Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back again after a busy couple of weeks. November always has an intense energy in content, and this year is no different.

I’ll give you some thoughts and catch you up, but first, a word from our sponsor…

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I don’t know how the weather has been in your part of the world, but it feels like it has rained the entire month of November here on the East Coast.

So, when we got a few hours of sunshine last weekend, I decided to catch up on my podcast listening and go for a walk. I ended up listening to an interview that has stayed with me ever since.

This interview was one of the latest Niche Pursuits podcasts, this time with Morgan McBride, a publisher previously praised and featured in Google publisher stories, then saw the HCU destroy her business. Google was even in her home the day before the HCU hit to feature them in one of their internal impact reports.

She was also one of the 20 publishers invited to Google to talk about the impact that the HCU had on their publications, businesses, and lives.

I have to applaud Morgan, who didn’t hold back her thoughts and had a lot of really smart insights as well (why don’t the Google engineers understand search?). I was literally talking out loud to myself with my headphones on throughout this interview — this, for me, is personal, too.

If you haven’t watched this interview, I think that you should.

Meghan breaks down a few things that I wanted to share:

Getting called unhelpful hurts. It’s personal.

When you are a content creator, you share some part of yourself. In blogging, many writers share their lives with us for years.

I have always marveled at how much our writers are willing to let us into their homes, and lives for their content.

Over the years, I’ve gotten to know so many of these talented writers through their work — watching them get married, have kids, buy a new home, renovate a home, make us some cocktails… they haven’t held back.

It is personal when Google, other publishers, and SEOs tell us that our content is unhelpful. Morgan explained this best:

There’s been a weird vibe in the blogging community since HCU.

This bothers me, but I’m not surprised. We live in a Google-induced Feudal society, and we, the lowly peasants, are infighting.

We’ve seen this happening between SEOs and publishers, but as Morgan explained, there’s been this “weird vibe” in the blogging community as well:

When HCU first happened (and for a while afterward), there was this narrative in the SEO community that the sites that were hit were ‘spammy.’ Over the past year, we’ve had a lot of soap-box SEOs, and other publishers talk about ‘ad density’ issues, content quality issues, and yes, continually devaluing the hard work of smaller publishers and bloggers.

I’ve felt this vibe, sure, but I’ve also been surrounded by some amazing fellow publishers who have been willing to share what they are working on to get new traffic sources too. It’s a mixed bag, but it was so comforting to hear another publisher talk about this weird vibe and call this shit out.

We’re all figuring it out—some with more grace than others—but those moments of connection and shared understanding remind me why I stick with it. It’s not just about the traffic or the rankings; it’s about the people behind the content.

Google, as a company, is very siloed.

No surprise here, this is what big orgs look like, but what surprised me was that Google really didn’t ‘read the room’ when it came to this event.

Engineers didn’t understand search, and yet they were very interested to learn more from the publishers.

Google leadership ‘held the line’ that HCU was not a site-wide penalty, despite what the publishers had said. Leadership’s advice was to ‘create helpful content’ — I can’t make this stuff up!

Speaking of Google changes, I think it’s time to ask again…

Does topical authority still matter?

This past week, Google has given out some big site reputation penalties for 3rd party content to some big publishers, to try to fix the parasite SEO practices.

Of course, there have been many discussions on ‘is this enough?’ or as Chris Long says, in this article, is this a band-aid solution for a bullet wound?

Whatever happens, the real issue is that it shouldn’t be possible for sites to ‘abuse’ their authority. Topical authority should matter, and for a long time in online publishing, it did.

I remember a time (not long ago) when we were able to create super, niche, specialized publications online and outrank the ‘big boys’ — solely because our content was better and we had topical authority on a very small subset of a topic.

But those days are gone and while Google may be trying to curb some of this abuse of domain authority from happening, this might not be enough to really fix the problem, as Lars Lofgren so thoughtfully explains in this article, The Stupidity of Google’s Site Reputation Abuse Policy

It’s frustrating.

The rules we used to live by in content creation—quality wins, expertise shines—don’t seem to hold up anymore. It feels like Google’s changing the game faster than we can adapt, and for smaller publishers, it’s a game we’re constantly playing on hard mode.

So, where does that leave us? If topical authority isn’t enough, what is?

The days of competing with the big players on a level playing field seem like a distant memory. But maybe it’s also a wake-up call to rethink how we approach content strategy (or where we publish our lives and talents) altogether.

The beauty of doing absolutely nothing.

Content never stops. There’s always something to do. But unlike AI, we cannot just keep creating, keep producing without some inspiration.

But, where do we find this creative inspiration from anyway?

This month, someone in my content group told me about Niksen, the Dutch concept of doing absolutely nothing, for no purpose, like staring out a window just to observe and let your thoughts go wherever they want to go.

