De over ons-pagina is een van de belangrijkste pagina’s voor B2B’s en dienstverleners als we het hebben over GEO. En het probleem: hij is vaak in erbarmelijke staat. Achterhaald, vergeten, verouderd en verstoft. Een cruciale fout wat mij betreft.
In this blog post I argue against using keyword tools as the foundation for a content strategy, encouraging a focus on audience needs through the QPAFFCGMIM framework that I invented. This stands for Questions, Problems, Alternatives, Frustrations, Fears, Concerns, Goals, Myths, Interests, and Misunderstandings. This framework goes beyond SEO, when done right it offers you the possibility to create content for all organic channels. And be ware: all these different items can rank in Google. You can read more about this in the article ‘Creating content for SEO in a zero click world’.
Here by mistake? Hier vind je het Nederlandse artikel over het QPAFFCGMIM-model.
Almost everyone who starts working on content does so to drive more traffic from SEO. That’s why people often start with keyword research tools. What a shame.
I think keywords are highly overrated. In short: everyone uses the same tools, finds the same keywords, and creates the same mediocre content. To rank higher, we then turn to link building. But that doesn’t work.
First of all, there’s so much competition that Google has to get smarter: who is the most relevant and trustworthy result for this search term? Just having content is no longer enough, let alone thinking keywords will make the difference.
But we also need to talk about the motivation for creating content: is it really to rank better in search engines? In my view, being findable in Google is primarily the result of having the right content, and you shouldn’t be creating content solely for SEO.
The key to creating great content lies in the motivation behind it. Don’t make content for SEO or search engine visibility, but make content for your intended audience. Because you want to help them. Because you want to share your knowledge and give substance to your brand. If this is your motivation, it’s not hard to come up with the content you should create.
Do you know that Google in the Helpful Content Guidelines says that creating content for SEO it’s not what they are searching for? It’s one of the most important questions you should ask yourself about the content you created: why did you create it?
For years, I no longer start with keyword research when developing a content strategy. But I also don’t create content for SEO. What motivates me? Reaching the target customer with a meaningful message that highlights your expertise, builds brand preference, and increases brand awareness.
The foundation of my content strategy is therefore the customer we want to reach, not what is typed into Google. The former gives a much better sense of what someone is truly looking for. It also allows us to create more relevant content. This is why I invented the QPAFFCGMIM framework.
What is the customer concerned with? QPAFFCGMIM!
This stands for:
Perhaps the list above doesn’t immediately clarify what I mean or what you should be thinking about. Let’s dive into it. You’ll likely notice that some angles overlap significantly, which isn’t a problem. I created the QPAFFCGMIM framework primarily to inspire you and provide ideas on what you could focus on.
You’ll see that some topics are perfect for helping the searching user. But there are also perspectives that give you a solid foundation for interesting social media content.
By questions, I mean the questions your customer has about your product or service. These are often simpler questions about product use, materials, features, maintenance, and what exactly the product can do.
Help me out…
Imagine you have a physical store and are face-to-face with your customer. What questions do they ask about your type of product? What do they want to know? Think about: which waterproof mascara is the best, which color mascara goes best with blue eyes, which bra size do I need etc.
Why is it interesting?
These kinds of questions are interesting because they might be exactly what people are searching for on Google. Regardless of search volume, these topics should be addressed on in your content. It shows that you’ve thought about your visitor’s questions and are willing to share your knowledge. This is what’s called hygiene content. You can also re-use this content effectively in newsletters and on social media.
Pitfall
Be careful not to focus solely on your product, but rather on your product category. If you sell non-stick pans, talk about the types of non-stick coatings. Discuss different types of pans, what you can cook in each, what to consider when choosing a pan, how to maintain or clean the pan. You could create a lot of content on these topics.
What is it?
By problems, I mean the issues or challenges that your target audience faces. A concrete thing that needs to be solved.
Help me out…
For example: I want to connect two microphones to my MacBook, how do I do that? Or: I have a plant with issue X, how do I solve it? These kinds of problems.
Why is it interesting?
People who have a problem often turn to Google to find the answer. Additionally, you could use this content on social media or in your newsletter, where you focus on a specific topic.
Pitfall
Beware! Avoid the “wc-eend-effect” (a term that refers to overly self-serving solutions). It’s not about you or your product just yet. It’s about solving your customer’s problem, so focus on helping them. It will naturally become clear that you hold the solution.
