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RE: Getting curation Right CSI and thinking about SEO - My Steem Journal October 2019
I'm coming back. Again. Lots to think about on a Friday afternoon. The CSI - I didn't know. There are lots of take aways from this that I'll come back to.My CSI is crap. So is my curation. I've only posted 3x this month, with a fourth in the making for #spud7.
I'll be back :)
PS I'm scared you're going to put me in the #circlejerker category ;)
Just to clarify, I don't plan on punishing people for #circlejerking. I just won't auto vote or curate those. It's my standard for people to be able to realistically call themselves curators.
Case-by-Case I still definitely manually vote any content I like or feel needs attention general voting habits aside. Just don't end up on any proper blacklist with clear and obvious abuse, which I doubt is even possible in your case.
It's a heavy Friday night post. 3X in one month is a little low, but I think the quality is more important than the quantity. Have a good #spud7
@abitcoinskeptic
I am back and firstly - I was pulling your leg in my previous comment because, of course, you are focusing on curation....didn't you see the ;) ? ;)
Having re-read (and the comments), I have found more take aways, including that I have instinctively been doing the right thing of spreading my 50% vote as far as possible and trying not to vote too many times in a day. IMO curation takes as long as creation. Especially if one wants to make meaningful comments and engage.
I'm not a numbers person, but when someone explains numbers to me in words, I find it really helpful. So this, and where to look at number and what I'm seeing is extremely helpful.
On my small number of posts, two things. I have posted less frequently this month - and last - because I've been a little pre-occupied with stuff outside Steemland. However, an analysis of my posts shows that it's the long reads - 800+ words that get the return. Much better than curation. On rare occasions these can be quick to write (often because something is churning inside and needs to get out), but by and large, they take upward of 4 hours to prepare - the writing and the selection and editing of photographs. For me, though, that's a win-win: enjoying the creative process and the subsequent engagement. I don't hit the jackpot every time, but if I do once a month, even with the current price of Steem, I'm doing ok.
Lastly on #spud: This has taught me a lot about the benefits of powering up and when I joined the initiative, I also bought Steem with my SBD. I probably will again when I have enough to make it worth while. Doing that made a great deal of difference to where I can choose to put my vote. I've even delegated and leased some SP . I think I'm going to follow your lead, and @nickyhavey's advice, and rather than banking my Steem to power up on SPUD, I'm going to power up when the posts mature and then do a monthly tally. Why wait?
What I still have to decide is whether to retain the SP or whether to consider other leases. If I do the latter, I will select the accounts to which I lease very carefully. I will see better returns on curation from that, than I do from my own curation (which I'll continue to do).
Finally: a word of appreciation for these posts that, in layman's terms unpack what's going on on Steemit (and the vagaries of Steem). I learn a great deal which makes me think more critically about what I'm doing here and why.
Fiona
PS Like you I'm also getting more and more interested in SEO. But. It does mess with the creative writing process. IMO. We shall see.
Haha, I knew you were joking. However, some people who were reading my comments that day were definitely not joking so I wanted to play it safe.
I think you are on the right track with numbers. I know it's complicated for a lot of people, so when I use numbers and statistics, I try my best to avoid complicated language. It's hard enough for me to wrap my head around and I love numbers. Glad you found it helpful.
I also prefer longer posts. Quality over quantity is important, but I try to use shorter paragraphs, headings or pictures when it gets long to keep people happy. I would say it takes me around 2 to 4 hours to write the average blog. This doesn't include finding pictures or research. Just editing, making the outline and writing.
SPUD is very important. If you don't need the cash, or won't in the next 13 weeks, powerup. We are hardly at a selling point in the cycle. The chances of being better off later down the road are too great for me to resist. Also, I find the more Steem Power one has the more Respect they have. It's almost as or more important than reputation.
I think you should do a monthly tally whenever. I track certain things by month, week, post or year.
I'm not too big on leasing out my Steem anymore. I have the time to use it properly and as I mentioned above, the more you have the better you tend to do until a certain point. Once your average blog gets above 30SBD, you tend to lose support. It's much easier to target around 10 each.
As for SEO, I want to clarify more, it would definitely help you with Wordpress more than me with Steem. I'm not really going to make recommendations for Steemit or Steempeak, I'm sure they know what they are doing. I have a few tools I use from time to time for various elements of my blog, especially when I feel the topic or photos are lacking. I want to share them one time. You are probably familiar with some like Hemmingway or Grammarly. I do think Steempeak or Steemit should consider offering tips and suggestions on tags (make it so it can be turned off) editing toolbars, etc. If everyone's content improves, this only means good things.
Learning more about Steem and blogging in general keeps me happy and content here.
I am relieved - discretion is the better part of valour, right?
Exactly. Add that all in, and you're probably closer to 8 - 10 hours.
This I am learning. And yes, I think I will do a monthly tally and I am beginning to think more carefully about what I do with both my votes and my Steem.
My WP comes with YOAST which is SEO focused. I make use of it - quite a lot - it's quite helpful for readability scores. However, like Grammarly, it's US-English and because it focuses on "correctness", they "penalise" poetic license. That said, for a client's website, I make heavy use of it. And the other tools available.
Actually, I'd better get to it!
See you next time :D
I'm starting to experiment with the tools more and more myself. Actually, I signed up for Grammarly and I think they let me set it to Canadian English.
Color is underlined red, so is realised and theater. Perfect as they should be. I noticed UK and US. Not sure what spelling SA uses, but Canada is a mix of British and US...just tested it's good. But yeah, I hate how it ignores license. It still reminds me to double-check and sometimes it does catch things I shouldn't use my license for.
South Africa is a bit like Canada. The purists (I tend in that direction 🤐) use British English..
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