Excellent analysis. You have given me some new ideas to try out & to go back to the basics of tracking individual post performance on the open internet, especially on Google.

Let alone the worldwide web, to truly monetize Steemit, the Steemit minnows gravitate towards writing for whales; not even for the general Steemit community.

Evangelising Steemit

Social sharing is one sure way to organically build @Steemit, as you say @wadepaterson
The way Steemit is structured now I will continue writing for Steemit without bothering too much about SEO. Here's why:

• Though a Steemit post will live forever on the internet, Steemit compensation --- via the Steemit platform ---- is limited to 30 days after the post is first voted on. As contrasted with AdSense, that post has potential earnings till the end of AdSense.
• Steemit does not yet have the cachet of Medium where the community includes Barack Obama, the White House, Astro Teller & Ben Horowitz.

Admittedly, Steemit is a one year old platform currently dependent on community members to promote the platform organically. There is no Steemit marketing that I know of.
Once again, thank you for your painstaking effort. Tweeted you, of course.