If you’re a novice blogger just starting out in SEO, this simple guide will walk you through quickly building a useful customer persona.
What Is A Customer Persona, And Why Do We Need It?
The definition of customer persona:
A customer persona is a semi-fictional profile of a typical member of your target audience. It represents a group of similar people who would find your content valuable. In other words, A customer persona is a clear picture of the kind of reader you want to reach.
Why you need it:
- It helps you write content that really speaks to your readers’ needs.
- It guides your keyword research (especially long-tail keywords) and topic ideas so you attract the right visitors.
- It keeps your site experience user-centered, making it easier for readers to find what they want.
- It helps you prioritize features and content ideas when you’re planning SEO and site structure.
People-First Design in SEO:
- SEO should think first about people. Understanding who your readers are helps you create content and a website experience that directly answers their questions, solves their problems, or provides the information they’re after.
- Search engines like Google reward content that matches what people actually want to find. So knowing your audience makes your SEO more effective.
What Is An Ideal Customer Persona? (Template Included)
Think of an ideal reader as a real person with a story. Here’s a simple template you can fill out:
- Goal: What is this reader trying to achieve that your blog can help with? (e.g., learn practical SEO tips, discover honest book reviews, improve writing craft)
- Barriers: What stands in their way? What problems do they struggle with before finding your content?
- Demographics:
- Age range
- Gender (if relevant)
- Occupation
- Education level
- Location (city/country)
- Income (if relevant to your niche)
- Behaviors:
- How they usually search for information
- Preferred content format (short tips, long guides, videos, podcasts)
- Social platforms they use
- Quotes / Mindset:
- A couple of example phrases that your persona might say (helps you capture tone)
- How your content helps:
- The specific topics, posts, or formats that would best serve this persona
An ideal customer persona may look like this：
Free customer persona template from HubSpot
Optional customer persona example (one-page mini-profile):
- Name: Alex
- Goal: Learn practical SEO tweaks for a new blog
- Barriers: Time-poor, overwhelmed by too much conflicting advice
- Demographics: 28–35, uses a laptop, learning SEO on the side
- Preferences: Quick, actionable tips; enjoys clear summaries and visuals
- How you help: Short actionable SEO posts with clear takeaways
How To Collect Data For A Customer Persona?
Gather a mix of real data and educated assumptions:
- Surveys: Short polls to your existing readers or social followers.
- Forums and communities: Look for common questions in SEO forums and blogging groups.
- Email marketing: Analyze your open rates, click patterns, and what topics your subscribers request.
- AI tool: Use AI to brainstorm persona ideas, but always ground them in real interactions.
💡Practical tip: Start with 1–2 well-defined personas and test your content against them. You can refine later.
The Easiest Way I Use To Create a Customer Persona
General idea:
Use AI as a helpful predictor to sketch an initial persona, then fine-tune it with real data from surveys and feedback afterward.
Example question you can ask AI:
“Use this template to create a customer persona for my business. I’m a novice blogger focusing on SEO. What readers might reach my blog?”
Extracts of answer from AI:
The more you know about your readers, the more valuable your articles will feel to them. So what are you waiting for? Create your very own customer persona today.