The idea is that we’re not at our most creative when we are rushed or overproducing. It is these moments of calm and ‘nothingness’ where creative ideas can flourish.

I have to admit, this concept is tough for me. But, I’m willing to try.

I am someone who creates to-do lists for my weekends, has spreadsheets for family projects, and plans my ‘rest days’.

And yet, I like the idea of building a life with ‘nothing’ moments. It’s often why we get our best ideas in the shower, on long walks, or in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep (or is that just me?).

So, this month, I am going to try and practice this. Is this something you’d try?

You can read more about it here:

Niksen Is the Dutch Lifestyle Concept of Doing Nothing—And You're About to See It Everywhere

A new way to look at 'doing nothing'

time.com/5622094/what-is-niksen

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ If you are thinking about pitching to speak at a conference this year, Aleyda Solis has some great advice on how to find opportunities, & win the pitch. Get some solid tips here!

▶️ Looks like there are a lot of searchers who don’t like the AI overviews in Google; now we’re getting lessons on how to disable them. Check that out here! 

▶️ What can we learn about content marketing from Hunter S Thompson, Ryan Law has some thoughts on the Ahrefs blog. Read it here! 

That’s it for me for tonight.

I’ll be in Portland, Oregon, for the next edition of Content Forward, but I’ll try to get something out. I’m attending the Reinvent(ed) event, where I get to meet up with some of my internet friends and make new friends in digital biz. 

This year, more than ever, it’s been my biz friends that have gotten me through. If you’re in the area or want to fly out to meet up IRL, I would love it!

I don’t often hop on a plane (or three!) and fly across two countries, but I have a feeling this will be a really special event.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

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Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

Last week, Google invited 20 publishers to its headquarters to discuss the HCU, Chat GPT released its search tool, and Reddit stock soared.

The past few weeks were like a highlight reel of my world this year.

I’ll give you some thoughts and catch you up, but first a word from our sponsor…

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It’s another Friday evening, and I’m pushing through to share some of my initial thoughts and observations.

So many people have reached out lately to tell me that this publication is their lifeline for what’s happening in content, and I thank you for that. I try to show up (somewhat weekly) and give a glimpse of what’s happening.

These past couple of weeks have felt like my entire year has played out in an ’80s movie montage. There’s been some highs, some lows but I’ve been reminded so many times why we’re still here.

I still believe in creatives. While the updates and news from the Google Summit have been tough to read, I still believe that we, as a collective group, will find new platforms to share our talents.

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you will know that I lost trust and faith in Google quite a while ago (they broke the covenant with us), but this summit and the experiences of those who attended just solidified my experiences.

But, let’s have a look what happened, shall we?

Google invites publishers who have lost everything to the HQ to talk, and share their experiences.

This past week, Google invited 20 publishers who sites were absolutely demolished by the HCU to their HQ, and there is a lot of discussions happening right now on what actually went down there.

First, I will say — reading the accounts, the observations, the blog posts, Twitter threads from those who actually attended this session has been tough.

And, yet, it’s not surprising.

It’s been a tough year for publishers, who still hope the Google algorithm will change again.

I wonder if this is the time for more publishers to walk away completely. So many already have, and it’s not good for our world.

I wasn’t in the room. I feel that one thing Google did well was pick a few stellar publishers, and from what I’ve heard, they really stood up for all of us.

Reading through all the accounts of those who were there, I was inspired by the level of frankness, honesty, and quality of writing to be fair.

I’ll share some of the publications from the event, but here are a few truths I know for sure…

Great, independent publishers are closing up shop.

So many amazing indy publishers and content sites have been really trying just to hang in there this year, even if they had to downscale their teams.

I know of so many publishers, site owners that have had to dig deep into their own pockets to keep a minimal content publishing schedule.

Make it make sense.

This week, we saw another one. Giant Freakin’ Robot grew to a readership of more than 20 million a month, and now they have been forced to layoff their staff, stop publishing content.

You can read about that here:

The End Of Independent Publishing And Giant Freakin Robot

After relaunching GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT in 2019, the site grew to a readership of more than 20 million a month, … Continue reading "The End Of Independent Publishing And Giant Freakin Robot"

www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/independent-ends.html

There have been many, many amazing publications that have invested a lot to try to do all the right things, improve their content, restructure their site, and follow Google guidelines. Still, they have not seen any improvement in their Google traffic this year.

Many publishers have actually seen more hits and a massive decline in Google traffic after making all of these investments.

On the bright side, I do know a few publishers with newer publications that have seen some improvements in the past few months.

The reality: We still don’t have a solid, proven playbook.

Most of the publishers that attended the summit do not expect to see any recovery from HCU.

And, Google didn’t really provide this thesis differently.

This isn’t a content quality problem or an EEAT issue. Google does not know what quality content is, and that’s a problem.

The Helpful Content Update as we were led to believe would make search results better, and while we can continue to debate if search results are better, one thing I know for sure is that many of the publishers that were hardest hit were doing ‘all the right things’ and putting out some quality content.

Kylie is the type of creator we all say that we want, someone who has consistently produced first-hand, quality content.

A lot of travel sites got hit. Many see their insights, authentic images and experiences splashed across the search results in AI-overviews, with little to no attribution, links to their original resources.

We’ve known that our content has fed the AI-machines for a while, but it’s doubly cruel to be completely out of the loop, and then see your hard work still being served to users.

It’s easy to say ‘stop relying on Google traffic’, but Google is still where our people search. When Google traffic goes down, so do other sources of traffic.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know my thoughts on Google this year. But, it’s not as simple as saying, ‘stop relying on Google search’, or stop catering to Google.

I mean, search traffic has been some of the most valuable traffic for quite some time. When someone searches for something, and you get to quickly serve them an answer, a resource, or be there to help — that is magic.

Building other traffic streams is important, yes.

And yet, we cannot ignore the brutal truth that when Google traffic goes down, so can other sources of traffic.

If indie publishers cannot make a living creating content, we will lose many valuable human insights and experiences.

Creating valuable content that people will find, is useful, fresh and human takes real energy and talent.

I wasn’t in the ‘room’ with these creators, but I’m glad that so many of them let us in this week about their experiences. The effects of the HCU are still painful and long-lasting, and I can imagine that being in a collective group to rehash everything this past year was a brutal experience for them.

If you want to read some of the actual attendees’ experiences, here are some resources:

Hi Google, please stop 💩 the bed: a desperate plea from the independent web.

Served with humor, as I cry into my goldfish bowl of boxed Chardonnay.

build.shepherd.com/p/hi-google-please-stop-the-bed-a-desperate

I Drank the Kool-Aid at the 2024 Google Web Creator Summit

After spending a full day at the Google Campus in Mountain View, California I'm certain of a few things. First and foremost Google knows "we can do better" meaning they're well aware of where search is at the moment and ...

mike-hardaker.com/f/i-drank-the-kool-aid-at-the-2024-google-web-creator-summit

Gaslit By Google? My Thoughts On The 2024 Web Creator Conversation - Between England & Everywhere

"#This is a story all about how my life got flip turned upside down and I’d like to take a minute just sit right there and I’ll tell you about…how Google

betweenenglandandiowa.com/2024/10/31/google-web-creator-conversation

I Attended Google's Creator Conversation Event, And It Turned Into A Funeral

I recently attended a funeral. It was called the Google Web Creator Conversation Event and took place on October 29, … Continue reading "I Attended Google’s Creator Conversation Event, And It Turned Into A Funeral"

www.giantfreakinrobot.com/tech/google-creators-event.html

Twitter tweet

I would strongly encourage you to read some additional discussions from those who were actually there.

It’s a lot to absorb.

Chat GPT Search: We get links again, but there are some quirks.

I’ve been testing out Chat GPT search a bit. It feels like Bing.

The good news — publishers are showing up. Links are showing up.

The bad news — it still has some quirks. Some of the search results were confusing. I searched for a ton of different types of queries (from many different niches), and after about 30 minutes of searching, the results were getting mixed up.

Still. The results were fast. You are given the option to keep reading, dig into the publications and we are seeing some search traffic come directly from Chat GPT (so maybe people are clicking the links there?).

Still, it is too early to see if this will take over the search landscape, or put a dent in Google’s dominance. I know a lot of people that have never, ever used Chat GPT, or any AI tool. It takes time and some big things need to happen before this is a trusted go-to for the masses.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ I’m all in on community this year, and what better to learn about getting started than from Erin Simmons, Managing Director of Women in Tech SEO? I’ve got this queued up to listen to this week. Check it out here!

▶️ Is Google forcing users to go to ChatGPT and Bing? Katie Berry shares her thoughts here. 

▶️ If you haven’t heard about the couple that sued Google and won, catch up on that story here.

▶️ Fellow friend and publisher Jake Cain talked to Jared Fallon on the Niche Pursuits podcast. If you want a real, first-hand account of what really went down, Jake doesn’t hold back. Great interview to watch here!

Thank you for being here and reading my thoughts. It has been so much fun reconnecting with a few of you these past few weeks. The newsletter format can be so one-directional.

I do have a few things up my sleeves when I get a few spare hours to figure it out (I’ll keep you posted).

I am also thinking of making this a bi-weekly publication for a while as I get on my feet with some new projects again. Of course, I’ll still be here to share everything I know and am working on, so we’ll see.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back again this week to take a quick look at some of the Friday night reflections from the world of content.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the content strategies that win these days + what it takes to build a solid content team; I’ve got some Friday night thoughts.

