Thoughts About Search Engine Optimization

I continue to learn as I write because I am not an expert…at least not yet

My History with SEO: I Have A Backstory

Confidence surrounds me because I am a good solid writer. I am not a perfect content creator. But I demonstrate my knowledge about the niche that I write about and I demonstrate my capacity to write professionally. However, the thing that has significantly impacted me for the good is that I have become positioned as a family engagement content expert. My level of education, professional experiences, and engagement in continuous research have contributed to this.

Unfortunately, an obstacle inundates me. As I continue on my journey as a writer who strives to grow continuously and becomes more successful by amplifying my voice through a more extensive reach, I am confronted with the reality of a huge limitation.

I diligently try to understand what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about. I originally thought that it exclusively involved using keywords that ranked high on search engines. This led me to become more deliberate in using headlines and tags more thoughtfully. Sadly, despite refining my story headlines and tags by using words that are searched more often on Google, my performance stats have not shown significant or sustainable growth. My stories have not been reaching many readers on and off the Medium platform.

Instead of resorting to giving up as I have almost done several times or complaining about Medium algorithm deficits as I have done, I have reached a significant conclusion. I am beginning to comprehend the depth of SEO is intense. Stated as simply as I can, my conclusion about SEO is that there is much more to it than using keywords in my story titles that rank high in the Google search engine along with other ones.

I have been learning as much as I can about SEO by reading professional information, experimenting with online SEO tools, and watching videos about it. And doing so is helping me come to terms with the reality that problems exist within the stories I have previously published on Medium.

Being An SEO Problem-Solver

There is nothing easy about solving the problem associated with stats that remain lower than I want them to be. As shown below, I have needed to take several steps in doing so.

1. Reiterating my reality as a writer has been the first step in accepting the fact that something has been questionable with my output. While I am not a perfect writer, I know I am a good writer. My content authentically resolves relational problems that exist within schools, homes, and families. On the brink of giving up as a writer, I assumed that my content was too unpopular to get the number of reads on and off Medium that evidence success. But because I believe in my work as a family engagement influencer, I embraced perseverance as my mantra.
2. Here is the next phase of my journey. I confidently believe that I have been doing everything that I should be as a writer on this platform to be successful. Things like following guidelines, producing quality material, writing frequently, and interacting with writers are what I do. And I do these things consistently. My lower stats caused me to reach out to individuals within the Medium Help Center for guidance because it became my suspicion that something within the inner workings of this platform was blocking my reach as a writer. While I have over 81K followers, my stats have never grown. The Help Desk has always been responsive and willing to ensure that there were no issues with my profile. My frustrations have also grown outside of this platform because a lot of my work seems to remain unsearchable. A low number of stories have gone viral on other search engines.
3. Resolving my problem as a Medium writer is no different than solving issues that I encounter in other parts of my life. I have approached the issue of low stats through self-advocacy. Even though I may turn to others for help, I know that I must be my advocate. I have been expanding my capacity to understand SEO by using online support designed to educate me. Examples include these free Google SEO tools. Using one of the SEO tools enabled me to conduct an audit of my Medium profile to detect problems that diminish my overall success as a writer. The audit also affirmed my efforts as a content creator because I know that there are a lot of the strategies I use are going very well for me. And the audit made me recognize areas that need to be improved upon. I will not elaborate on the specific results of my audit findings in this section of my story. This is because most of the results are personal and exclusively pertain to my profile. However, one result that will be very applicable to all writers will be highlighted in the section below.

Overall, by following these three problem-solving steps, I believe my knowledge is increasing enough so that I will ultimately see a positive increase in my stats over time.

Interesting Things I’ve Learned About SEO

Since I am now equipped with a little more knowledge about SEO, I would like to share some key pieces of information that my three strategies for resolving my problem with low stats revealed. Although I enjoy writing so much that it could be classified as a personal hobby, that is not the exclusive reason why I write. I produce written content that not only reaches readers organically on and off the Medium platform, but my primary goal is also to write content that attracts my target audience.

As I mentioned earlier, using strong keywords in your story titles is very important. And I am certain that other writers with a basic knowledge of SEO understand this. But this is not enough to make your content even more visible organically or to your target audience.

Simply stated and most importantly, there is the power potential and increased visibility to be released through your story headline. I will unpack this robust information for you in this section.

1. The SEO best practice for story headlines is to use the largest font that is available on the platform. It is referred to as header 1 or <h1>. Search engine algorithms direct more traffic to your work when you use this header. But you must also strategically use keywords. Here is something that can be transformative for writers. When you combine the use of header 1 to your story headline and take the time to research keywords relevant to your story that is used more frequently on Google and other search engines, authentic and natural optimization occurs. (I have used the word organic in this story and I think this explanation best describes what it is.) While Medium stresses the importance of using the large, bold font for the story headline, I never knew that there was a connection to using it for SEO. I have always used header 1 to simply adhere to the writing guidelines on this platform.
2. Each story that you publish and hope to gain traction on and off the platform should only have one header 1. When you use that font throughout your story as subtitles to separate or introduce ideas, it confuses the algorithm because more than one headline is found in the story. And sadly, the ability of the story to be more broadly circulated becomes stifled. My total lack of understanding has contributed to my lower stats. Here’s why. I considered the use of header 1 for subtitles as a more attractive way of highlighting the section. I always thought that using the subtitle font which is header 2 or

   diminished the idea I was presenting. And I must now ashamedly admit that I never liked the look of the subtitle font on this platform. So, for as long as I can remember, all my stories were filled with header 1 headlines as subtitles. Except for my short-form posts, I am now going through all my stories to change all the subtitles to header 2. And because I am not an SEO expert, I don’t know if this will result in a positive shift in the algorithms to increase my performance stats. I am willing to give it a try though. There is one other important piece of information that needs to be shared about header 2. There should only be one of these in a published story. Having more than one subtitle using header 2 confuses search engine algorithms as much as using multiple header 1 headlines in a story.

