More than ten years ago, I ran a freelancing service that included writing SEO articles for German websites. I wrote about crypto, fitness, event hotels, gardening, and many other topics. The goal was always the same for every client: write as many articles as possible to cover the three or four main keywords from every possible angle.

In fitness, for example, that meant keywords like:

• Lose weight
• Build muscle
• …

So I was asked to write article after article from that perspective, such as:

• How to lose weight with strength training
• How to lose weight with running
• How to lose weight with low-carb
• How to lose weight with intermittent fasting
• How to lose weight…

You get the idea.

At some point, I had covered every topic I could think of. So the client simply wanted me to repeat myself, just with slightly different long-tail keywords:

• How to lose weight with low-carb
• Losing weight with low-carb
• Is losing weight with low-carb possible?
• What is the most efficient way to lose weight with low-carb?
• …

Naturally, this led to articles that recycled the same old information. Eventually, I could just take the articles I had already written, rephrase them a bit, and change a few key sentences to include the new long-tail keywords.

It was boring. It was ridiculous. But it paid the bills.

Thanks to that experience, I’ve become very attentive when reading other people’s blogs. Whenever I see this repetitive structure, I know I’m not reading a genuine, authentic blogger who wants a space to share ideas. Instead, I’m looking at a corporate blog that exists solely to cover keywords for Google.

And the only thing I’ll get out of reading it is the same repetitive stuff I already learned from the first handful of posts on that site. So I’m out. Bye.

Personal blogs might be harder to rank on Google, but once you find them, you discover new ideas, new opinions, and new topics for as long as you follow them. That’s what I like. That’s what I’m interested in. And that’s what is easily identifiable by simple looking for blogs that don’t write this repetitive keyword shit.