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This week, I enjoyed getting my ‘hands in the dirt’ on a few content strategies, and boy, oh boy, do I love it.

Here are just a few of my observations on this Friday evening for you:

The harder ‘creative’ content plays are winning.

I’ve heard this theme come up over and over again in my discussions with my fellow creatives + publishers lately.

While I never recommend overcomplicated content workflows, I do feel like the strategies that are getting some traction these days are doing a few more things than workflows of the past:

• Pulling in more experts, opinions and insights to make content better

• Data mining to uncover first-party data that doesn’t exist, or is more timely

• Doing more ‘on the ground’ real-world research

These are just a few of the things I’ve been thinking about more and more these days.

In a sea of AI-generated and templated content, and SEO-created articles served to us through Google, thoughtful, creative work that offers something new stands out.

And, my friends… nothing beats on-the-ground, real-world research. If you can bring this to your audience, you are already ahead of the game.

Last month, I went to the UK on a family trip.

I planned the entire trip on my phone on the weekends leading up to the trip. It became my Saturday morning ritual for the few weeks leading up to our adventure.

I really wanted to do a couple of things, one of which was to take my kid to see a Newcastle United FC game—if not in the stadium, somewhere in town where he could get the real fan vibe.

If you know, you know. Newcastle fans are a dedicated bunch!

I did a lot of online research and visited a few forums, websites, and Twitter accounts to see how I could get some tickets and, if I couldn’t get tickets, where I could take him to see the game with the same ‘atmosphere’.

There was so much conflicting information out there, to be sure! I wasn’t sure I should even order tickets to the match (they are technically illegal) and many, many people recommended a few pubs in the area to take my kid to.

Only, once I was in the UK did I learn a few things.

On-the-ground research is super valuable these days.

First, many pubs don’t allow under 16s in the pubs on game days. This was unclear in a lot of searches.

Secondly, if there is a 3 pm game, it’s not televised in the UK. One of the matches wasn’t televised in any pub while we were there because of a country-wide broadcast ban. I discovered it when we went to a local pub to watch the game. Ugh.

Third, I found a great, family-friendly, pet-friendly place next to the stadium to see the game, which didn’t come up in my online searches AT ALL.

We had a blast and even got a great tour of the stadium, so all is well, but I couldn’t have planned this trip completely online. There is still a lot of real-world information, experiences, tips, and insights we can bring to the digital world that people will find helpful.

Those willing to do the hard yards and gain these kinds of insights will be way ahead of those who don’t.

Finding and surfacing fresh content ideas, and harnessing real expertise, stories and offline, real-world insights takes time and is a much more complex workflow.

For those willing to do the hard yards, I see a lot of ways to win.

It’s personalization for the win, I think.

This keeps coming up with my publisher friends and content friends who are seeing some wins.

Personalization is the secret ingredient to make your content stand out.

Content tailored to individual user experiences is driving engagement like never before.

If you can leverage first-party data and deliver a more personalized point of view with your content, you are ahead of so many who are just regurgitating old playbooks.

I’ve heard (and this is anecdotal) that this is also the key to the publishers seeing some gains this year after HCU, and it makes sense to me.

Personalizing the content is another layer in building real brands, appealing to an audience, and having people come back for more—all elements that give you an edge in today’s digital landscape.

I’ve heard this come up so much in my talks this month. I’ve been pushing it for a while, but I think it’s now table stakes if you want a fighting chance.

We are getting back into the content creation weeds to figure out new playbooks.

As content managers face mounting pressure to do more with less, many are rediscovering the value of getting 'back into the weeds.' Instead of rushing content out the door, teams are slowing down to build thoughtful, high-impact content strategies.

This means getting hands-on with the editorial process, embracing deep collaboration with subject matter experts, and using robust workflows that prioritize quality over quantity. While the pace may seem counterintuitive, taking it slower lets us produce more strategic, impactful, and tailored content. As we build smarter content strategies, it’s becoming clear that quality over quantity is back in style—and winning.

Writers - There’s still work, but it might not look the same.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d like to give to writers this week, you will have to join the club and be a bit more flexible if you want to find new opportunities.

Yes.

I know it’s a brutal year for many of you. Content is evolving, but flexible, fresh perspectives are more valuable than ever.

But this may mean thinking outside the creative box a bit. I’ve hired hundreds of writers over the years, and the ones I continue to reach out to have this innate ability to learn new editorial processes quickly, are flexible and are willing to learn a few new tricks.

• Can you adapt to new editorial processes and stay flexible?

• Are you up for experimenting with less structured, more conversational styles?

• Can you create content that stands out in an AI-heavy, SEO-saturated landscape?

The fundamentals of what we do are still there, but there will be some differences.

I think the tide is turning, and again, I’m seeing this anecdotally in my content world, but we, as creatives, have to be willing to re-learn a few tricks.

