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What triggered last Monday’s rant?

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash

Last Monday I blogged about what I like and don’t like about social media (https://janetswritingblog.com/2019/04/22/left-in-the-dust-by-social-media/.) My rant appeared to come out of the blue, but today I will explain what triggered my outburst.

Too Many Abbreviations!

What triggered last Monday’s rant was an article I read on Janice Wald’s Mostly Blogging blog, https://www.mostlyblogging.com/seo-plan/. The name of the guest blog post by Kas Szatylowicz is “SEO Plan:  How to Boost Traffic to Your Website In 2019, 7 Unique Ways.” It sounds like information I need, but it turned out to be light years beyond my grasp. That’s not a criticism of the article. I’m the one who fell off (or missed) the Social Media train.

Here are a few examples from the article that whizzed right over my head.

“Can chatbots really improve your SEO efforts?” According to the article, the answer is yes.

It went on to explain chatbots, so I did learn something. “A chatbot – or digital assistant – is an artificial intelligence powered piece of software that answers user queries in an instant. It also personalizes the user experience and nudges the prospect closer to a sale simple by providing answers.”

I laugh every time I read or hear that artificial intelligence personalizes the user experience. It seems like an oxymoron to me. Artificial personalization? I don’t think I want that on my website. You might not get an instant response to a comment you leave on my blog, but at least when you get one you’ll know I wrote it myself.

“Guest blogging. . . drives more traffic in the SERPs simply because the link juice you gain will improve your rankings.” “Huh?”

“Topic clustering is the new black.” What?

“Lastly, don’t ruin everything by engaging in black hat SEO practises.” (The writer’s spelling, not mine.) If I asked “What?” on topic clustering being the new black, then I’ll upgrade that to “WHAT?” for black hat SEO practices. I. Don’t. Have. A. Clue.

Maybe I’m better off not knowing. I have fewer things to worry about.

Since my last blog post

I’ve had a net gain of 13,700 words to my rewrite of The Doubloon manuscript, bringing my current word count to 69,100. I get to start on Chapter 17 today!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m reading The First Conspiracy:  The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. Fascinating!

If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

Look for my #TwoForTuesday blog post tomorrow: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­“Two Books with Colorful Covers.” Thank you for providing the writing prompt, Rae, in “Rae’s Reads and Reviews” blog. Here’s a link to her blog, https://educatednegra.blog/.

Thank you for reading my blog. You could have spent the last few minutes doing something else, but you chose to read my blog.

Let’s continue the conversation

Are you frustrated with social media?

Janet

13 thoughts on “What triggered last Monday’s rant?”

  3. Please let us know if you discover the meanings behind any of these statements. I must admit, Janet, that I am as baffled as you are!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I will, Mliae. It gives me some comfort knowing that I’m not the only person out there who doesn’t have a clue what the writer of the article was talking about!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Thank you, Paul. Yes, I think my time will be better spent putting words on the page and worrying about keeping up with social media. Life is too short — and I’m already 66 years old. Thanks for your comment.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Misery loves company, so I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t have a clue what that article said. I’m sooooo computer illiterate. I use Windows 7. Got a notice from Microsoft last week that they will no longer support or monitor Windows 7 after sometime in January, 2020. My having to learn how to use a new version of Windows has trouble written all over it.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Your rants are so tame. I tried to understand a similar article and got lost as well. That’s OK. I’ll settle for my reasonable number of blog followers whom I know to be real people anyway. What’s a bot anyway? Can you get a vaccination for that?!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. LOL! I try to use some restraint on my blog. It was so funny when I came across white hat and black hat SEO in that course because until then I really had no clue what it was. This course also said I need to to have 10 pre-written emails to automatically send out to every one who signs up for my mailing list. That just rubs me the wrong way. I’m with you, Alison, I want to be able to personally respond to each person who takes the time to read and comment on my blog. Oh — I’ll be on the lookout for that bot vaccine. Sounds like a good idea!

    Liked by 1 person

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