Often, when looking to optimise your site or choose which areas or keywords to target it can be tricky to know where to start.

I've found this thought exercise useful to put myself in the position of my target audience.

Imagine you are sat in a meeting. There are a number of people sat around the table and they are running through the points on the agenda. When a particular point comes up you are the one who is pointed at and asked (told) to sort it out and to come back at the next meeting and report back.

You know nothing about the product or service in question.

You leave the meeting having copped for being responsible for this action. Wondering how on earth you managed to get stuck with this and fighting the panic of not knowing how to resolve this.

Once the initial panic has passed and you've taken a few deep breaths on the way back to your desk. You sit down in front of your computer open up Google and type in a question.

What is the question you're typing?

What is the problem you are trying to solve?

By going through this situation, putting myself in the position of the person given the task in the meeting, I can better align myself with their state of mind. This makes it more likely I will choose a target area for my content which will meet their needs and provide a positive first experience.

Google refers to this as the Zero Moment of Truth. An interaction you have with a potential customer before you even know they are in the market for the thing you sell. By being the friendly person who is available to help at this Zero Moment of Truth, you can form a positive first impression and increase the likelihood of that person sticking with you throughout the whole purchase journey.

Bear in mind this is the first step in a process, but using this exercise to put yourself in someone else's shoes is a great way to take this step.