If you are looking for your next gig, I have some good news! I am looking for some help!

Call for Writers and More - I’m Hiring

I’m actively looking for some subject matter experts, writers, and more for some of our Reddit marketing projects, and I would love to hear from you.

Even if I don’t have anything in the pipeline for you right now, please contact me directly if you have some bandwidth.

Specifically, I am looking for:

• Creative Account Managers (ideally with niche experience and writing skills)

• Community Builders / Managers

• Writers and SMEs in business tools, fitness and health, pet care, sleep, lifestyle, and more

• Writers and editors with real-world Reddit experience

If this sounds like you, please get in touch with me here: amy@reddvisible.com — I would love to connect with you!

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Lily Ray is joining the Moz team to discuss the future of search, answering some questions in this upcoming webinar; sign up here.

▶️ Rand Fishkin weighs in on the big SEO question of the day — how can our brands appear in answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and other AI/LLM tools? This 5-minute whiteboard is worth watching here.

▶️ Fellow publisher Brandon Saltalamacchia shares his thoughts on the future of publishing in this raw, insightful post here.

That’s it for this Friday night with me!

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back after a bit of a break. After a summer of juggling a few big projects and a much-needed family trip to the UK, I’m deliriously happy to be in front of my screens, talking about content & SEO again.

It’s been quite a year in the content industry.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on how much has changed in the past year. If you talked to me one year ago, I’m not sure I could have predicted everything that has happened or what I’d be doing these days.

Still, it’s been a brutal year for many of us, too. Many really great indie publishers have closed shop, and many of my friends, colleagues, and fellow operators are still navigating our space's painful pivots and ever-changing realities.

This month, I’ve returned to my content groups and digital work with renewed energy. It’s been one year since Google slammed the hammer on indie publishers with the original Helpful Content Update (HCU) - so I thought it would be a good time for a check-in.

HCU - One Year Later - How are we doing?

It’s been about 13 months since I watched the shifting tide (and massive traffic losses) of my beloved publications with the HCU.

Looking back, my initial gut instinct was, ‘This is just another Google update’ - a bit of a shakeup. At first, I was optimistic that the search results would improve, that, like other updates before, things would eventually shift and move, and Google would eventually get things ‘right’ again. At the very least, as a content purist, I was hoping that Google could surface real, valuable, quality content.

I wrote about all of this here, and reading my initial thoughts feels like a lifetime ago. You can read them for yourself here.

Some things I wrote about then still ring true.

One of the big initial shifts in search was the overnight growth and prevalence of forums.

Reddit seems still to be a big winner in this new search landscape.

In a recent Sistrix article that did a deep dive into the massive growth of Reddit, we can see where we stand today.

Look at these numbers

• 70 million daily users (and growing)

• Organic search traffic 714 million clicks per month

• 3rd in overall visibility (after Wikipedia, Amazon)

reddit.com SEO analysis

Data by SISTRIX shows huge growth in click potential. The report overs the most popular subreddits, click potential, risks and competitors.

www.sistrix.com/blog/reddit-domain-analysis

And Reddit keeps growing.

Folks.

This is the new internet.

If you want to have an online presence right now and be searchable on Google, you must pay attention to Reddit.

Look up almost any topic. Reddit will pop up.

“best content marketing books” - Reddit thread ranking #1

"examples of content marketing strategies” - ranking #2

While some may balk at these results, we cannot ignore the reality of today's internet.

Reddit is here to stay.

I’m sure I’ll be talking a lot more about Reddit content marketing strategies this year. We can’t ignore this big of an opportunity anymore.

Small and indie publishers are still struggling.

This year has been rough for indie publishers, and one year later, we’re still seeing the effects and ramifications of HCU.

While a few SEOs are still focused on finding the small handful of sites that have recovered (yes, there have been a few), I don’t believe we have a solid playbook for full recovery.

Even if we did, many small publishers and independent brands couldn’t afford to invest in recovery efforts anyway.

In a recent post, Katie Berry shared what so many publishers are feeling—we cannot all quickly and successfully ‘pivot’ and figure this out.

Twitter tweet

Some great articles lately share the heartbreaking reality of what's happened in Google search this year to small publishers. Here are a couple worth reading this week:

An Open Letter to Google from a Small Publisher

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of the rollercoaster that has been the Helpful Content Update (HCU). And you’re probably also aware that the most recent core update finally saw some small glimmers of hope for a few small publishers. What is left of our team is genuinely incredibly happy for those sites that ... Read more

healthyframework.com/an-open-letter-to-google-from-a-small-publisher

How Google took my job — and how yours could be next

Hi everyone,

medium.com/@thelloydcoombes/how-google-took-my-job-and-how-yours-could-be-next-23f2c47d611a

With all that’s happened after HCU, one would expect Google results to be more helpful, but there’s still much chatter that search results are worse than ever.

