What the Hell is Search Engine Optimization?
Why I Think You Should Stop Worrying About It
As I started writing, I was amazed by something. If I wanted to get my work seen, I had to make the computers like me.
I had to get the Medium algorithm to curate my stories. This is the best way for me to grow my audience.
The other thing I kept seeing getting recommended: Search Engine Optimization.
Let’s talk a bit about search engine optimization. This is one of the first topics I tackled as I was ending school and preparing to enter the workforce.
At the time, I was what I described as an “IT Specialist” for an ATV and zipline park. This essentially meant I was paid $10/hour to do website design, tech support, and whatever else they needed. And this was also for multiple businesses. The guy I was working for had several businesses. I was given the task of building out websites for multiple businesses and creating an online presence for these small backwoods businesses. I also decided I could build out a customer reservation system.
One of the things I convinced my boss that I needed was an online course for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It was like $300, I think. It wasn’t easy. My boss was a total cheapskate and refused to spend money that he didn’t absolutely have to. But I was convinced that this would be the perfect course and was all I needed.
I learned all about how to write copy in a way that made search engines happy. Using the right keywords. Making sure that all of the meta tags were correct.
That all bored me, honestly. I was more interested in the tech stack I was building out than I was getting people to see it.
Fast-forward 10 years. Now I have been a software engineer for a decade. I understand what it takes to get stuff built. I have been building and shipping software for a decade. I start blogging. I study how bloggers make money.
What does it all come down to? Search engine optimization. We rely more on machines to distribute our work than we do ourselves. I have seen one big change though. There is more of a focus on creating quality content. We just want to do it in a way that the algorithm likes. No more link farms or anything like that.
Here is a blog that talks about optimizing your blog for SEO:
One of the things I did look for was the date. This article appears to have been published in 2021. That’s pretty important to check when looking for blogs. One of the issues I am running into pretty often is that the information I find is outdated. When everything is changing quickly, it becomes important to find the newest information.
I also listened to this podcast:
I just started listening to Startup Hustle. I recommend them to anyone who is looking to hear stories about the reality of startup life. But specifically, this episode covered some of the changes that happened with Google over the past decade. As someone who had previous experience with it, some of their points really resonated with me. Specifically, one thing: how hard it is to get Google to change your knowledge card. Even if Google knows who you are, the algorithm can “figure out” some fact about you, and will determine that to be truth. Humans can modify it, but if the source of the data still exists, it will figure it out again.
Just let that sink in. There is a system so complex that the humans “in-charge” don’t have full control over it.
And as a blogger, one of the keys to making a living is getting really good at getting this giant system to know who you are.
Ok, now that you have pondered the impossibility of that task, I would like to show you the bright side. If you write good content that helps people, you don’t really need to worry about search engine optimization. Google does have some top engineers working on some cool things. They will probably help you find your audience eventually. The trick is finding your audience yourself. That is the hard part. This is the thing you can control a bit more. You share your content with your audiences on other platforms. Of course, then you need to become an expert at finding your audience on each of those individual platforms.
Awesome! Now we have a bunch of super complex systems we are trying to figure out! All we want is for people to read our work, right?
Shouldn’t there be an easier way?
Nope. Just keep getting better and give it time. Eventually, the systems will help you find your audience.
This piece is outdated. But I am still working on building a new search engine.
Ok, I think there is a better way.
We’re building out a search engine that helps your audience find you. It is our belief that humans make the best audience. Stop trying to make the algorithms find you. Let us know what challenges you have with getting your voice heard.
Register your blog here: