Changing Course. A Slightly New Posting Approach
If you ever check out our monthly blog journals and updates (now with video!), you know we’re still finding our way in the bloggerverse.
One of the biggest challenges I wrestle with from day to day is optimizing our content so search engines will give it the time of day.
Balancing this goal to be seen with writing the content I want and care about has been a challenge.
I don’t want to be a bit of a sell-out just to pacify the big Google machine at the expense of my creativity.
If I’m being completely honest, I’ve largely ignored search engine optimization (SEO) to the site’s detriment.
Naturally, I’ve been digging into perfecting the art of managing this tradeoff when I stumbled across a few SEO articles that repeated similar SEO concepts, though their methods differed.
I walked away with some ideas I’m now planning to implement.
So, just like you must drive in a giant loop around the city of Nashville on I-65 instead of being able to pass through in something resembling a straight line (like other cities), I’ve decided you can’t fight the algorithm.
Try it, and it will only take you longer to get to the north side of town, or in this case, you’ll just live a quiet, near-meaningless existence in internet purgatory.
Since I want people to actually read what we’re writing, I’m going to make more of an effort to accommodate the system we’re all working in.
We’re going to try and go with the flow.
Write What People Want
Well, here’s the thing about Google. It’s really just a computer (a lot of them anyway).
It’s been programmed (a.k.a. “The Algorithm”) to favor certain content over others.
Naturally, if you’re trying to fall in line with the Algorithm it might behoove one to consider what it is the Algorithm really wants, right?
And what is it that Google wants the Algorithm to do?
Get people the information they’re looking for.
And why does Google want to do that?
Because people come back to helpful resources.
And why does Google want people to come back?
Because that’s what drives their revenue.
See. It’s true. All you have to do is follow the money.
The really nice thing that Google does for nice bloggers like me (well, it’s really for the people who are searching topics) is create a list of questions that are commonly asked once you submit a search topic.
For example, if I search for “When to plant tomatoes?”, Google is kind enough to not only give me topical results for my question, but also a list of questions people also ask. Behold:
As you can see, I also was given the opportunity to see not just results for when to plant tomatoes, but also a quick, clickable drop-down box to see responses for:
“When can I plant tomatoes outside?”
“What happens if you plant tomatoes too early?”
“Can you plant tomatoes in August?”
And,
“What temperature should it be before planting tomatoes?”
This may seem like perfectly useless information, but sometimes these other questions are helpful.
And if you’re a blogger looking to target specific questions for a given topic, this is like a cheat code to skip all the way to level 5.
So, what does this have to do with personal finance? Admittedly, not a ton.
But I am going to start writing to specifically address the specific questions people are asking regarding various finance topics.
In this way, I hope to make martinmoney.com a more usable site.
Speaking of Our Friend, Al Go Rhythm…
In an effort for Google BOTs to find quality content, the Algorithm favors sources that it finds EAT-worthy.
EAT stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. The stronger a site scores here, the more likely it is to rank well in search results.
And as my luck would have it, the EAT standard for “your money, your life” topics (like personal finance) is much higher than others.
It makes sense, right? There are a lot of good-for-nothing hacks out there constantly scheming ways for you to take your hard-earned money and redirect it to them.
Google wants to protect you and your wallet, so it’s more challenging for some random person to just toss up a site and start propagating information that could be very costly to you if it proves unreliable or even completely false.
And guess what I am?
A random person who just tossed up a site and started propagating information that could be very costly to you if it proves unreliable or even completely false.
Now, hopefully, it’s obvious to you that I’m no charlatan; scattering personal finance trash so I can bankrupt you or steal your life savings.
I’ve written over 80 posts and I still haven’t even made a dime off the site.
You might question my rationality, but not my motive.
Well, the Algorithm takes more convincing, so I need to find ways to make the site more EAT-worthy.
I have a couple of things in mind, but first I plan to laser focus on a single topic (maybe two) for 10-12 posts at a time in an effort to establish more credibility for a given topic.
Once I’ve exhausted one, I’ll move on to another, and so on.
The hope is this will improve our search engine ranking, which is nearly equal to the University of Southwest Central North Dakota State’s football team.
I’m pretty sure the University of Southwest Central North Dakota State is non-existent.
I hope you see my point.
Why Are You Telling Me This?
Well, dearest reader, I’m a big fan of yours. If it wasn’t for you, there wouldn’t be much point to any of this site.
It will seem like I am posting similar content with a lot of overlap.
In an effort to explain myself before I begin writing more focused content and to have something to link back to in case you miss this and want to come back to it later, I now have a post to elucidate my plan.
I expect you’ll notice a shift in the style of the post titles and in the content itself and just wanted to give everyone a head’s up.
Hey, change is hard. And even though this is a simple website, we still care.
