Killing that techie within you
SEO is killing creativity. Of course, we are now living in enlightened times. No more keyword stuffing –at least. But a new kind of worry seems to have overtaken most of us. This is called keyword density. The fear of keeping the keyword density optimal is creating all sorts of problems. Bloggers are no longer writing. Most of the time is taken up in calculation keyword density. But is it really worth all the trouble? I really, really don’t know and don’t care. As far as I am concerned SEO has very limited scope in as far as blogging is concerned. Here is why?
I want repeat visitors
By doing some great SEO, I manage to pull some visitors to my site. What does he see? Some blah, blah, which is copied from another website or blog. I can assure you that he is never going to return. Is this my goal? I want my first time visitor to get hooked on to my blog( like you guys are!!!) . Only if I have a loyal following my blog will grow. Not by attracting visitors from Google search. My advice to bloggers is to write what they really want to write about and not bother about keyword density. Some guys do exactly that- write what they want and then insert keywords at appropriate places later. This is even worse. The writing looks like mutton which has come out of a butcher’s knife. Forget about keywords and density and stuff if you are looking for loyal visitors. There are many other ways to get people to your blog.
Gimmicks, setting up blog and stuff
Which blogs are most popular? One’s which have something to say. Blogs which have a message are popular and will remain so. Human beings like to read things they can understand, things which make sense and mostly those which make them laugh…..and cry. It is a human thing. But what do I see? Blogs with so many gimmicks ribbons and balloons that the message is lost. Most of the time is spent setting up that RSS feed and other techie stuff that we forget writing altogether. I personally would recommend first time bloggers to keep things simple. Concentrate on your writing and whatever you want to say. Communicate with people and human beings not with the search engine. Ironically, search engine algorithms are also reaching the same conclusion. The latest trends show that Google is humanizing the search model.
Going back to the basics
Human nature is never going to change. Nor is marketing. If you want people to buy your ideas, make them interesting. Have you read works of Sigmund Freud? I tried but failed miserably. This guy can make even sex look dull. Your writing should be attract For this your marketing cues should be dramatic. I will not go into marketing since you can always Google and find out. The message I want to get across is this: Treat your blog post as if it is a huge title.
The chocolate factory
If you look at the blogs and articles posted on the net, they all resemble each other. Take SEO, for example. Everyone has the same remedies and suggestions. I have come across “Five great SEO ideas” repeated so many times on the net that it is coming out of my ears. Actually the entire World Wide Web looks like a chocolate factory. People are churning out chocolate after chocolate but everything has assumed the same taste. There is a weird logic working here. Bloggers assume if something works one must copy the same but in slightly different words( SEO working again). This assumption is fallacious. The best of blogs follow their own rhythm, listen to their unique music and write their own thing.
Knowledge and competence
To write passionately about something one must have mastery over the subject. I have known bloggers who have been wildly successful writing on dog food. I am not exaggerating. It is perfectly true. Writing on any subject under the earth can be a raving success if you are zealous about it. There is no substitute.
I hope I have managed to kill the techie within the readers. If not, I would recommend you to do a simple search on Google for any topic. You will find that the best blogs are those which have been written by experts in their respective field. Each one of us is good at something and blogging on that something is your best bet. Over dependence on SEO and RSS and ATOM feed will get you nowhere. It is the stuff which matters not the fluff.
