Unoptimized

February 19, 2025

I don’t get much traffic to this blog. It’s discouraging, sometimes. I feel like I’m writing into the void.

But just try looking up how to attract more people to a blog or website. Check out reddit’s r/blogging group. What you will find is discussion intensely, aggresively, focused on maximizing traffic, on search engine optimization (SEO).

I found it depressing. A little repulsive, even, if you will allow me a little hyperbole. The kindest terms I can put it in is that it was antithetical to the approach I take to this blog.

For me, blogging is a personal outlet. I have no fixed topic here. I have no specific goals. I post just to get some of my thoughts out into the world.

Now, having different goals than me is certainly not a bad thing by itself. Most people have different goals than me because most people are not me. But there are a lot of blogs that only exist as delivery vehicles for ads and affiliate links. As if making money was the only purpose of blogs. It feels empty and sad to me. And besides, the internet does not need more of that.

So I think I am content with my little site. I’d rather put out my little site to only a few people than be part of the bland slurry of SEO site.

And here’s a bit of synchronicity for you. As I was drafting this post, not one but two posts on a similar topic came across my feeds: https://notes.jeddacp.com/blogging-is-not-always-about-traffic/ https://splendide-mendax.com/posts/2025-02-18_blogging_for_traffic

How about that?