You query the world’s largest search engine and suddenly you’re an expert. Second entry, page one, just below a Reddit post. That’s you.
So what happened? I’m editing the current project. It’s been a while since I ran a genre check, so I idly entered
“YA heroine cliches”
in the search box of Big-G to see if anything’s changed in the last year or so.
What came up? Me. My Worst Tropes of YA Heroines post from exactly a year ago. Right below the top answer ‘Characteristics of modern heroines in YA you’re getting tired of seeing‘ from Reddit, two years ago.
The Reddit post has 220 upvotes and 278 comments; it’s a lively, on-topic discussion of YA tropes in fiction. Reddit posts earn their place in the search engine rankings for this very reason. Reddit has engagement as well as traffic.
But my ranking still surprised me. The search query isn’t that specific, or niche, just three very common words. Plenty of writing coaches’ websites, writing forums and discussion groups feature similar topics. Which makes my appearance at number two all the more gratifying.
What makes us
I recently deleted the ad-ware, malware, spy-ware, pester-machine that is Jetpack, so I don’t currently have any website stats to hand. I have no idea how much traffic pushed me that high in the rankings. It has only one comment and reply, so it’s not engagement. But it is pithy and to the point. Bang on subject, no deviation.
Currency may have something to do with it; mine is the most recent post listed. And maybe brevity, relevance and structure helped.
I also wrote it with SEO in mind. Follow a few simple rules for meta-data and a low-key post suddenly punches above it’s weight. My entire website focuses on it, not just this one post, but every piece of writing- or reader-oriented content.
Above all, that post does the thing all web-marketing guru’s tell you; answer a question that solves someone’s problem. If the search engines go through your whole website and figure it has authority, they’ll quote you. Suddenly you’re an expert.