SEO, I Don’t Think So.

This is part four of a four part post.  Click here for part I, here for part II, or here for part III.

“The truth is more important than the facts.”

~Frank Lloyd Wright

I don’t write for SEO, or throw attention at keywords.  I hope I never feel the need to stray from such straightforward guidelines, at least not while writing for Writer Dad.

I can almost hear the collective gasp from the probloggers.  I’m not trying to argue, merely stating what works for me.  Writing for SEO isn’t it.

Before I began the blog, I did my due diligence.  

I read Darren’s book, and clearly understood the importance of SEO and keywords.  During my first two weeks of posting, I stuck to the principles.  I would outline ideas, title included, draw the keywords I needed, and then scribble around them.

It was backwards. 

I knew it, and abandoned the practice my third week.

Writing exclusively for SEO content, I’ve no doubt, dulls the voice.  Now, when I pen a post, I sit at the keys with a vague idea of how I’d like to spit.  Words spill, I bring the mop.  

Only when finished, do I read the post to see what keywords I might gather.  I then decide on a title, an appropriate quote, and a picture to give all the black and white a little splash of color.

Like advertising, or pretty much anything else, I’ve no issue with writing for SEO.  I understand the mathematics, and am positive that the future will find me developing sites where writing for the deities of search engine optimization is entirely necessary.  

When that day comes, I’ll design my words accordingly. 

The hallways of the internet blare with a billion echoes.  Like life, it takes courage to think different.  It’s hard to claim a niche when I find myself an expert at nothing.  I don’t want to pen lists to tell others how to live their lives better when I’m still working full time on mine.  Hunter Nuttall wrote a fantastic piece on building a slow and steady audience.  This is an excerpt from that article:  

Writer Dad says he doesn’t have a niche, and that’s certainly true in the traditional sense. But I think he has a very specific niche. He’s writing for people who like about 1 post per day, about 500 words, broken into lots of short paragraphs, with lots of interaction in the comments section, and most importantly, his unique writing style. Name another blogger who’s similar. Can’t think of one? That’s because he’s the only one in his niche.

The traffic that drives by Writer Dad could only be described as light.  What I do have, is a high percentage of people who stick around.  This is as it should be.  I’d prefer a smaller, genuine audience, to a large one who slips Writer Dad in their reader because they think it’s something they’re supposed to do.  

Without ads, an inflated audience is irrelevant.

When I write, it is because I want someone to feel a silhouette of my thought.  Even with a full understanding that my words will be mostly forgotten within thirty-six hours of broadcast, I write them with everything I have. 

My children will one day comb through my archives; I write for them.

If Writer Dad is my chance to touch our most local universe, then I wish to use my most genuine voice, rather than one designed to capture the attention of the Googlebots who crawl across my verbiage.  

When you have language, you can skip rope.  Why would I wish to tie my laces?

Writer Dad

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