by Zodiax
20 replies
If I write long posts that aren't targeted for a specific keyword, but simply talk about a popular highly searched topic, social bookmark each one of those posts, and keep doing that, will I eventually get decent traffic to a blog?

This is provided I don't do any specific keyword research. Just quality content.
#question #stupid
  • Profile picture of the author dana67
    It's certainly possible. Adding content on a regular basis is always considered a good thing. I'd recommend thinking of some keywords though that people might use when they search for your site/article and incorporate those into your content.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrissolita
    Talking about a highly searched topic will involve using specific keywords.

    I think the reason people target specific keywords is to apply their analytic knowledge to gain more visitors. Using that data, they can run better advertising, predict user tendencies, decide on future topics to write, etc.

    Either way, if it is quality content, it will have the keywords people are searching for.

    Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Miguelito203
    Originally Posted by Zodiax View Post

    If I write long posts that aren't targeted for a specific keyword, but simply talk about a popular highly searched topic, social bookmark each one of those posts, and keep doing that, will I eventually get decent traffic to a blog?

    This is provided I don't do any specific keyword research. Just quality content.
    This isn't a stupid question. Depending on the niche you're in, if you decide to write about a popular topic, you may or may not find it with a keyword search tool. The reason for this is because stuff that tends to go viral, for example, is happening now. Keyword research tools are usually a month or two behind. In a case like this, it really helps to know the niche, so you know ahead of time what kinds of keywords to get ranked for and stuff.

    In contrast, if you're writing about a popular topic in your niche that you can actually find in a keyword research tool that gets a lot of traffic, you'll need to do a bit more S.E.O. stuff and try to get ranked for a longer-tail keyword that's related to the ones you really want to get ranked for. This says to the search engines that if a site is getting ranked for a particular keyword, it must also be related to these other things as well -- kind of like an indirect connection.

    Aside from using a S.E.O. plugin, you should also use a couple of main keywords and variations of it in the title, any sub-headings and throughout the text. Social bookmarking sites are helpful, but you should also make use of social media (especially with trending topics), other blogs, a major forum in your niche and so on.

    Joey
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    • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
      Originally Posted by Miguelito203 View Post

      This isn't a stupid question. Depending on the niche you're in, if you decide to write about a popular topic, you may or may not find it with a keyword search tool. The reason for this is because stuff that tends to go viral, for example, is happening now. Keyword research tools are usually a month or two behind. In a case like this, it really helps to know the niche, so you know ahead of time what kinds of keywords to get ranked for and stuff.

      In contrast, if you're writing about a popular topic in your niche that you can actually find in a keyword research tool that gets a lot of traffic, you'll need to do a bit more S.E.O. stuff and try to get ranked for a longer-tail keyword that's related to the ones you really want to get ranked for. This says to the search engines that if a site is getting ranked for a particular keyword, it must also be related to these other things as well -- kind of like an indirect connection.

      Aside from using a S.E.O. plugin, you should also use a couple of main keywords and variations of it in the title, any sub-headings and throughout the text. Social bookmarking sites are helpful, but you should also make use of social media (especially with trending topics), other blogs, a major forum in your niche and so on.

      Joey
      Yeah.

      So if I use affiliate marketing for example... there are only so many keywords I can use before I end up sounding like an artificial keyword stuffing robot.

      But I suppose writing natural sounding articles on affiliate marketing would do the trick.

      I just want to know that I can write without obsessing over if I will ever rank anywhere in Google. That takes the fun out of it and makes me run through so much complicated senseless stuff in my head. The best solutions are simple. There has to be a simple way to blog and generate traffic without all the headache of worrying about nonsense like 'link juice', pr, etc.
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      'I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Zodiax View Post

    If I write long posts that aren't targeted for a specific keyword, but simply talk about a popular highly searched topic, social bookmark each one of those posts, and keep doing that, will I eventually get decent traffic to a blog?

    This is provided I don't do any specific keyword research. Just quality content.
    No, you won't get any traffic.

    You're talking about keywords which means you're wanting to rank a page in the SERPs. The problem with that is bookmarks will never rank a page.

    You also posted in the wrong forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author ThomasLloyd
    Yes absolutely it's possible, in fact it's somewhat better, you would still need just a little bit keyword research but providing quality content and focusing on interaction would get you up way faster!
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    • Profile picture of the author Andre Slater
      I have blog that gets anywhere from 200-1200 visitors a day...

      I got a big boost of traffic when I forgot about keyword research.

      Before it would take me 30-45 minutes just to research one keyword to rank.

