POETRY | SEO

I Tested My Own SEO Poetry Post Theory and Here’s What Happened

From the SEO tips article I wrote last week to the results of this week; here’s the proof!

Being a blogger can sometimes feel a bit like rolling the dice. We write, we post, we do all the SEO tips we know, and then wait for the numbers. Numbers of visitors, site traffic and feedback, an ROI that is often underwhelming. It’s even harder for poets.

I’ve been in training with a rather large company who has put me on their work schedule as a regular freelancer, contributing to the Content Team’s joint blog for the company. I fit right in with this lovely group of writers. It’s fabulous.

One of the perks is the SEO training I am receiving which is enhancing my freelancing work across the board.

I thought there must be a way to help poets. There must be some way to adapt this knowledge for poets to help them gain as much traffic as possible on their poetry blogging posts. I prepared my article and Better marketing published it without hesitation.

Optimizing Poetry Blog Posts: A Test

So what’s a theory without testing it out.

I recently wrote two new poems on Medium, one using the tricks of the above article, and one not.

Non-Optimized Poem

Publication date: November 15, 2020 Publication: P. S. I Love You Article | Poem: A Poem: When the Darkness Comes

Chosen for distribution.

Stats: The first one in the list is the poem in reference:

Engagement:

Earnings:

Optimized Poem

Publication date: November 12, 2020 Publication: Blue Insights Article | Poem: When a Poem Speaks to Your Soul; Answer with Your Pen

Not chosen for distribution.

Stats: The second one in the list is the poem in reference:

Earnings:

Engagement:

My Assessment

Comparatively, these two poems were published within a few days of each other. The non-optimized poem was published in a much larger pub and chosen for distribution but is receiving less views, less engagement, and less earnings. The optimized poem, in my opinion as compared to the “norm” with my poetry performance, is receiving a bit of a monetary boost in MPP and higher engagement.

Perhaps the SEO work on that particular poem is working to increase reads while the extra bit of “fluff” is working to keep reader’s interests and provoke higher engagement. Yes, the average reading time is lower and this poem has been live for 2 days longer, but normally I do not receive earnings of over a dollar within the first few days of a poem’s publication. (With one exception, the skin i am in, a self-published poem, earned nearly $10.00 in the first week it was published, right before MPP changed over from a clapping metric to one base on reading time. Since then it has earned less than $2.00.)

At least for me, the initial performance of the SEO optimized poem is promising. I’ll let you look over the screenshots I have provided and draw your own conclusions, but I feel the SEO tips provided in my Better Marketing article are helpful ones with real, measurable results.

Why not try it for yourself and see what a bit of extra effort brings to your MPP earnings? What have you got to lose, dear poets?

Thanks for reading.

Christina M. Ward is a freelance writing professional and a professional poetry editor on Fiverr. She has been a contributing writer for Medium for almost two years. She currently holds the Top position for the Poetry tag Top Writer status.