SEO Is Overrated
New bloggers are advised not to use website builders like Wix and Weebly because they aren’t good for SEO. And bloggers at all experience levels try to optimize for SEO every bit of content and layout.
But does it matter?
Let’s set outliers aside. For the rest of us, when starting a blog or an online presence with no prior audience or visibility, everything happens at a snail’s pace. For the first year or more, traffic grows slowly if at all. No matter what SEO trick or tweaks you do. Nothing seems to make a difference.
Years later, when the blog gets decent traffic, gains visibility, and acquires brand recognition, people recommend and link to it anyway despite its warts. Assuming the content is valuable.
Therefore, even at the other end of the growth curve, SEO doesn’t seem to matter much as the blog is past critical mass and self-sustaining.
Improving the scannability and readability of content is always useful, a prerequisite. For example, structuring posts into sections with descriptive headings, having enough whitespace, and using lists.
Beyond that, why bother with SEO? Does organic growth happen anyway, given enough time? Are connections and networking more valuable than SEO?
What’s your experience?
But does it matter?
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| The Google home page. |
Let’s set outliers aside. For the rest of us, when starting a blog or an online presence with no prior audience or visibility, everything happens at a snail’s pace. For the first year or more, traffic grows slowly if at all. No matter what SEO trick or tweaks you do. Nothing seems to make a difference.
Years later, when the blog gets decent traffic, gains visibility, and acquires brand recognition, people recommend and link to it anyway despite its warts. Assuming the content is valuable.
Therefore, even at the other end of the growth curve, SEO doesn’t seem to matter much as the blog is past critical mass and self-sustaining.
Improving the scannability and readability of content is always useful, a prerequisite. For example, structuring posts into sections with descriptive headings, having enough whitespace, and using lists.
Beyond that, why bother with SEO? Does organic growth happen anyway, given enough time? Are connections and networking more valuable than SEO?
What’s your experience?