What is it?
Fears are the risks and negative outcomes people worry about in their current situation, including what might happen if nothing changes. You might also think of fears as what they are worried about when they implement your product, but most of the time that fear comes later in the journey. If you want to get their attention, you first need to talk about fears they recognize and relate to in their current day to day situation.
Help me out…
Suppose someone wants to go on vacation to Colombia but has heard stories that it’s dangerous. Think of fears like: “What if we fall behind our competitors?” “What if nothing changes, what is happening then?” “Are our competitors innovating faster than we do?” “What if this problem becomes even bigger next year?”. Note that in the last example you need to know what problem they are thinking about!
Why is it interesting?
Talking about fears is something many people find scary (ironic, right?). So, where’s the place where you can anonymously search for information? Exactly, Google! But it’s also interesting content for social media. If you can find the right hook, there’s a good chance you’ll catch the attention of your target audience. Why? Because they will recognize themselves in it.
Pitfall
For this, you need to know your customer a bit. And people don’t always search directly for the fear, but they are still driven by it. If I Google “appendicitis,” I’m doing it because I’m afraid I have it. But the search term is very likely not [is appendicitis dangerous]. So, you really need to think beyond the obvious here!
What is it?
By frustrations, I literally mean the frustrations your customer has. They can also be annoyances or small irritations.
Help me out…
It could be a real frustration (neighbor has the music on loud), but it could also be a disguised problem that hasn’t been or isn’t being solved. The example I gave for problems (how do I connect two mics to a MacBook) had escalated from a problem to a frustration for me at the time. But it could also be that a product isn’t working well enough, for example: Miele vacuum cleaner isn’t working properly.
Why is it interesting?
Again, there’s a chance that people will search online, in Google, for a solution. I find sports leggings without a phone pocket frustrating, so I’m always searching for “leggings with pocket.” This is also a great hook on social media because more people may relate to the frustration.
Pitfall
Pitfalls are less likely here. The chance that you, as a company, will start talking about yourself is much smaller because it’s about the reader and their frustrations. The only tip I want to give: make sure you know for sure that the frustration exists, come with a fresh perspective, and avoid empty phrases. If you don’t give a good answer to a frustration, it could easily lead to more frustrations.
What is it?
Concerns are worries that someone has, things that keep people awake from their sleep. This can overlap very much with fears, but I still find it just a bit different. Concerns are possibly more urgent and have more impact on the life of the target audience. But again: this is just a way for me to help you get inspiration from different angles, I haven’t done any scientific research on it.
Help me out…
It could be that someone is worried about his/her partner who spends an awful lot of hours gaming every day. Or that someone is concerned because there has been a lot of arguing in the house lately. Someone who is worried about a teenage child, that also falls under concerns.
Even in B2B, concerns are the order of the day: how do I deal with that one employee who displays certain behavior? Where can I save costs when it comes to IT, personnel, or housing?
Why is it interesting?
Here too, it is plausible that people will search Google for tips or information. Moreover, you can also use concerns well to connect with your intended customer on social media. If you talk about their concerns, you have a good chance of getting through their filters faster.
Pitfall
I see few pitfalls here: stick to your customer’s worry and offer new, refreshing, or more practical information that someone can really do something with.
What is it?
Goals (doelen) are things that people want to achieve. It is a milestone in life and therefore very important to them. They might still be in the exploratory phase or have already decided that they want to achieve a goal.
Help me out…
Think of someone who wants to run a 10km race within six months. Or someone who is going backpacking through Asia for the first time and doesn’t know which countries are worth visiting. It could also be someone who wants to learn something, for example, develop a skill.
In a business environment, you can think of someone who wants to learn a specific skill. Someone who wants to know which training is best suited for a new role. Or someone who is determined to start their own business next year and is curious about what is involved.
Why is it interesting?
Once again, there’s a good chance that people will search on Google for information on how to achieve their goal. And again, I’d advise you to use the content on social media as well, because it can be very interesting and might catch your target audience’s attention.
Pitfall
The pitfall is that you might end up covering topics that are already overdone. The example of running a 10km mentioned earlier: you can find that everywhere. In fact even Google can create it in AI overviews for you in no time. If the topic is overdone, be aware that it may be less successful in SEO, and that you are mainly creating it for other channels.
