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I've been working on a niche technical blog to share some of the stuff I learn. I think it could be useful to a handful of people with specific problems or inte

I've been working on a niche technical blog to share some of the stuff I learn. I think it could be useful to a handful of people with specific problems or interested in specific programming topics. I've looked into SEO but it seems like a giant shitshow. Lots of outdated and shady advice out there. Do you have any pointers how to get it done, preferably ethically and without turning this into a part time job?

skilled 5y ago
I'd start with plugging your site into Google Search Console[0], this will give a lot of notifications on things you need to fix if there are actual errors. E.g. Site performance, since Google uses that as a metric. But also sitemaps and other stuff. The most important thing is that your site is easy to navigate. So, extremely good internal link structure, breadcrumbs, and clear definitions of what your site is about.[1] You're right that SEO is a shitshow because not very much has changed since 2010. People just like to say that it has. I think one thing Google has gotten better at is understanding the design of content. In other words, anyone can throw a bunch of letters on a landing page - but not everyone has the patience to optimize for which parts are important (blockquotes, lists, custom span elements, etc.). Naturally, you need discoverability/exposure for your content, too. This is pretty much the hardest part. However, if you write up-to-date stuff on trending topics - getting links is actually very easy. There are a lot of newsletters out there, and also sites like Dev.to and Hacker Noon, both of which are currently seen as "darlings" of programming content; by Google that is. Believe it or not, it doesn't take "a lot" to get a rolling effect going. For myself, it's a bit different. I have scaled blogs to 350,000 monthly visitors (from Google) so I have a lot of experience in writing, and I am able to naturally write in a way that talks to people in first-person opposed to some horseshit marketing copy. But on the technical side, I simply do what Google wants you to do (Schema, site structure, navigation) - there is no magic HTML attribute that is going to give Google a hint that your content is the bomb. [0]: https://search.google.com/search-console/about https://search.google.com/search-console/about [1]: I think a mistake a lot of people make is they write their articles, and leave them as single-page documents that have no relation to anything outside of it. In this context, Google's algorithm can't actually figure out what your site is about.
- throwuxiytayq 5y ago
  Thanks for the help! I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this post for a while.

skilled 5y ago

I'd start with plugging your site into Google Search Console[0], this will give a lot of notifications on things you need to fix if there are actual errors. E.g. Site performance, since Google uses that as a metric. But also sitemaps and other stuff. The most important thing is that your site is easy to navigate. So, extremely good internal link structure, breadcrumbs, and clear definitions of what your site is about.[1] You're right that SEO is a shitshow because not very much has changed since 2010. People just like to say that it has. I think one thing Google has gotten better at is understanding the design of content. In other words, anyone can throw a bunch of letters on a landing page - but not everyone has the patience to optimize for which parts are important (blockquotes, lists, custom span elements, etc.). Naturally, you need discoverability/exposure for your content, too. This is pretty much the hardest part. However, if you write up-to-date stuff on trending topics - getting links is actually very easy. There are a lot of newsletters out there, and also sites like Dev.to and Hacker Noon, both of which are currently seen as "darlings" of programming content; by Google that is. Believe it or not, it doesn't take "a lot" to get a rolling effect going. For myself, it's a bit different. I have scaled blogs to 350,000 monthly visitors (from Google) so I have a lot of experience in writing, and I am able to naturally write in a way that talks to people in first-person opposed to some horseshit marketing copy. But on the technical side, I simply do what Google wants you to do (Schema, site structure, navigation) - there is no magic HTML attribute that is going to give Google a hint that your content is the bomb. [0]: https://search.google.com/search-console/about https://search.google.com/search-console/about [1]: I think a mistake a lot of people make is they write their articles, and leave them as single-page documents that have no relation to anything outside of it. In this context, Google's algorithm can't actually figure out what your site is about.

throwuxiytayq 5y ago
Thanks for the help! I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this post for a while.