🙈 4 MAJOR issues with writing for Google

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Hey Reader,

There are 4 major issues with writing for the web right now:

1: Your content must be extraordinarily unique with information-gain in order to rank on Google

2: If your content does rank thanks to information-gain, AI spun copycat websites will completely overwhelm it

3: Google has no idea who was the original and these new competitors will likely outrank you due to “fresh site” bias

4: Search results on Google show no reliability to showing mixed content results that may actually offer diversity

Google is now pushing their Search Generative Experience (SGE) into testing in the wild whereby you don’t necessarily have to opt-in.

SGE came with promises of the “hidden gems” algorithm that will find under-valued content and use it for AI generated results.

So, let’s say you’re a site/blog that’s been around for a few years. An independent publisher.

Where you once were competing to try and beat out the big dogs who get away with everything (Forbes, Healthline, Reddit) at the moment and crack into the top 4 results…

You’ll soon also see many search results pages have a gigantic SGE AI response to the query taking up most of the page, with 62% of sources used in SGE being resources that lie outside of the top 10 results.

Now positions #1-9 on the SERP have dropped on average 1,200 pixels down the page.

So even if you are Forbes, you are lucky to get clicked on in pos #1.

Your competition just changed from the deepest pockets as your primary source of competition and fresh site bias into a whole addition of random unknown sites beating getting ahead of you in an AI response who likely aren’t getting many clicks themselves anyway.

Search continues to change, Google will adopt AI and SGE into search results whether publishers or users like it or not.

It makes sense for their end goal which is to monetize the top pixels of all search results. Either towards their own Google shopping results or ads. Pay to play.

“Organic” is swiftly becoming a thing of the past as Google joins social networks in making reach behind a monetary barrier.

It won’t matter to the big dogs, because they have budgets to get back to #1.

And so the question really comes down to, how much do you trust that the SGE will show your site as one of its “hidden gems”?

How privileged you must be to be placed as a source, this far down the page:

That’s a whole click to expand and a scroll on desktop, in case you didn’t know, now imagine on mobile?

I’m being purposefully antagonistic—but you get the point.

I want to hammer home the point that there is no fighting this with all that we can see from here.

Writing for search, specifically Google search, and gaining organic reach is far more complex and difficult than it once was.

Hell, I remember writing an article on a topic and it being indexed and showing on Google top 10 within hours because it matched the intent perfectly.

Now, it seems impossible to achieve the same thing without knowing multiple SEO strategies and how to deploy them carefully.

You must know how to build and use backlinks.

Your topical authority and coverage must be absolutely nailed on.

While Google liaisons are saying “stop writing for search” and “instead, write for your audience,” they’re dropping traffic to just about every niche website in existence by 50-90% and sending all the traffic to Forbes and Reddit.

There are a few minor examples of quality niche websites that are doing well in Google, but in comparison there are significantly more niche websites that are of a similar quality and have been obliterated.

Is the point nailed in, already? OK, cool.

What the f*ck to do from here?

You don’t necessarily need to give up entirely on your niche.

Niches still exist, they are how you differentiate yourself from other sources of information or entertainment.

But niches that are more original work the best and YouTube is full of these examples.

It’s not a “filmmakers” niche channel.

It’s a “filmmaker who hikes the worlds best trails and creates silent movies from them.”

I’m sure you are as sick of hearing the importance of niching down as much as I am, but there is truth to the original angles, personality, mood or vibe you can bring along with your niche project to make it more successful.

But I wouldn’t be putting all that effort into a blog at this point.

Perhaps a YouTube channel, if you’re ready to become the face of a brand (for best results.)

Or you could pivot into social media by focusing on one particular platform where your audience exists the most and going in hard to learn the algorithm and get your content to your people.

The optimal monetization of that content is likely less about page-ads, more affiliate marketing/recommendations, but most definitely your own list and your own product:

What is the ideal product for your unique niche audience?

Are you willing to put in the sweat equity to make it and then market it to your audience?

If you are ready to do that, there is still a chance for you to turn your hobby niche into a sustainable business.

Almost all of the publishers, SEOs and affiliate marketers I know are pivoting in some way to doing one or more of these things.

A few of us have joined together to build an exclusive community to take on the new world of digital entrepreneurship.

Myself, Jamie I.F. and James Oliver have brotherly banded together to create the Conversion Collective.

It’s not just about SEO, marketing, social media, websites—it’s about building long-lasting digital empires that will change your life.

And we’re opening the doors this Friday.

👉 Sign up for the waiting list here​

Then drop me a reply and let me know how you are pivoting your niche site into a digital empire?

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Until next time — Joe

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