3. Based on an article that I recently read that was written by Dr Mehmet Yildiz, his story about short-form posts is timely. This is because he discusses his perspective on performance stats when these types of stories are published. Based on my newly acquired SEO knowledge, these stories cannot achieve the success that writers hope for. As stated earlier, stories with a header 1 headline will be recognized by Google and other search engines. Aside from Medium readers who are attracted to the tags and followers who love and support the writer, short-form posts cannot reach very far. I will discontinue writing these types of stories because I want every story I publish to matter and I want more eyes to read them. It just surprises me that a platform as large as Medium has failed to caution writers about this deficit.
4. To extend the reach of your work both organically and strategically among your target audience, the third type of header known as header 3 or

   should be used for the remaining subtitles in your story. Medium does not provide a header 3 subtitle for writers to use. And this now makes me wonder if this is the root cause of writers throughout this platform including me expressing concerns about the overall low-performance results of our stories.

5. An additional yet extremely important aspect of headlines needs to be shared. Aside from their function in SEO ranking on search engines, the headlines that are included in stories serve specific functions for users. Headlines and subtitles provide a context for reading. They make the content easy to follow because the information becomes broken into sections. More readers are likely to follow and patronize writers who produce content that is structured well. And when more readers consume your content, it has a positive influence on your performance stats.
6. There is something that now troubles me. Aside from giving readers a hint about the content, I now question the use of the kicker above the headline that so many Medium creators use. At this moment in time, I am believing that the headline should be enough to provide a hook for readers. After all, if the function of the main title is to let readers know what the story is about, why is a preliminary title needed? And if the tags are used before posting a story direct readers to various topics, why is a kicker needed? I further question the validity of this because having a header 2 above header 1 may disrupt the flow of search engines to rank the story higher outside of Medium. My opinion is the use of a kicker has become a strategy, or fad, perhaps exclusive to Medium, as a way of attracting more members to read stories. Beyond this, I do not understand how the addition of a kicker can be classified as a best practice for SEO. My continued use of this strategy on this platform is now debatable. But I will also acknowledge that more personal study as it relates to SEO might cause me to fully embrace the continued use of the kicker.
7. As I have read stories published by Medium writing colleagues, I have tried to adhere to what they have written about the word length for story titles. In doing so, it just became my understanding that using no more than eight words was appropriate. However, my recent SEO studies have fined tuned this information. According to best practices, 30 to 60 characters should be used in the headline.
8. I now realize that there are factors that strengthen the power of the headline. The keywords and tags that rank high on search engines need to be mirrored in headline 1. The SEO description which is also known as the meta description gives writers a chance to publicize or pitch their work by integrating their high-ranking keywords. Writers need to leverage these things to increase their results on search engines and among readers and users. I never understood why writers need to cause all of these things to work in harmony. But simply stated, they direct more reading and viewing traffic to writers.

I hope these pieces of information will help guide you in resolving concerns that you may have about your stats.

I Still Have Questions

Despite my SEO learning curve, there are still things that I need to come to terms with. I highlight these things in the interrogatives below.

• If one header 2 should be used in writing to leverage a writer’s reach through SEO, what plans does Medium have for enabling the use of the header 3 font for subtitles?
• If the story headline drives traffic to writers on the Medium platform and through search engines, why does Medium promote or even permit short-form posts or kickers?
• Is Medium a platform whose results for writers defy SEO best practices where the most popular (but certainly not the strongest) writers are the ones who survive?

Has this story caused you to join me in having pressing questions related to SEO headlines?

My Final Thoughts About SEO

Being a content writer on Medium is just a part of my work as a family engagement influencer. But, this work is critical for two reasons.

1. It amplifies my voice and helps me spread the messages aligned with my mission to ignite family engagement in education and within the home.
2. Writing continues to position me as an expert within my niche.

As I remain committed to continuous growth and development as a professional, I am also committed to embracing the power that lies within SEO. I am also committed to finding answers to the questions that I have. Most significantly, because it includes more than comprehending the purpose of headlines and titles, I will continue to learn as much as I can about every other facet of SEO.

And so my journey to fully understand all the total power of SEO and transform it into best practices continues.

Thank you for reading what could have originally been perceived as a complex story upon first glance at the title. I hope that my words help your writing endeavors.

Do you have additional information to share about SEO? Be sure to keep the conversation going by adding your thoughts in the comment section of this story.

Here is my golden ticket that helps me accomplish my mission.

Dr. Deborah M. Vereen is a retired Teacher and School Administrator. Her website is www.Drdeborahmvereen.com and her YouTube Channel is

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