If it ain’t that good, then give up.

If you do not strive to have the best writing, then what is the point? If you’re happy with mediocrity, then I’d suggest doing something else – what are YOU good at? Think about that, and you’ll carve your own niche.

Patrick

I prefer the second one. However, I just found one totally black hat SEO done by site (finerdesign.com) which ranks 4-th in Google for ‘web design’. Spamming (black hat in genera;) still works. Natural SEO works as well.

I would say it differently; Do SEO if you know what SEO is. Optimisation includes strategic goals, their approach, plans, analysis, checking your competitors, and so on. Doesn’t it?

And the plethora of fabulous bloggers – I am always so impressed with WordPress.com bloggers. They are definitely a few notches up from “other” free blog offerings. From the beginning, we’ve had serious folks blogging on serious subjects, bringing fresh perspectives and new ideas to the blogosphere. It’s been exciting to be a small part of it.

Can you tell I feel like a mother hen to WordPress.com? I’m really proud of all it’s accomplished in the past two years. Very proud.

Honestly, I have done no promotion, no grasping for attention, no site submissions, nothing on this blog. I write on a very narrow topic, on content this is covered elsewhere, probably better. But it’s my voice and writing style that people seem to like. Go figure. I just do my thing and people are noticing. And I often wonder why.

Don’t forget Lorelle, you were one of the few (very, very very few) who would take other new WP.com users seriously, i.e., with respect.

Playing the “game”, as you call it, takes away from the creation energy and puts it into the grasping game for attention. The real treasures on the web understand that content counts, not the games.

As for the issue of “unique content”, this doesn’t mean come up with a subject that no one is covering. It means say it “your way”. Make it have “your words”, “your ideas”, and “your perspective”.

There is rarely such a thing as a new idea, just old ideas presented in a new light. The “unique content” is a stab at defining any content that isn’t copy and paste, part of the echo chamber effect, where everyone blogs the same thing on the same pop subjects.

Honestly, I have done no promotion, no grasping for attention, no site submissions, nothing on this blog. I write on a very narrow topic, on content this is covered elsewhere, probably better. But it’s my voice and writing style that people seem to like. Go figure. I just do my thing and people are noticing. And I often wonder why.

In my many years of doing this, I’ve found that those who work the hardest at SEO and attention-getting techniques, burn out the fastest, get the least long-term return on their investment, and keep repeating the same mistakes because they aren’t learning from their lessons before repeating them.

Unique content isn’t hard. Just do your own writing and don’t copy others. No different than it was in school. Don’t plagiarize.