Tell Your Own Story – 說出自己的故事
“Buen Camino!” This phrase, which means “Have a good journey” in Spanish, is something I learned in the middle of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It’s the equivalent of “Hello” for pilgrims. I became a pilgrim and joined the WordPress community at the end of 2023. Telling my own story was the motivation for me to start using WordPress.
What Would I Want to Do on the Last Day of My Life?
Due to immense work stress, I fell ill. Because of a combination of issues, doctors could not cure my problems with medication or surgery. This ultimately led me to the biggest and most difficult question in life: What would I want to do on the last day of my life?
Since I have always loved nature and hiking, my hiking friends suggested that I try the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I didn’t want to go on the more crowded French way, so I chose the oldest and original pilgrimage route: the Camino Primitivo. During my preparation, I couldn’t find much information about how to prepare the camino in Chinese. Travel guidebooks and online articles rarely focused on the Camino de Santiago. For someone who doesn’t speak Spanish and has never been to Europe, preparing a camino plan for the first time is truly challenging.
How Did the Pilgrimage Change Me?
First, leaving the busy and crowded Asian cities allowed my soul to experience the long-missed serenity. I could walk for over five hours in the mountains and wilderness without encountering another person, with only the magnificent nature and wildlife as my companions. Briefly escaping from the Asian values and culture, in the faraway Spain, my heart found solace and rebirth.
Most importantly, I gained countless stories and met all kinds of pilgrims:
- Some were Spanish girls who told me: “You don’t live to work.“
- Some carried immense pain and could not stop drinking even on the pilgrimage route.
- Some people kept separating from me and then unexpectedly reuniting, becoming good friends.
- One night, I started in midnight due to insomnia, but Google Maps led me onto an unlit highway, where I almost died under a truck’s wheels.
This made me want to write down my own story. In this era, it’s not difficult to find a free platform and become a content creator. The real challenge is what tools to use and what content to create.
WordPress Helped Me Tell My Story
Writing itself is not difficult. I published my first book: How to start your first camino in 30 days within a month. But I also realized that if I just kept writing without caring about factors like the platform and SEO, search engines would not allow my content to be exposed, which is equivalent to writing a diary.
To let others know about my creations, I decided to join the WordPress community.
Compared to other platforms, WordPress has a steeper learning curve. From choosing a host to themes and plugins, doing everything yourself is truly hard. Initially, I didn’t even know what margin and padding meant. It took me a month to complete the first minimum viable product (MVP) before I could start writing.
During the process of learning WordPress, I also got to know the Taiwanese community. From the community friends, I learned a lot that helped me become a better content creator!
Let me summarize what I have achieved so far:
- In the last 28 days, I got 700 clicks from search results.
For several search keywords, I ranked in the top five, with some at #1:
- “Best month for Camino de Santiago”
- “Camino de Santiago weather”
- “Camino de Santiago seasons”
- “Camino Primitivo”
- “refne vpn”
Conclusion: Why Do We Need to Know WordPress?
In this era of overwhelming video content, it may not be easy to get people to read an entire article carefully. However, for topics that require careful planning and thought, writing high-quality articles is truly important! WordPress’ customizability and flexibility allow users to customize their own websites. At the same time, without a definable platform, it’s impossible to see if you’re executing the right SEO strategies while learning them. WordPress is an excellent platform and tool for learning content creation and SEO. Even if I create other types of content in the future, the knowledge gained from this community will always be effective and practical!
Header photo by José Antonio Gil Martínez.
說出自己的故事
Buen Camino! 這句話是我踏上西班牙朝聖之路後學到的，它就等於朝聖者的 Hello。我是 Juan 在 2023 年年末成為朝聖者跟加入 WordPress 社群。說出自己的故事就是我開始使用 WordPress 的動機。
什麼事情是我人生最後一天會想做的？
因為極大的工作壓力我生病了，而且因為多個問題結合在一起，醫生無法用藥物或手術治好我的問題，這最終就得出了一個人生最大且最難的問題：什麼事情是我人生最後一天會想做的？
由於我一直很喜歡大自然跟健行，與我健行的朋友建議我不妨去試試西班牙朝聖之路。我並不想前往旅人較多的法國之路，所以我選擇了最古老的第一條朝聖路線：原始之路。我在準備期間並沒有找到太多有關朝聖的中文資料，旅遊手冊跟網路文章很少以朝聖之路為主題。對於不懂西班牙文也沒有去過歐洲的人，第一次朝聖真的是非常困難。
朝聖帶給我什麼改變？
首先脫離亞洲繁忙且擁擠的都市讓我的心靈感受到久違的平靜，我可以在山區與荒野連續行走超過五個小時都不會遇見第二個人，壯麗的大自然跟沿途的動植物就是我的同伴。從亞洲的價值觀跟文化短暫逃離，在遙遠的西班牙，我的心得到了撫慰跟重生。
最重要的是我得到了許許多多的故事，遇到了各式各樣的朝聖者：
這讓我想寫下自己的故事，這時代要找到免費的平台，成為內容創作者並不難，難題都是在你要用什麼工具創造什麼內容。
WordPress 幫助我說出自己的故事
寫作並不難，我花了一個月就出版了自己第一本書：30天出發西班牙朝聖之路。但我也發現如果只是一直寫作但不在乎平台跟 SEO 等要素，搜尋引擎不會讓內容曝光，也等於是在寫日記。
為了能讓別人知道我開始創作，我決定要加入 WordPress 社群。
WordPress 比起其他的平台，學習難度是比較高的，從選擇 Host 到主題插件，全部都自己來真的很辛苦，我一開始連 margin 與 padding 是什麼都不知道，花費了一個月完成了 第一個 MVP，總算是可以開始寫作了。
學習 WordPress 的期間我也認識了台灣社群，從社群朋友中我學到了許多，這都有助於讓我成為更好的內容創作者！
讓我總結了一下我目前做到的事情：
- 最近 28 天從搜尋中得到 700 次點擊
在幾個搜尋關鍵字中我拿到前五名的排序，有些是第一名
- 朝聖之路適合月份
- 朝聖之路 天氣
- 朝聖之路 季節
- 原始之路
- refne vpn
結論：為什麼要認識 WordPress？
這時代因為影音內容氾濫，要人們好好看完一整篇文章也許不是容易的事情。但是，如果是那種需要仔細規劃跟思考的主題，寫作優質的文章真的很重要！WordPress 的自訂性跟靈活度能夠讓使用者自訂自己的網站。同時，在學習 SEO 的時候，沒有可定義的平台也完全看不到自己是不是執行正確的戰略。WordPress 是學習內容創作跟 SEO 非常好的平台與工具，即便某一天我會創作其他的內容，但從這個社群裡學到的東西也永遠有效且實用！