My RANT on Noisy Posts!

This post may be a little controversial, since I am going to attack the content style of someone you all may think is a demi-god in this industry. But well, that's why its called a rant. I am going to let out something that is bothersome to me.

We all know we write primarily for our audience. But then, if we want our audience to find us, we have to keep Google in mind. As a matter of fact a lot of people write first for Google, and then for their audience. We also know that Google prefers longer posts with a cocktail of other content like images and videos etc. The longer your post is, the more likely it is that Google will view it as resourceful, relevant, informative and rank it higher.

As an individual, I personally don't like extremely long or noisy posts. I was looking at one of Neil Patel's posts the other day - Most of us know that he is a leader in the industry and anything he does works - You can say he has the Midas Touch here. I usually find myself scrolling down his pages, when trying to read his posts and clicking then clicking on something else, and something else and you before I start, I'm out!

If I must read his posts, then I feel urged to print it out. On paper I seem to handle his posts better, but does that not defeat the purpose of reading online?

So what is the problem with Neil Patel's posts?

Is it the strong contrasting colors, or the image icons on every other paragraph, or the noisy little images popping out at you from all over the page? It is almost like being in a candy shop of content! It may work for some, but I am literally screeching - Get me out of here!

See what I mean here: https://www.quicksprout.com/the-advanced-guide-to-...

So I started to wonder, if I can't read his posts without effort on my part;and believe me, I can read anything, wouldn't this be the same for most other visitors to his site.

Is Information overload still Marketable?

While Neil's posts are very informative, it does (in my opinion) have the effect of affording too much information - which in my opinion is clutter or noise. This is a problem I find rampant on the internet. It is not like you cannot find what you are looking for without having to pay for it online, its just that there is way too much going on. Everyone has something to tell you, everyone is re-telling what the other has told, information may be unverifiable, too many opinions, too many topics, too tutorials, and all coming from too many experts.

As a result, we pay for individuals that have mastered simplicity to sort through the madness and spoon-feed it to us in a way we can easily get what we need and leave the clutter behind.

Compare Neil's posts to other industry leaders like WA's Kyle, or Pat Flynn's or even co-WAers like PJ Germain and Tony Hamilton (I could name 10 WAers more but let's keep it simple). These individuals have a writing style that offers more information in a simplistic way than in a way that will definitely impress Google but then turn off the average reader.

So my point?

While we truly write for Google (and we should or dread getting lost on the web), let's also keep in mind that our page visitors, those who become loyal to us and affect our conversions are real human beings. And while they may have been impressed by a certain level of noise yesterday, these older tools and styles re becoming reduntant. People are evolving in the way they choose ingest their information, and as a result, you should too!

So, in all - Keep it simple!

Rant over - Have a great Thursday!