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> I miss the days when the web was this simple You mean before AdSense and SEO or exactly what the site’s author does for living?

en3r0 4y ago
Ya, I am a part of the "problem" so to speak, though I do my best to create content that not only ranks well in a search engine, but is genuinely helpful for the reader. I suppose it was inevitable in the drive of the commercialization of everything in life?
- freedomben 4y ago
  Just my two cents, but IMHO SEO for useful information is itself a great good. The evil are the people who have low-value content and eclipse the higher value content through gaming.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    There isn’t a such thing as “SEO for great content”. The search algorithms don’t reward “great content”. The only way you win is by not playing the game. You have to find other ways to market and have an “unfair advantage”. How many times have you seen “useful content” buried by paragraphs of word salad to juice SEO?
    - freedomben 4y ago
      I'm not sure I understand your argument. "SEO for great content" to me just means you have great content, and you Optimize it for Search Engines so people can fine it easier/higher.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        I’m saying simply that what the algorithm cares about and what causes it to rank high is completely orthogonal to “good content”. Search for any subject where you consider yourself a subject matter expert. Are the top results what you would consider good? This is excluding first party vendor content.
- progmetaldev 4y ago
  Don't beat yourself up if you were doing SEO the proper way, making content that genuinely appealed to the proper audience, and/or made the content more accessible. I think there are enough people here on HN that understand proper SEO versus trying to game the system.
ravenstine 4y ago
Well, clearly not before AdSense or SEO. By simple, I meant in the sense that some kid in high school could put up a site that's not rich in JavaScript, have people find it organically, not need to worry so much about scaling or DDOS, not need to worry about GDPR, not have the expectation of accessibility, and not need to have an iOS and Android app for people to actually use it. This isn't to say that the same technology used in say 2005 can't be used today. But it's a time investment with not nearly as much of a likelihood of seeing a meaningful return.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  GDPR wouldn't apply unless you have business in Europe
  - nonethewiser 4y ago
    How much has the EU enforced it against small overseas businesses?
    - BlueTemplar 4y ago
      Much more relevantly, there laws are much more lax if you aren't a business.

en3r0 4y ago

Ya, I am a part of the "problem" so to speak, though I do my best to create content that not only ranks well in a search engine, but is genuinely helpful for the reader. I suppose it was inevitable in the drive of the commercialization of everything in life?

freedomben 4y ago
Just my two cents, but IMHO SEO for useful information is itself a great good. The evil are the people who have low-value content and eclipse the higher value content through gaming.
- scarface74 4y ago
  There isn’t a such thing as “SEO for great content”. The search algorithms don’t reward “great content”. The only way you win is by not playing the game. You have to find other ways to market and have an “unfair advantage”. How many times have you seen “useful content” buried by paragraphs of word salad to juice SEO?
  - freedomben 4y ago
    I'm not sure I understand your argument. "SEO for great content" to me just means you have great content, and you Optimize it for Search Engines so people can fine it easier/higher.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      I’m saying simply that what the algorithm cares about and what causes it to rank high is completely orthogonal to “good content”. Search for any subject where you consider yourself a subject matter expert. Are the top results what you would consider good? This is excluding first party vendor content.
progmetaldev 4y ago
Don't beat yourself up if you were doing SEO the proper way, making content that genuinely appealed to the proper audience, and/or made the content more accessible. I think there are enough people here on HN that understand proper SEO versus trying to game the system.

ravenstine 4y ago

Well, clearly not before AdSense or SEO. By simple, I meant in the sense that some kid in high school could put up a site that's not rich in JavaScript, have people find it organically, not need to worry so much about scaling or DDOS, not need to worry about GDPR, not have the expectation of accessibility, and not need to have an iOS and Android app for people to actually use it. This isn't to say that the same technology used in say 2005 can't be used today. But it's a time investment with not nearly as much of a likelihood of seeing a meaningful return.

ipaddr 4y ago
GDPR wouldn't apply unless you have business in Europe
- nonethewiser 4y ago
  How much has the EU enforced it against small overseas businesses?
  - BlueTemplar 4y ago
    Much more relevantly, there laws are much more lax if you aren't a business.