This really made me think! I write from the heart or at least try to and agree that some pieces have really garnered interest while others failed because I might not have refined the piece enough before publishing.
It's the same for me. Sometimes I write an article from my heart but I slack on the packaging. Both essence and marketing are critical but writers often neglect the latter...
Hey Veronica! I stumbled upon you through notes...and I would absolutely agree! I hated editing for a long time haha! It felt really icky and gave me nightmares of removing the soul of my piece!
But what I realised is that there is a balance! You can edit, format and put seo without sounding like a BuzzFeed post lol...but it's our own journey to find that balance isn't it?
Yes! Love this, Veronica. I personally won’t read articles online that contain large, unbroken blocks of text. It’s not personal; I simply can’t follow them. Working with an editor has taught me so much about writing articles likely to get more views and reads. This means cutting tangents and redundancy. And while my ego may protest, it makes the writing far more effective (not just in getting views, but in conveying my message).
I worked with a mentor for my book and learned so much. She kept telling me to remove repetitions and keep a clear POV for the readers. The formatting was key too, especially for social media and content that is usually consumed from a phone.
It is but you might want to adjust it so that you highlight the keywords that support your strategy and become easier to find when users search for it.
Write for iPhone is a great way to put it. Many readers will read on their phone so the format has to be user-friendly and snackable. Forget the big chunks and long paragraphs. Let the readers breathe.
🙋🏼♀️ Thanks for sharing the example for this post. Very helpful. So simple yet why do we avoid it? You’ve motivated me to up my game in this department.
Thanks for writing this! I'm getting into substack just for the fun of it, and I wouldn't of thought to even adjust the preview to make it more SE-friendly!
I love this! When I wrote my book, it was all from the heart, and I didn’t worry about editing until after the whole thing was written. But at some point, I did have to worry about editing even though I hated it. But doing the hard work of it made all the difference!
Thank youu for this. Though I don't understand the SEO and its relevance to substacks
This is excellent and concise. I like the flow and definitely need to focus more on SEO. And titles ;) Thank you!
Insightful and informative
This really made me think! I write from the heart or at least try to and agree that some pieces have really garnered interest while others failed because I might not have refined the piece enough before publishing.
It's great you have that self-awareness, Tahia.
It's the same for me. Sometimes I write an article from my heart but I slack on the packaging. Both essence and marketing are critical but writers often neglect the latter...
Hey Veronica! I stumbled upon you through notes...and I would absolutely agree! I hated editing for a long time haha! It felt really icky and gave me nightmares of removing the soul of my piece!
But what I realised is that there is a balance! You can edit, format and put seo without sounding like a BuzzFeed post lol...but it's our own journey to find that balance isn't it?
100% I think BALANCE is the key word here: writing authentically but remembering your readers and how to make it land better for them.
Editing is the necessary evil but it makes things taste better.
Yes! Love this, Veronica. I personally won’t read articles online that contain large, unbroken blocks of text. It’s not personal; I simply can’t follow them. Working with an editor has taught me so much about writing articles likely to get more views and reads. This means cutting tangents and redundancy. And while my ego may protest, it makes the writing far more effective (not just in getting views, but in conveying my message).
Meant to say that working with an editor is TEACHING me. Still a work in progress!
I totally hear you, Dana.
I worked with a mentor for my book and learned so much. She kept telling me to remove repetitions and keep a clear POV for the readers. The formatting was key too, especially for social media and content that is usually consumed from a phone.
Thank you!
I thought the subtitle was automatically the meta description for SEO?
It is but you might want to adjust it so that you highlight the keywords that support your strategy and become easier to find when users search for it.
You can edit it in the settings of the article.
This is all so helpful! Thank you - can’t wait to put it into practice 😊
Just really glad I found you today while reading Notes. Great stuff here to learn and remember, Veronica. Thank you!!
Thank you, Karen and I'm happy we met through Notes!
Cheers
Great read! The formatting point was salient. I've been experimenting with the SmartBrevity style whenever possible.
The medium is the message, and Substack means writing *for* screens. Walls of text just won't work.
Thanks, Adam!
Write for iPhone is a great way to put it. Many readers will read on their phone so the format has to be user-friendly and snackable. Forget the big chunks and long paragraphs. Let the readers breathe.
Adjusting for SEO…. Said no writer ever.
🙋🏼♀️ Thanks for sharing the example for this post. Very helpful. So simple yet why do we avoid it? You’ve motivated me to up my game in this department.
I hear you, Kim.
SEO sounds a bit scary and complex but when you simplify it, it's really about telling Google (and search engines) what you article is about.
Great to hear the motivation is ON!
It's amazing to me that people still write long walls of text and haven't realized that formatting (e.g. line breaks) is important.
And Substack seems to make it HARDER than most platforms!
I have to reply to Substack Notes in Notepad first so I can insert line breaks, and then I paste from Notepad into Notes.
It's ridiculous.
And my latest Substack article with a bullet list got super messed up, too.
Have you had any of these problems?
Know any workarounds?
I hear you and I'm very frustrated with Notes because you can't have a space between the lines and it looks so chunky.
I don't have a workaround but I use *** to create space between lines and often add lists or change the font to create disruption.
I haven't had that issue with articles though...
Thanks for writing this! I'm getting into substack just for the fun of it, and I wouldn't of thought to even adjust the preview to make it more SE-friendly!
Exactly! It's one more little thing to make your content more accessible and reader-friendly. It takes 1 minute and can mean a few more reads!
I love this! When I wrote my book, it was all from the heart, and I didn’t worry about editing until after the whole thing was written. But at some point, I did have to worry about editing even though I hated it. But doing the hard work of it made all the difference!
Exactly, Madeline, in the case of books, there's a whole new dimension of marketing and building a brand to help promote and sell the books.
Did you self-publish it or went with a publisher? I have done both and I'm finishing writing my book #4 atm.
Book #4! That's awesome!
I'm in the process of sending letters to agents for traditional publishing. Long time of waiting...
Did you like independent or traditional publishing better?
Such gold in this read! I agree with you - we can write from the heart and be real, but the formatting, SEO etc will take it next level.
Thank you, Melissa, the little details make all the difference.
Are you using SEO settings? Any tips?
I 'sometimes' pay more attention to SEO than other times... I use the Keywords Everywhere Chrome extension looking for long tail keywords.
Thanks for this article, it was very informative and helpful. And thanks for including the actual example of SEO for this particular article.!
You are welcome, Kate!
Have you started to customise SEO on your articles? Let me know how it goes!
I do customize SEO on my articles. I'm not sure if I do it very well.