Forbes : 10 Highest-Paying Tech Jobs In The U.S.

[techlists at phpcoderusa.com]

On 2023-12-11 13:40, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss wrote:
>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 6:09 AM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss
>> <plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I see AI being a windfall in the near term.  Example would be an
>> affiliate marketer could use AI to write articles for his/her blog.
>> The article wold need to be rewritten, however it would be so much
>> faster and potentially more comprehensive,  If one can teach AL
>> modern SEO then that person could rock!!
> 
> It’s already nearly impossible to find anything useful on Google due
> to abuse of tricks people use to get their web pages found by the
> search engines, and there are plenty of tools that are teaching people
> how to do this using AI tools like ChatGPT already that are only going
> to make it a couple orders of magnitude worse.

---

Interesting statement.  I would like to know more.

I understand Google might have 130 or so ranking indicators which they 
publish yearly.  In summary a new article is tested to see how the 
public likes the article.  If is does well with the searching public it 
will be ranked in about a year, give or take.

I have been trying to understand modern SEO for more than 5 years.

I've looked at Yoast and Income School.

I think Yoast is business oriented while Income School is all about 
affiliate Marketing.

Two differing approaches.

Yoast says to write 6 or so heavy articles for your website that are 
heavy in your main search terms.  Then write lots of related consent 
that are heavily linked to that main content using the search terms in 
the anchor text.  I have not tried this.

I tried the Income School approach.

I have written articles for 2 different websites.  One has about 40 
pages of which maybe 25 are articles.  The other website is an exact 
match keyword domain.  I was wondering if that would make any 
difference.

Income School gives a ton of advice which I assume is viable.

Both of my websites have ranking content, but not much.

My exact match website has one out of maybe 11 articles that is ranking. 
  This would dispute the small site issue.  Then again maybe not.    The 
total pages on that site might be 19.

My main website might have 40 pages give or take a few pages.

I am in the PHP/hosting niche.  This niche is very saturated.  Lots of 
websites competing for 1st page ranking.

The Orange Jeep Dad has an interesting video on ranking.  
https://www.youtube.com/@OrangeJeepDad

He calls it Jimmy Two Times.  Basically This is about your competition 
(Income School is at the article level).  Jimmy identifies a web site or 
websites that are his competition.  Then he does the following:

- He writes articles that have greater word count.
- He will double everything else.  If they have one info graphic he will 
add two. If they have one chart he will add two.
- And so on.

The skill I have failed to acquire is to be able to look at the top 10 
articles and determine why one article ranks better than another.  
Google calls this search intent.

I look at all the indicators however there are always exceptions.  I can 
find no clear indicator why one article ranks better that another - we 
are talking about the top 10 ranking pages in a very popular niche.

 From what I know it comes down to the people searching - the metrics 
that make up their behavior : search intent.

So I am left to guess and therefore the majority of my articles do not 
rank.

Ok, so revisiting this topic has made me realize it is the search intent 
that I am unable to decipher.

The Income School guys are good at building websites that rank.  This 
might be due to the ability to pick undeserved niches.  I do not have 
the passion to build websites for affiliate marketing. My passion is PHP 
and LAMP hosting.

Any advice/feedback is much appreciated.

Keith


---


> 
> I’m in a class now that teaches a different approach that also uses
> AI for content, but it feeds the search engines what they’re looking
> for, not the same crap everybody else is feeding them, and it works
> really well. It looks similar to SEO, but it takes a totally different
> approach. It’s a manual method of finding keywords, with AI used to
> help write content. If AI could be trained to do the whole process,
> then they’d use it for that as well, but I don’t see that as
> something we’ll see anytime soon.


I'd like to know more.