What is it?
Myths and misunderstandings are grouped together in this example because they are closely related but still quite different. I see a myth as a widely known but false story that needs to be debunked. A misunderstanding can be much more subtle and individual. There are certainly myths that are also misunderstandings, but I’ve chosen to mention them separately.
Help me out…
For myths, think of the story that e-cigarettes are healthier than regular cigarettes. That non-stick pans without Teflon are inherently better/healthier than pans with Teflon. Or that SEO starts with keyword research 😉
A misunderstanding can be much smaller. The assumption that washing your hair daily is good. The belief that in a healthy relationship, you never argue. Or the idea that if the expiration date on milk has passed, you need to throw it away.
As mentioned: you may find the distinction too overlapping, and that’s okay. As long as you get an idea of how broad and far-reaching this can go.
Why is it interesting?
People may want to find out how things really are. They will enter the specific story into Google to ask if it’s true. They may have heard a salesperson say something in a store and want to check it. It could also be that they want to be sure or eliminate doubt before making a purchase.
The fun part is that this approach lends itself to more than just SEO. It could even increase conversions if you can tell the visitor on your site that a certain story is (or isn’t) true.
Tip: also address stories that are indeed true. People may want to check these as well, and you want to help them too. So don’t just think in terms of actual myths or misunderstandings, but also in stories that seem untrue but aren’t.
Pitfall
The pitfall here is thinking: everyone knows this. No, that’s often not the case. And if it is, there’s a good chance people want to know exactly how and why. Take that opportunity to present a well-researched (with sources) story to your customer.
Whoever finds keywords, only discovers a limited part of what people are interested in. And it doesn’t say anything about what exactly they want to know about that keyword. Someone searching for [jeans], how are they searching for a certain style? A specific color? What it’s made of? How to take care of it? In the ‘People also ask’ section, you can already see that Google shows questions for almost every search term. We’re also seeing the same happening in AI overviews, Google is giving a lot of extra information on a query like ‘jeans’.
Whoever knows what their target audience wants to know holds the key with QPAFFCGMIM to a content strategy that goes beyond just SEO. In the examples above, you can see that I mention several angles that can also be effectively used on social media.
How that works is shown in the images below. If you start by mapping out the QPAFFCGMIMs and creating video content for it with experts you can repurpose this into content for all other channels. You can use the recording for podcasts, webinars, whitepapers, social posts, etc. Take a look at how I approach my own marketing: I create a video podcast and turn that into snippets, social posts, blogarticles etc. This is what I call organic marketing.
Therefore, it’s important to see a keyword as a theme and fully break it down into all the QPAFFCGMIMs that people have.
You won’t find the QPAFFCGMIMs in keyword tools. Not even in a tool like Answer the Public or Google’s People Also Ask. Well, you will find them there, but everyone looks at those, and you end up with the same uniformity as when we do keyword research: everyone starts creating the same content. And another problem: they’re the average QPAFFCGMIMs.
You’ll only find the truly relevant QPAFFCGMIMs when you engage with your target audience and ask the right questions to really get to know them. Be genuinely interested in them, listen, and dig deeper into what they’re saying.
Unfortunately, I speak to very few marketers (and even less SEO specialists) who have contact with the customer. That’s, of course, a real shame. How can you create the right content if you don’t know what’s on your customer’s or target audience’s mind? You wouldn’t know the topics they want to learn more about, but possibly also not the way they prefer to be addressed. The channels where you can find them, the type of content they prefer. The small questions or uncertainties they have. If you’re not talking to the customer, you actually know nothing.
So make sure you get the chance to work with the customer service department or organize interviews with your customers. Think of a video call (very doable in B2B), customer panels, a customer day, etc. It’s preferable to speak to your customer face-to-face rather than through “paper,” like in the case of surveys. Of course, something is better than nothing, but those who meet face-to-face with the customer can listen much better, ask follow-up questions, read between the lines, and hear what’s not being said. In that sense, interviewing is quite an art!
Do you want to get more out of SEO and get started with organic marketing?
I am more than happy to help you with creating helpful content around the QPAFFCGMIM’s from your audience.
This will be the foundation for helpful content in a zero click world. Together we will work on creating your ideal customer profile and determining where and when you can reach your audience with the right message based on their QPAFFCGMIMs. Next, we will start creating content for all organic channels.
