I started writing just because I love writing. When I say I love writing, I mean I love the Words, how words carry a mix of emotions and yet be very subtle at expressing it. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert who use words to express my emotions.
But things changed when I converted my love for writing into a full time career. Now, my readers put perspectives to those words. How they understood the message to how they interacted with the words, my writing is all about the reader.
In my next step in career, I learned more about SEO, retention rates and conversion. It was clear the writer in me had to get out of my head and get in the shoes of the reader. Understand their roadblocks, analyse their engagement pattern and even note down the best time to post for the reader.
The number game number in content creation is fun and fruitful. However, somewhere in the lane, the love for writing took a hit to pave way for the “high-performing content”. Most of the time, my content is miles away from what it is in my imagination. Yet, it works wonderfully for the business goals.
So, the question is what do I love? Writing for my heart’s content or for the views? The answer is I love both!
It's a love-hate relationship with the SEO optimized content and freestyle. I love the soul of a content. The one where the intention behind the words reflect emotions. The one where I get to relate to the feelings of the words.
However, I can't deny the impact of the SEO optimized content. It feels robotic to plugin those keywords but the amount of people reaches the content because of that tweak is unbelievable. These are not just random people but the real ones who are searching for the same topic I’ve written about in my content. So, I’m grateful for these tools and techniques.
After spending close to a decade in the industry, I was reflecting on why and how I’m still in this path. Turns out I still love the process of writing and I’ve also developed a taste for measuring my writing from different angles. I just thought of noting this down while I am editing my LinkedIn to prepare for a full time job search.
I wonder how other writers go about their process. Are you a writer? Do you write for the joy of it or for the reader only? I’m also curious to know who people love the most as a reader. Do you like a relatable human behind the words or the one that cuts straight to the point? Let me know :)