Lots of online businesses have been hit hard by Google’s recent “Helpful Content Update” 😫
Now, inevitably, folks are moving away from relying so heavily on Google for traffic.
🎙️ A recent podcast from Niche Pursuits on this topic…
Site owner Morgan Overholt listened to that podcast and responded…
The question was posed if you were told HCU recovery was coming would you make a big push to improve your site?
Just to weigh in, personally, my answer is NOPE.
I spent Sept-January using every waking hour improving my sites. Because I was told it may only take a “couple of weeks” to improve back in October.
I shed so many tears. My mental health took a nosedive. My hair literally started turning gray. My joints started aching (I’m pre autoimmune, it’s a stress trigger). I worked 12 and 13 hour days for months.
I did everything from deleting 75% of my sites, rewriting 90% of the articles that remained. I deoptimized, I severely reduced ads or removed them altogether in some cases.
I paid for consults, I spoke to experts, I paid for expensive tools, I read reports, I studied hundreds of sites.
I did it all THEN. And yet, no grace from Google.
I don’t even rank for my own brand terms in many cases.
Morgan’s certainly not alone in feeling this way.
For example, the people behind sites like Retro Dodo and HouseFresh have voiced similar grievances 😕
Really drives home the danger of depending on one platform for the majority of your traffic.
Looks like Morgan has been doing much better since shifting her focus to social…
And since January … Since I stopped listening to [Google] and chasing that carrot, I’ve been better off.
Quite frankly that’s the reason I’m still here. I use my time more efficiently now.
I’m a real business, despite what Google thinks.
I do not like to do business with companies that gaslight, mislead and waste my time.
She goes on to say that she’s no longer listening to what Google says, since their official advice to site owners has so often proven ineffective recently 😡
Sounds a bit like the advice you hear for people in abusive relationships: don’t believe your partner’s words, believe their behavior!
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