry leader as a brand.