      Now I just pull up Google KW tool pick 1 keyword per post

      that make sense with the post and put it in

      Title, Description, Keyword slot and move on.

      I focus on quantity instead of deep keyword research.

      Instead of taking hours on 1 post I crank out 10 post in that hour and monitor post traffic.

      The blog has about 260 post on it each targeting 1 keyword so 260 kw's and I can add about 10 post in about an hour,

      Don't worry so much about KW research if you have enough post targeting multiple keywords some will rank.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve B
        Is your ultimate goal to get traffic?

        Or is it to make sales?

        If you are after sales, then it's important that your traffic is targeted, not general. You want your audience to be homogenous (all having the same wants and desires) so that you can present your niche offers and they will appeal to everyone.

        Sure, you can get a lot of traffic without your posts being targeted. The problem is, your audience won't be targeted and your offers will be non-relevant to most people.

        This is the exact problem with "funny" sites. Humor is great for traffic, but notoriously difficult to monetize because it is not targeted to a particular audience.

        So are you in IM to get traffic? Or are you in IM to make sales?

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Maximus Flix
    You might get a boost but nothing to write home about, traffic in trickles so to speak.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Moore
    What is your reason for not targeting keywords? Don't understand why you would want to skip that?
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    • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
      Originally Posted by John Moore View Post

      What is your reason for not targeting keywords? Don't understand why you would want to skip that?
      By 'targeting keywords', I am referring to the practice of stuffing keywords found with the keyword planner tool in an effort to achieve higher rankings. The keywords one may try to rank for are indiscriminate, and usually nonsensical.

      Take these terms for example:

      "how to affiliate marketing"

      "travel affiliate marketing"

      "affiliates marketing"

      Writing a post using the practice of 'targeting keywords' would be very distasteful to the user, because it is written with the sole intent on trying to solicit traffic and not with the purpose of providing any value.

      Rather than use this approach I was wondering if I could simply make a blog about affiliate marketing and write specifically on the topic, create social bookmarks to generate visibility for the search engine crawlers, and rank in a natural way.

      I was hoping people would share there experiences with this.

      I know one fellow who gets about 1000 visitors a day from a non-keyword targeted blog, but he does a lot of product reviews.

      It's not cut and dry with this SEO thing ya know?
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      'I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'
      -Muhammad Ali

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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Zodiax View Post

        Yeah.

        So if I use affiliate marketing for example... there are only so many keywords I can use before I end up sounding like an artificial keyword stuffing robot.

        But I suppose writing natural sounding articles on affiliate marketing would do the trick.

        I just want to know that I can write without obsessing over if I will ever rank anywhere in Google. That takes the fun out of it and makes me run through so much complicated senseless stuff in my head. The best solutions are simple. There has to be a simple way to blog and generate traffic without all the headache of worrying about nonsense like 'link juice', pr, etc.
        The light came on for me one day when I was looking over my server logs, specifically the keywords people were actually using to find one of my sites. Over 90% of my search traffic was coming for long tails I would never have targeted, and many of those were terms I would not have even imagined.

        Since that day, I write for people. I usually end up using the common keywords for a topic naturally anyway. I do very basic on-page SEO, and then I forget about it because I've learned that people search using their terms, not mine.

        As far as social bookmarking goes, that tactic was so abused that it has little value. You're better off creating a link from a well thought out comment on a popular authority blog to get your site initially noticed. Once you've been indexed, judicious and logical cross-linking within your site is your friend for getting new content indexed.
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  • Profile picture of the author LaunchPurveyor
    It's definitely possible and they're several very successful blogs that do just that.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkHernandez
    Yes sir! Quality is what matters now a days, it will definitely distinguish you from other guys trying to trick the system
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  • Profile picture of the author idiots89
    A stupid question will only get you stupid answers.
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  • Profile picture of the author DustinSolerx39
    Well, it's not a stupid question, don't care about your rankings and stuff, just focus on quality, it will drive far grater results for you than any other "trick" or "loophole" will..
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  • Profile picture of the author Riki Stein
    The only stupid question is the one not asked.

    It also certainly can't hurt to include related (LSI) keywords that show up on the bottom of Google when you search. Include them in your blog posts as much as you naturally can. Key word being "naturally."
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by idiots89 View Post

      A stupid question will only get you stupid answers.
      Sometimes smart questions get stupid answers, too. Thanks for proving that for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Riki Stein View Post

      The only stupid question is the one not asked.
      It would be so nice if that were actually true. lol

      Cheers. - Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelswengel
    No, it's not a stupid question. It's better to ask and get an answer than to waste time.
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