The Power of Zoltan and the Blogging "Keyword"

I've been blogging for roughly six years now. I have my own sports blog that I update on a regular basis with fresh content. I'm also one of the major contributors on the Pittsburgh Steelers SB Nation fan blog Behind the Steel Curtain.

The Steelers blog that I contribute to is an awesome site. It's updated multiple times each day with new content regarding the Steelers and all things NFL, and it gets a pretty decent amount of traffic.

My own personal blog, on the other hand, usually gets maybe 35 to 40 visits a day if I'm lucky. I think I have pretty decent content. My blog posts are normally pretty relevant, and I add as many links as possible. But, mostly, my blog posts go unread.

I've asked people for advice, and the main thing that more successful bloggers always point to is keywords. They tell me you have to put keywords in your title and in your post. If you write about things that people are searching for, you're going to drive up your traffic.

I guess when it comes to blogging, I'm more of an artist who concentrates on the content. I figure, people will find my unbelievably awesome content if they really look hard enough. I guess I'm like one of those rock bands that doesn't want to sell-out and try to make hit songs because it would demean the "art" of it.

My blog should be successful based solely on the content and not because I drive the people my way with keywords, right?

WRONG!

Thanks to a little piece I wrote at the end of May about the Pittsburgh Pirates and the "Zoltan" sign that they started using as a rallying symbol, I now realize, not only the power of "ZOLTAN" when it comes to the now first place Pittsburgh Pirates, but the power of "KEYWORDS" when it comes to driving traffic to your blog. The Zoltan piece is only about six weeks old, and it's already my third most viewed post in the history of my blog, and I have 450 entries. By my estimation, if the Pittsburgh Pirates continue to surprise Major League Baseball with their stellar play after the All-star break, my Zoltan post will be my all-time most viewed entry by the end of July.

Just the other day, I wrote another piece about the Pirates and the power of Zoltan, and it's already threatening to be in my top five sooner rather than later.

Every traffic source on my site these days has something to do with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Zoltan. It's pretty amazing, and it's taught me a valuable lesson:

BEHOLD THE POWER OF ZOLTAN!.......AND BLOGGING KEYWORDS!