> 
> Suffice it to say it’s a process that looks for what’s missing,
> which isn’t something automation is very good at — you’d end up
> with a huge list of pretty much irrelevant stuff, or random selections
> from such a list. It takes a little work to figure it out yourself. I
> have no idea how you’d train an AI to do it.
> 
> There seems to be plenty of people using AI to create windfalls by
> cranking out content in seconds that historically has required weeks
> or months or longer for people to do. What it’s doing is putting
> ghostwriters out of business, and increasing demand for editors.
> 
> I watched a video about a 20 yo kid who has been using ChatGPT to
> crank out books in a particular niche for about 18 months. He has
> created a particular brand and creates books under that brand, and has
> published several hundred now. He says he’s already made over $1M,
> and can sell his biz for at least that much. Of course, he teaches a
> class on how to do it. The ultimate outcome here is the same as with
> SEO: markets are going to be flooded with generic material and it will
> be impossible to find anything specific to your needs.
> 
> I’m working on an app that generates personalized Guided Meditations
> (GMs). It does NOT use AI because AI isn’t needed, but that
> doesn’t stop people from telling me it’s a fool’s errand because
> there are already thousands of GM apps on the market, the vast
> majority of which are free. There’s a simple reason for this: every
> course on app development typically includes an exercise to build a
> virtual MP3 player. So people build it, then think, “Ahh, I can use
> this to load up meditations and then offer it up as a meditation
> app!” Another exercise lets you build a recorder app that creates
> … yes, you guessed it … MP3 files.
> 
> Last count there were over 6000 of these “meditation apps” aka
> “virtual iPods” loaded up with prerecorded personal meditations,
> and over half were from people in India. So what you have is a market
> flooded with generic GMs by people who aren’t very well-trained at
> creating them, about topics that are of interest to those individuals,
> and no way to search them for specific attributes. They started out
> simply as a programming exercise, but the collective effect is an
> entire market niche flooded with content and no way to search for
> anything specific. This is not an “AI problem” but a scalibility
> problem. Maybe we can use AI to fix it, but I think that’s a waste
> of resources with very little return.
> 
> The problem with flooding the market with stuff like this, be it web
> pages, books, meditation apps, videos, or whatever, is that there’s
> nothing in place to help you sift through these huge haystacks for a
> few needles that represent the intersection of qualities YOU ARE MOST
> INTERESTED IN. This is the same problem that’s affecting Google
> because of SEO. It will inevitably lead to the same problems in any
> market that has been flooded with content — there’s no way to find
> stuff quickly and efficiently that fits your needs other than building
> a “better search engine”, right?
> 
> What we’re doing is building huge digital garbage dumps and telling
> people looking for specific things, “Hey, dig away!”
> 
> SEO has broken the internet, and AI will only make things worse.
> It’s a HUGE garbage dump or warehouse, and nobody has the time nor
> the interest to waste trying to find specific things buried there.
> 
> But what if it was quicker to just create what you need in 5 minutes
> instead of searching for it in a huge warehouse?
> 
> Here’s the thing I see this situation inevitably leading to: people
> who love to read will soon be able to go to something like a vending
> machine where you give it a few details about yourself and what you
> like and dislike, push a button, and it generates a personalized
> eBook, meditation, video, or whatever you want, tailored just for you.
> It’s a one-off thing and yours to do what you want with it. Why not
> clothing? Or blog entries?
> 
> People keep speaking of this in terms of ways to replace what people
> are already doing. But these approaches are limited by our current
> abilities and resources. That’s not very useful and it’s not where
> AI is going to really shine. Why use AI to create more of the same
> garbage that nobody can find? Google has lost its ability to find
> stuff, and has turned into a way of generating money simply from
> people searching for stuff that’s getting harder and harder to find,
> making their search sessions longer and hence generating more profits
> for Google. At some point, people will realize it’s a huge waste of
> time!
> 
> What people are missing about the value of AI is that it’s going to
> allow the large-scale creation of PERSONALIZED CONTENT.
> 
> This is the beginning of mass customization and personalization of
> virtually everything!
> 
> The digital world will be first, and before long it will lead to using
> 3D printing to create personalized physical stuff as well.
> 
> For example, I have arthritis in my thumbs, and it makes it hard to
> pick up normal drinking glasses. I prefer those with a handle, but I
> like one that’s big enough to fit my four fingers in so I don’t
> need to use my thumb for leverage. Lots of mugs have small handles on
> them that are hard to get even two fingers into. Some are larger, and
> some handle shapes work better than others.
> 
> However, consumers are stuck buying things that the manufacturers have
> decided to make based on a lot of criteria that have nothing to do
> with you or me. But we might want a specific configuration. So why not
> be able to order glasses and mugs with a specific design, including a
> handle that fits what fits us best? Or no handle at all?
> 
> See how this starts to shift the whole world of mass marketing to
> personalized made-on-demand goods and services? AI will help with some
> of it, and isn’t needed for a lot either. But given our current ways
> of doing things in the world, it’s impossible — so nobody is doing
> it. No jobs will be “lost” with this new approach to personalized
> stuff. In fact, lots of new jobs will be created.
> 
> In the broader scheme of things, think of the publishing biz as a way
> to create personalized “fantasy novels” or even movies that cater
> to an individual's quirks. Who’s doing this now? NOBODY! Entirely
> new jobs will be created!
> 
> This is basically why Blockbuster went bust — because their business
> model was to set up big warehouses in different places around town and
> people would go in and browse for what they wanted. Netflix came along
> and let you browse on the web from home or the office, and they
> delivered your order to your door — a more personalized offering.
> Now you can browse and click a button and start watching what you want
> instantly. Netflix still exists, but they don’t ship out disks in
> the mail any more.
> 
> From another angle, consider something where you take a test on some
> topic and then you’re given a lesson (or series of them) designed to
> not just reinforce what you already know, but with additional material
> that you’re weak in or is the “next step” in your training. If
> you have consistent trouble with particular topics, it will give you
> more exercises in those areas and provide additional help where it’s
> needed. It would work more like a personal tutor than a teacher
> presenting material based on a one-size-fits-all classroom setting.
> 
> This is creating a totally new realm that is far too inefficient and
> expensive for any individual to do. No jobs will be lost because
> nobody is doing it now, nor can anybody do it on any sort of scale.
> 
> The jobs that will be lost are the ones that are doing repetative jobs
> making or doing the same things over and over again — jobs that do
> not lend themselves to personalized or customized products. Sure,
> there are lots of jobs like that, but so what? Automation is already
> eliminating a lot of them, not AI. And there will always be a market
> for "jellybeans”.
> 
> Consider a future where most of what you can buy online is
> personalized to your specific needs. Not like ordering a pair of shoes
> or clothing from a preset list of sizing options, but where you enter
> your physical measurements and other details and get something that
> fits like a glove made just for you. Now extend this to most other
> things you consume or use regularly, especially those that “don’t
> quite fit”.
> 
> -David Schwartz
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