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[ARTICLE · art-48755] src=mikeshuey.com ↗ pub= topic=generative-ai verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Blogging can be hard

A former niche blogger describes how AI-generated content and SEO optimization ruined their creativity, but after Google's algorithm changes made niche blogging unviable, they are rediscovering the joy of writing without a commercial goal.

read2 min views1 publishedJul 6, 2026
Blogging can be hard
Image: Mikeshuey (auto-discovered)

Blogging on Bear is easy (technically). Blogging without a niche can be freeing, but it can also be hard as well.

My old blogging workflow as a niche blogger was pretty straight forward. Pick a keyword to target. Throw it in my SEO optimization software and copy all of my keywords the article needs to contain. Have my AI writer create an article based around those keywords. Throw the article back into my optimization tool, get a score, and edit to get the score as high as possible. Do a final edit for accuracy and add my particular viewpoints where necessary. Publish.

Yes, I created AI slop to try and earn a few bucks. And I did make some money until Google trashed niche blogs. When that happened, getting ranked on Google was nearly impossible unless you were an ecom or business entity.

Now I have to "think" before I blog. What do I talk about? What's my angle? Am I writing just for me to vent or am I trying to entertain or educate or? And now I have to be creative. I really don't have a set workflow. If I get indexed on Google, that's fine but not necessarily the goal. I'm just doing it to do it, not to make money.

I suppose I could do the whole buy me a coffee thing, but the conversion rate for that type of monetization is so low, why bother?

Now I'm being forced to get more creative. At one point in my life (high school) I wanted to write for a living. Now I sometimes struggle to find something to write about. But, I keep plugging away because the only way to get good at something is to practice.

Niche blogging and AI really ruined my creativity. Now I'm free of that stuff and can capture it back.

Until next time, take care...

My other blog posts on Blogging:

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