About NESV

Hey, I'm Joanna Nelius-Free.

Between 2018 to 2025, I wrote for for PC Gamer, MaximumPC, Gizmodo, USA Today, Reviewed, The Verge, and Laptop Mag. Then, I left tech journalism to focus on teaching and getting back to my creative writing roots. Not Enough Search Volume is just one part of what I've been calling my great re-awakening.

If you haven't had the displeasure of being an ecommerce writer, you might not be familiar with the phrase "not enough search volume." Buying guides and other similar articles that get published on review sites are prioritized by search volume, or how many people are Googling certain keywords.

Every publication has its own threshold, and if your article's keywords don't meet that threshold, you usually don't get to write it — because the chances of the publication making money off affiliate links is slim to none. This can also happen with high-volume keywords if the publication doesn't get an affiliate kickback.

So, that's why I started NESV, because fuck that.

Here, I get to write about the past, present, and (potential) future intersections of technology and humanity, the nuances of how technology has shaped us psychologically and sociologically. I'm free to do what I want, how I want, when I want.

I hope you stick around for the research, the book recommendations, and whatever else I think makes a good keyword.