I used to think SEO was just about numbers. Rankings, CTR, bounce rate, domain authority—metrics. Data. Charts with too many colors. And for a while, I tried to speak that language. Optimized titles, structured data, backlink audits, and whatever else they tell you to do in those endless “Top 10 SEO Tips” blog posts that all start the same way: “In today’s digital landscape…”
But here’s the thing. SEO isn’t numbers. Not really. It’s people. It’s people searching late at night, half-asleep, looking for something—an answer, a solution, maybe even just comfort. And the job of SEO isn’t to beat an algorithm. It’s to show up for those people. To meet them, quietly, exactly where they are.
The Myth of Instant SEO
There’s a lie that gets told a lot in SEO circles: that with the right strategy, you can dominate search results fast. Like, tomorrow fast. Just plug in the right keywords, sprinkle some backlinks on top, and poof—first page.
Yeah, no. That’s not how it works. Maybe it did once. But now? It takes time. It takes writing things that don’t rank for months. It takes changing a title five times because you feel like something’s off, even if the data says it’s fine.
SEO is the long game. It’s writing for the future. For someone you haven’t met yet, who hasn’t even Googled the question you’re answering. And most of the time, that means you’re writing into the void. But that’s okay. It’s part of it.
The Human Touch (Yes, Even in Metadata)
There’s this pressure to sound polished. Professional. Like you know exactly what you’re doing all the time. But I’ve found that people don’t want perfect. They want real. And real is messy. Real is emotional. Real has typos sometimes.
So when I write meta descriptions, I try not to make them robotic. I ask myself: would I click on this if I was sad? Confused? Hopeful? I want it to sound like someone, somewhere, cared enough to write something that made me feel seen.
Let Me Tell You About a Blog That Failed (and Then Didn’t)
In 2022, I wrote a blog post about how burnt out I was from doing SEO for clients. I didn’t optimize it. Didn’t add a featured image. Just hit publish and walked away. It sat there, unread, for like three months.
Then one day, it blew up. Someone on Reddit found it and shared it in a thread about agency burnout. Then a few newsletters picked it up. And traffic didn’t just spike—it stayed.
It wasn’t optimized. But it was honest. And that’s what people need more than ever now—especially online, where everything feels so… manufactured. So curated. So fake.
Some SEO Wins Don’t Show Up in Analytics
One client called me just to say thanks. Their site was finally getting leads, yes—but what really mattered? One of their clients said, “Your website just feels like you.” That was the win.
You won’t find that in a dashboard. But that’s SEO too.
Helpful Articles, Not Just Ranking Fodder
I keep a short list of articles that remind me what good SEO writing feels like. Here’s one: Copyblogger’s guide to content that connects. It’s not about rankings, it’s about resonance. Big difference.
Another favorite is Ahrefs’ piece on SEO copywriting. Even though they’re heavy on structure, there’s soul in there too—if you read between the lines.
The Quiet Work
Some days, SEO is glamorous. A big win. A jump to #1. But most days, it’s quiet. It’s fixing broken links. Rewriting alt text. Reformatting headers. It’s showing up again and again, even when it feels like no one’s watching.
That quiet work matters. That’s what builds trust. That’s what builds sites that last.
If You’re Still Here…
First of all, thank you. You could’ve clicked away six sections ago. You didn’t. That means you probably care about the same things I do: writing that sounds like a person wrote it. SEO that feels like conversation, not conquest.
If that’s you? We’d probably work well together.
Reach out. Or don’t. No pressure. But if this page made you feel something, then it’s already doing its job.