The State of Google Results is Going Mainstream

It used to be that only SEOs discussed the results we’re seeing in Google, but due to the search results there and the lack of quality content, AI overviews are now a mainstream topic of discussion.

This video has 2.3 million views right now.

Hello Fresh, a publication that has seen some recovery in Google search this year, published a guide for ‘non SEOs’ and readers on how to search for better content: https://housefresh.com/finding-helpful-content-in-an-enshittified-google/.

This, my friends, is where we’re at.

While Google experiments with more AI results, the rise of forums, and yes, Reddit, the internet is changing again.

While I could debate for hours that the results we’re seeing now in search may not be better, I don’t think this is the debate I want to hover over.

It is what it is.

And, just like the early days of search, there are still opportunities to be found in content, in search, and in marketing in this ‘wild west’ and shifting landscape.

Embracing the internet we have today.

I’ve had some interesting discussions lately about the state of the internet today. Things are rapidly changing and I don’t think it does us any good to cling to what was.

We’re already seeing the top-of-the-funnel search terms dominated by AI overviews.

We will continue to see more zero-click searches, sure. We are surely seeing some of the biggest shifts in how we find, discover, and use information than we’ve ever had. Still, I believe this new internet can be a fun place for creative types. There are many uncharted opportunities.

I'm happy, excited, and thankful to be a part of figuring out ‘what’s next’. It’s been a painful year, to be sure, but I’m ready to keep exploring.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️Ever wonder what’s really driving revenue for sites like CNN, USA Today, and Forbes? This eye-opening post uncovers the underbelly of content creation and SEO strategies these giants use to stay on top. Read it here.

▶️ Want to dive deeper into your Google Search Console data? This guide explains how to export bulk data into BigQuery for better insights and improved SEO strategies. Check it out!

▶️ What’s the latest in blogging trends for 2024? With insights from over 12,000 bloggers, this survey from Andy Crestodina reveals the key shifts and strategies that will shape content in the coming year. Get the scoop here.

▶️ Who are the biggest traffic losers in SEO this year? Ahrefs breaks down the websites that have lost the most traffic, giving us a peek into the changing dynamics of the SEO world. Take a look.

One year after the HCU, we’re still figuring things out. But despite all the challenges, I believe there are still playbooks we can discover and strategies we can refine to navigate this new content landscape.

I’ll leave you with this: the opportunities are still there if we can adapt. And I’m excited to explore more about this in the weeks to come.

Until next time, stay creative and keep pushing the boundaries of content.

Cheers! Amy

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

Back again this Friday night sharing some more of my content insights. It’s good to be back.

This week, while there’s buzz about publishers recovering in Google, I thought I’d ask “Do we still want to talk about SEO?”

I’m also sharing a few more gems from my talk with Rhize founder, Giovanna, whose community-led business growth really inspired me in real time this year.

Let’s get into it!

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Do we still want to talk about SEO?

This week we have seen a few Google recoveries.

After a rough (almost year-long) decimation, publishers are starting to see some growth in Google.

And for the first time in many, many years, I haven’t really paid much attention or invested tons of time into every detail of what’s been happening.

I just think there’s so much more that content can and should do these days than serve Google.

Search has really shifted this year, and I cannot imagine that the disruption is going to stop anytime soon.

I feel like search habits are shifting. I know I search for information differently than I did a year or two ago.

The most exciting conversations I’ve had around content strategies in the past few months have little to do with Google search.

I have had bigger ‘a-ha’ moments from chatting to real people about how they find information, or asking some real people how they engage with our content. I’ve had more fun listening to experts chat about a topic, and asking questions that you can’t get in an SEO tool about a topic they love.

This, to me, is the building blocks of a great content strategy and a digital business.

And, I’m not alone.

These days, I get more jazzed about discovering where ‘real conversations’ are happening.

One of the joys of the early internet was the rabbit-hole fun of it all. Content was a discovery process where you didn’t know exactly what you were going to get.

Today, so much of the content we’re served in search is ‘meh. We’ve stopped surprising our audiences.

We’ve all been serving the same playbooks. In our effort to serve what our audiences were searching for, we missed the opportunity to really engage and get that feedback loop from them.

So many SEOs are complaining about the rise of Reddit in search, but if we really break it down on why this may be happening, I think we are left with some big clues we need to pay attention to in content.

While Reddit may have a reputation for some spammy-ness and a place that people go to complain, it is inherently more ‘human’ and ‘real’ than the content we get served elsewhere.

And, yes, sometimes human discussions are messy, disjointed and clunky.

What’s more valuable than an SEO-led strategy these days?

As content demand shifts toward real, genuine conversations, the magic happens when you build a community-led business—where true engagement happens and you can build a real moat around your business.

