Is Writing Doomed to Die Under the Weight of SEO?
Ever catch yourself scrolling through an article that’s less a deep dive and more a hopscotch — short sentences, broken paragraphs, sprinkled emojis, and a parade of images that scream “look busy”? Yep, there’s a name for that: root-bound writing. Two years ago, Justin called it out in a newsletter, dubbing it “a terrible, uninteresting form of writing.” But here’s the kicker — this style isn’t just annoying; it’s practically the writing version of a digital survival tactic, shaped by the relentless demands of SEO and the hunt for clicks. I’ve been there too — crafting what I thought was helpful content only to watch my site sink, unseen, into Google’s abyss. It wasn’t until I learned to speak Google’s language, not by rewriting, but by tuning into the questions my articles actually answer, that my traffic leapt from a pitiful 9 visits a month to a bustling 200. Makes you wonder — are we writing for ourselves, or for the algorithmic overlords of the internet? Let’s unpack this tangled web of SEO-bound writing and see what’s really going on beneath the surface. LEARN MORE
