Author’s Note: This was originally published on Becoming A Writing Rockstar, Ossiana’s writing and blogging guide on Substack.
Oh, Google. You have ruled my life for so many years and I ain’t even mad about it. Unless you have been in a time capsule for the past 30 years, you know how important internet search engines are.
This is doubly true when it comes to Google. Google is the alpha and omega of searches. If you rank on Google, you get all the good stuff. If Google penalizes your site on searches, then you’re really fucked.
One of the most common questions I see online is a discussion about using SEO to gain more followers. Is it a viable way to grow your user base? Here’s what I have to say about this…
Yes, SEO can help you grow your user base.
This should be a no-brainer. Yes, being able to find your articles easily on Google will get you more fans. This is doubly true if your articles are in high demand in heavily searched areas or are related to trends that few people mentioned.
One of the best examples of a person who made a killing with SEO happens to be Abena from Abena Talks/Creator Vibes. Within a couple of years, I watched this girl rank from 0 to one of the most popular female entrepreneur writers on Medium.
She has many secret sauces that make her a great creator, but in recent months, she switched over to her very own website, where she sells courses filled with advice for entrepreneurs who want to slay it.
SEO made her super searchable, which also got me to discover her.
However, you still have to remember that content is king—especially as a content creator.
Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can get an AI program or cheap writer to shit out halfway decent, SEO-friendly content. SEO content is great if you are starting up a new website and need a ton of quick, search-friendly articles so that you can boost your ranking.
However, people will not subscribe to your content if all you do is regurgitate crap using AI and SEO techniques. People subscribe to human brands with thought-provoking content, not soulless SEO.
Your goal as a content creator is not to write for bots or algorithms. It’s to write for humans. Your target market is and always will be humans. Don’t forget that if you choose to use SEO in your work!
Here’s how to approach SEO as a Substacker or Medium writer.
I view SEO as something you can choose to sprinkle in—a loose suggestion for those of us who work as content creators. At the end of the day, people subscribe to get new content that has fresh ideas that resonate with them.
SEO alone can’t provide that. AI can’t provide that. Only YOU can provide that. SEO is only there to get your foot in the door. SEO is just there to help boost your discovery.
I repeat, content is king. If your content sucks, no amount of optimization will equate to monetization. Capiche?
How do you optimize your publication for search engines?
Well, this is a loaded question. I will try to explain the basics here and in later articles, I’ll dive even deeper into a solid SEO strategy. As with all things internet-related, the net is always evolving, so make sure to keep abreast of what you do.
Start with the right topics and keywords.
In order for your stuff to rank on Google, you have to write about things people are searching for. Now would be a good time to do a little topic research or keyword research if you’re really that worried about SEO.
A good topic will be just as relevant five years from now as it is today. It also will not get lost among the masses of other articles on it. I generally try to start with super niche topics, then branch to more mainstream topics as my publication grows.
For example, good options would include:
- How To Fix A Broken Screen On A Samsung S22+
- What Is Comphet, And Why Are People Talking About It?
- How To Create A Good Dating Profile On Grindr
Your entire article will be focused on the topic and keyword. In the cases below, these would be “fix a broken screen on a Samsung S22+,” “what is comphet,” and “dating profile on Grindr.”
Pick a smart title.
Yes, your title needs to have the main focus keyword in it. Ideally, the link you choose will also have it in the title with as little “fluff” as possible. When choosing a title, ensure it has the right keyword, doesn’t mislead readers, and piques interest.
Figure out your supporting keywords and phrases.
Before you write your article, you will also need to find your supporting keywords and phrases. These are not your main target keywords, but rather, things that naturally get mentioned when you’re talking about the topic at hand.
To give you an idea of what I mean, I’ll use the Samsung and Grindr examples above.
- For Samsung S22+: cell phone, cell phone repair, new screen, phone repair, Samsung phone, third party supplier
- For Grinder: gay dating, dating app, potential date, profile pic, profile picture
A good rule of thumb is that you should try to keep your main keywords used only once for every 100 words at most. Supporting keywords are generally best used only once or twice.
PRO TIP: Services like Ahrefs and SurferSEO can help you put together a good outline and also tell you what keywords to use and where.
Should you use AI to make SEO content?
NO. AI programs do not have the judgment nor the research capabilities to reliably make content. If you use these, you need to have a human editor to figure out whether it needs to be tweaked, reworked, or something else altogether.
Google itself doesn’t penalize against AI as long as it’s appropriately done. The problem is that most people overkill AI, which Google sees as inappropriate and spammy. Human-made content is the most reliable way to rank.
Put together your article’s outline and fill in the content.
If you are writing for SEO, you want to create a brief answer at the start of the article. This can occasionally (though not as often) double as the snippet that Google refers to at the top of search results.
A good outline will look roughly like this:
- Intro paragraph. Yes, you need to tease your reader into reading more, even if it’s SEO.
- Quick explanation of the answer or the point of your blog post. This is a good “general overview” of what you’re doing. For example, with the comphet article, this would be the portion where you explain that comphet stands for compulsive heterosexuality. With the Samsung article, you’d explain that you need to replace the screen.
- Go into bigger detail or add supporting points. This is where you explain the why’s, how’s, and other details. If you’re writing the comphet article, you would explain why compulsive heterosexuality is a thing and how it shapes our society.
- A conclusion. I usually just conclude my posts with a paragraph or a question that makes people think. However, if I’m doing things professionally, I often will add tips or frequently-asked questions at the bottom.
Use headers to divide your content.
Yes, headers matter. It doesn’t just divide your content and make it easier to read. It also makes it easier for search engines to pick up your articles.
Oh, and don’t forget to divide your content using other tools like numbered lists, bullet points, images, and more.
Yes, you can SEO images too.
Save your images with names that are relevant to what you are writing about. Don’t just leave them as “Untitled.jpg.” Oh, and make sure that your alternative text involves a description that has keywords in it.
It’s nitpicky, but it works.
Link back to prior articles to give them more ranking “juice.”
We might as well address the elephant in the room: backlinks. Google’s search engine crawlers index pages based on the links they have. The places that link back to your articles can help or hurt your page rank.
I think of backlinks a lot like a school lunchroom.
If you “sit with the bad kids,” no one will want to hang out with you. The same goes with Google. If you get links from a link farm with a low Domain Authority, you can get flagged or even banned.
On the other hand, if you get links from a site with a lot of authority, then you get pushed up to the top of Google’s search results. That’s why you always want to get links from “the in-crowd.”
Not sure where a site stands? No problemo. You can check Domain Authority via Moz’s Domain Authority Checker Tool to figure it out. This is also a good reason why you may want to do a little guest-posting on sites outside of Medium or the ‘Stack.
Let’s say you don’t have a place to guest post. That’s okay! You can still use Medium as a way to get backlinks. Medium has a spectacularly high Domain Authority. Substack is starting to catch up to it, but it’ll take a while.
PRO TIP – If you have a website you’re trying to promote, using your Medium or Substack to generate links is a smart, free way to do it. Just make sure that you have those links in a smart, relevant way.
Finally, I want to point out that SEO is always evolving and more social than ever before.
In the past, you didn’t need to have social media accounts to make your site rank to the top of Google. However, that’s no longer the case. Google’s algorithm now pushes social media linkage and activity as a sign of legitimacy.
So while you can always add keywords to your SEO game, the truth is that this practice is (kind of) ending. As a result, you need to think of your social media sharing while you work your SEO magic.
As I said at the start of this article, you have to write for humans, not bots. If you want to get great results, having shareable, interesting content that gets tons of interaction will get you more discovery and more subscribers.
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