Ever since the search engines emerged, the Internet was changed forever. In the beginning, there were only two options for you to find a website – you either knew the web address you wanted to visit, or a website that you already knew and trusted was linking to another one. Apparently, the utility of search engines is undeniable. Thousands of sites would have no traffic at all if these tireless robots didn’t exist.
As of today, by using Google and all of its analogs, we are diving into a spanless ocean of sites. Still, we are rarely able to hear a story that was never told before.
Finding out how Google works, will surely explain to anyone who is wondering why when sailing on the web, we hear the same story again and again.
Spoiler alert: It’s mostly about clicks. Clicks and ad revenue.
We continue to tell that story as if we are the only ones to do so. But while it is perfectly reasonable to take photos of the moments we cherish, whether these moments are trivial, there is something profoundly wrong, when people all around the world turn their backs on their own stories. A story that is buried under the heavy soil of expediency. If you are passionate about marketing, for example, there is nothing wrong to share your perception of the topic, but please do share your viewpoint. Make it personal. Make it real.
If your story is genuine enough, money will follow.
How to Tell a Story
We are all guilty of that crime. Whatever we are about to do, we need to feel prepared.
‘I am not going to write that novel until I am ready.’ – is a sentence that deprived and continues to deprive the world of an immense amount of great stories. Like yours.
Maybe we’ve asked the wrong question all along.
Maybe it doesn’t matter whether you know how to tell a story.
Maybe it’s all about what story you are telling, not about how you say it.
Are you staying true to yourself when doing what you are doing? Or are you letting your soul fall without wings?
Is your web presence prompted by the promises of easy money? Or do you have a personal website? If the latter is true, are the stories that you share genuine and sincere?
On the other hand, if you don’t have one, it is probably time to create a personal website.
Forget the how, focus on what.
Related: How to Start Freelance Writing in 2019
The Uniqueness of Value, Not Uniqueness of Content
Since the webmasters found out that the search engines are ranking the pages in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) by the number that a specific keyword was mentioned, they started stuffing all the keywords in the content.
That was a time, when people were creating content, not to tell a story, not to touch a targeted audience, but to get the approval of His Excellency the Search Engine.
As the time passed by, someone somewhere figured out that people won’t stay on the page if it says the same thing over and over again, and he pigmented the stuffed keywords the same color as the background. Thus, the average user was seeing only a specific part of the content on the page. Still, the search engines, as they are robots that are unable to see visual elements, were tricked to think that the page contains the keyword a lot more times than it did to the human visitor. Thus, the text seemed a lot more relevant to the user’s initial query.
The actions described above are part of the so-called Black Hat SEO, and the most you can achieve by implementing this tactic in 2018 is to get penalized by Google. The search engine has become a lot brighter than it was. As of today, Google is checking the code that is building a page and can determine whether there is hidden text.
One more thing. The number of keywords is not that important for SEO anymore. Of course, it should be clear what you are trying to say, but there are factors way more important than keywords.
Factors, like the uniqueness of value.
Self-proclaimed ‘SEO experts’, will probably never stop to echo the same advice again and again.
- You need to create unique content.
- You need to acquire backlinks.
- You need to mention your keywords as much as possible in your content.
And yes, these are true. But do you ever stop to ask yourself, if it is possible to create unique content, and acquire backlinks if you are writing someone else’s story?
Sincerity is what gets you backlinks. And again sincerity is what creates unique content. Your content will be exclusive if it has a value that no one has given to the Internet before.
And when you give the world a unique value, keyword stuffing won’t be necessary because we will purposefully try to find your website. We’ll want to read your story.
If you give a unique value to the world, you’ll definitely have an audience capable and ready to smile and cry along with you.
A Thousand Ways to Tell Your Story, One Way to Share it
We are a lot more similar to each other than we’d like to think. We all like to laugh, share, speak, and listen to the ones we love. We like being in the spotlight, as long as we have something to say. As long, as we are not too proud to say what we truly think. Allowing your pride to stop you from sharing that story of yours is the biggest crime you can commit to yourself.
I don’t believe that there are people who have no talents at all. Every one of us has an ability that has not been given to everyone else.
Humankind has found a thousand ways to tell stories. Each and every one of us tells a story.
We do so by writing, and painting, but also by crafting furniture out of wood, singing, and acting. There is art in the works of a plumber, as much as there is in the works of the creative director.
It is just a different kind of art.
The lawyers and the judges, we tend to think, don’t have a creative side, but even if that is so, that doesn’t mean these people are not gifted. They have abilities that are not present in every one of us. Legal protection is an art, in a way. It is just too hard for us, ordinary people, to understand it. Lawyers and judges also have stories to tell.
Arguably some of the most creative people are entrepreneurs. They all trying to tell a tale by inventing, and striving to change the world. One customer at a time.
Whatever your way of telling a story is, whatever your gift is, you should be online. You should share with us your truths. Share with us what abilities you’ve been gifted.
There is only one way to do that.
Create a personal website.
Whether you are in the first, the second, or the third act of your story, you should share it.
Today.
When it comes to creating a website, no matter how far you’ve reached in your story, hosting is needed.
Related: How to Choose Web Hosting
If you are just starting to unfold your gifts even to yourself, our free web hosting service is more than appropriate.
It is free, and you can keep the account forever.
Related: HostingAdvice.com: “AwardSpace Helps Startups Achieve Online Dreams”
So, What is Your Story?
It takes time to truly understand that everyone around us has a story to tell. Still, I am convinced that for most of us it takes even more time to understand and to believe that we too have a story that needs to be told. A story that has been hidden for far too long. Hidden even from you. Hidden by expediency, by fear, by objections.
What if I tell you that everyone who tells a story is frightened by those same fears, asking himself the same questions?
- What if no one reads my story?
- What if my story is unable to touch anyone?
- Am I ready to tell that story?
- What if my story is too soft and people laugh at me?
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Related: “Nobody Reads My Blog.” 5 Working Strategies to Change This.
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Even though each of these questions requires to be asked and to receive its answer, all of them, and all the others that I didn’t mention shouldn’t be able to stop you from sharing that story of yours.
Whether you are a photographer, a writer, an amateur philosopher, or a starting business, a painter, or you feel the need to share your day-to-day life, we need your story.
Personal.
Genuine.
Tormented or Joyful.
Corny or Somber.
Written or Photographed.
Profound or Shallow.
Painted or Illustrated.
Maybe it is time for you to tell your story.
In fact, you are probably going late already.
Don’t hesitate.
Your story matters.