The last couple of posts, I have tried writing titles that conform to SEO guidelines. I’m unsure if it’s made a difference as far as human readers are concerned, but it definitely seemed to attract spam bots. I think I may go back to my old way, which is typically to write titles as they come to mind.
I don’t really intend for this blog to be any commercial success. It’s really just a hobby. But not only did SEO-chasing make me feel a little dirty, but it also seems so phony. I write this blog to convey my thoughts, ideas, and understandings. Writing for the purposes of scoring well on search engines means that I’m writing what I think Google wants to show to other people. It’s like the issues I have with AI: it’s not that the tools have no value, but the output is just regurgitation. It doesn’t have any soul to it.
Perhaps I’m being overly dramatic. And don’t get me wrong, if I was offered a financial opportunity because of this blog, I certainly wouldn’t refuse. I may try to monetize the blog in some way, because why not get a little beer money on the side? But doing so through search optimization seems like it would be counterproductive. I mean, if it’s successful because it’s written like every other blog that Google puts on the first page, then its success can be diluted or even reproduced with AI, and I become irrelevant.
So, I’ll probably just go back to my old obscure titles. Or maybe I’ll start using affiliate links and optimize those. I hope the spambots get bored soon.