Building a Community-Led Business

Anyone can create content these days, so content alone is not the ‘moat’ or growth hack around a digital business as it once was.

That’s why it’s been fun to watch the organic growth of a community-led business like Rhize this year.

We covered the story of Rhize in last week’s Content Forward newsletter and I promised we’d continue this week to talk about the strategies she’s using to not only grow her audience and community (to over 2500 members), but how she is keeping them all engaged and is now finding ways to monetize.

(If you missed Part 1 of our discussion from last week, check it out here.)

An Engaged Audience is a Valuable One

Giovanna’s focus has always been on creating experiences and conversations—whether on a small scale or now, on a larger one. What she’s done with Rhize highlights one of the biggest lessons in today’s digital landscape: content is only the beginning.

Our job as creators is to build the spaces that spark those deeper conversations and connections.

When you think about your own content efforts, remember that it’s not just about putting information out there. It’s about facilitating the experience that keeps people coming back for more.

Lesson Learned: Real growth doesn’t come from creating content for content’s sake. It happens when you create value for your core audience. Your role? Be the facilitator and builder of those experiences that lead to authentic engagement.

The Value of Building First, Monetizing Later

While I’m all for thinking through a monetization plan early on, it’s also important to resist the urge to rush into it. Giovanna’s approach with Rhize shows exactly why this matters.

“Rushing to money isn’t the way. I just wanted to create something, help people, and have a good time.”

By focusing on creating something meaningful first, Giovanna built a community that was strong, loyal, and engaged. Monetization became a natural progression once the foundation was solid.

Lesson Learned: Before you start focusing on revenue models, make sure you’ve built something that resonates. Monetization is much easier when you have a dedicated, engaged group to market to.

Today, Rhize has already secured partnerships with companies like Teal, and Giovanna’s goal is to never charge her members. Instead, she’s finding opportunities through sponsorships, workshops, and other creative ways to generate revenue.

What makes Rhize so special is the organic way the community has supported its evolution as a business.

Members have contributed to the website setup, branding, design, and marketing strategies—and continue to put their hands up to help grow the business.

Giovanna has built something truly unique, where people naturally want to be part of the journey. And that is how you build a valuable audience, community, and business.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️Sometimes, it seems that everyone is just killing it, but are we? Careers, businesses, growth — growth is never as linear as it may seem on these internet streets. This post hit home this week for me and others!

▶️Need a LinkedIn content creation cheat sheet? Here’s a good one!

▶️Growing an agency or want to level up your freelance biz? This webinar looks like a good one to check out if you want to learn how to package your services and grow! Check it out!

▶️This year has been a tough one for many publishers. The old playbooks don’t ‘work’ the same, so what are we to do? Two of my fave publishers and friends, Ewen and Bjork sat down to chat on the Food Blogger Pro podcast to chat all things diversifying your traffic sources & how you can start to use Reddit as a growth hack. Listen to this chat here!

That’s it for me tonight. Next week, I’m going to get into some tips on how to promote our content. I had a great question from one of our readers on how to get more eyeballs on our content (outside of search) and I would love to continue the discussion on that next week.

I’ve got some thoughts.

Until next time.

Cheers! Amy

Got a question or a topic you’d like to see covered? Hit reply and let me know—I'd love to hear from you!

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

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Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

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ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

As we’re heading into the final long weekend of the summer, I thought I would keep things short this week.

This week, I met up with someone who has really inspired me, who went from unemployable to accidental founder and I finally got some time booked to ask her a few questions!

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How to Accidently Build a Thriving Community

Meet Giovanna Ventola, who has a story that feels deeply familiar (at least to me).

After being laid off twice in the past two years, Giovanna found herself in yet another meeting, right before Thanksgiving when that familiar sense of dread came right back.

Yep, it was happening again. Another layoff, 90 days into the new job. There had been little warning that this would happen again. Her boss had cancelled performance reviews, it was all good, right?

The sense of shame, helplessness and frustration hit Giovanna hard and when she started to do ‘all the things’ she needed to do to get another job, she noticed that the world seemed to have shifted.

Starting in mid-January, after connecting with her friends, network and talking to a lot of people, she sensed a shift in the market. I asked her when she felt that this layoff period was different:

“Mid January. It was like the attitude of it all, it was the amount of jobs. So since I'd been laid off so many times, I had sort of seen different patterns with the way jobs were posted, the way people were speaking about hiring. It was just a different vibe."

It was at this point in her journey that she decided she needed to expand her network. She was tired and quite frankly, embarrassed to keep asking the same family, friends and colleagues for help when they had helped her so much in the past couple of years.

Let’s Take This to the Internet: Can I Find 5 New People?

Instead of retreating, she took a chance and started sharing her story on TikTok. No scripts, no fancy setup, no social media strategy—just her, sitting in front of her wrought iron bed frame, talking into her phone.

No editing, no polish. Just raw, unfiltered thoughts.

The goal was simple: Find five new people that she could meet with and expand her network.

So, why Tik Tok?

So many of us spend so much energy and time thinking through our social and traffic strategies, but Giovanna didn’t give it much thought.

She chose Tik Tok because she thought that was where her family and friends didn’t hang out. When she started sharing her story, she didn’t know anyone that was actively on Tik Tok.

This meant she was able to speak to nobody in the room and really share her thoughts in a more authentic, real, raw way.

Lesson learned: Sometimes building in the void is exactly what we need to do.

Authenticity is the New Expertise

If you watch any of Giovanna’s videos, you’ll notice that she is very conversational and doesn’t declare herself the expert:

I think in this content-heavy, overly AI created, algorithmic world, authenticity does find a way to break through and it can be a real, genuine way to build an audience.

And, that is exactly what she did.

Founding Rhize: 2500 Members and Growing Organically

What started as a personal quest for connection evolved into Rhize, a community that now boasts over 2,500 members.

Rhize is more than just a network; it’s a space where people come together to share advice, offer support, and navigate the rough waters of unemployment and career transitions together.

Giovanna didn’t set out with a grand plan to build a community, and that’s part of what makes Rhize so special:

“This isn’t just about content creation. It’s a space for a conversation. I never intended to build a community, but it grew organically because people were looking for a place to connect and share their experiences.”

Lessons learned: We really overcomplicate things as content creators.

As content people, we really do stress over the perfect platform, the right audience-building strategy, or spend countless hours polishing our content.

But none of this matters if you can hit a nerve.

Before Giovanna knew it, her authentic, no-filter approach was resonating far beyond her initial expectations. The feedback from those around her only reinforced what she was starting to feel: she was onto something.

"My cousin, who’s one of my closest friends, she’s young and like cool and hip—she texted me and was like, ‘You have to keep sharing your story because it’s resonating with people.’"

Giovanna’s success with Rhize proves that authenticity—being real and relatable—can break through all of that noise.

The Accidental Founder: It’s Time

I hear a lot of founders, freelancers and contractors tell me that they didn’t choose this life, it chose them.

That’s really my story too.

And, that’s what happened with Giovanna. In the end, nobody gave her a job.

Instead, she’s out there growing a real internet business. You can hear from her on how she made this decision:

@giovanna.ventola

the Rhize community deserves all the credit 🥹🌱🫶🏼 #fyp #unemployed #founder #rhizetogether #inspo #entrepreneur

Giovanna didn’t plan to become a founder, but sometimes the best opportunities come from the most unexpected places and when our back is up against the wall.

We’ve been through it this year in SEO and content—it’s been a wild time in these internet streets, but isn’t that the fun of it all?

“Nothing in my life that I've planned has gone as planned. And this has been completely unplanned. And I'm like, you know what, there’s a lesson there. Just keep rolling with it. And it'll be what it is.”

More on Rhize:

If you’re interested in joining or learning more about Rhize, check it out here. The Slack group is super active, with job postings (I spotted a really interesting content opportunity just this morning) and a dedicated freelance channel where you can connect with others. It’s a growing community built on real connections and genuine support—it might be just what you’re looking for.

The Story Continues Next Week:

Next week, I’ll dive into how Giovanna has nurtured Rhize’s growth, the strategies she’s using to keep the community engaged, and how she’s exploring monetization. Whether you’re looking to build your own community or just want to learn from her journey, you won’t want to miss it.

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️Freelancers! My friend Tyler Hakes is hosting a great event, with some amazing guests to talk all things freelance biz strategies. Sign up now!

▶️Speaking of communities, what are some worth-while ones to join these days for SEOs? Well, Billie Geena gives us her top picks. Get the list here!

▶️Want some updates on the latest Google update? Lily Ray shares her insights. Listen here!

▶️A travel gear site lost 60% of traffic during the pandemic. Want to know how they recovered? Read more here.

Thanks for coming back again this week. Next week, we’ll get a few more insights and learn how Rhize plans to monetize and get some tips to building an active, genuine community.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

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MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

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ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

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Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Freelance Opportunities!

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

Another week, another content world update from me!

But first, let’s hear from our sponsor…

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Spotting Some HCU Recoveries in the Wild

It’s been a year since the Helpful Content Update which notoriously destroyed many independent publishers and niche sites.

While there have been some off the record, unofficial recoveries, the majority of HCU-weighted sites did not see any kind of recoveries with the latest core updates from Google. Most of these sites saw even bigger losses in March of this year.

Well, this week, we are starting to see a bit of a turnaround. Glenn Gabe reported on one site that looks like it’s making a full recovery.

Glenn Gabe on LinkedIn: #google #seo

From the August 23rd edition of "Core Update Notes" on X. I picked up what seems to be the first FULL HCU(X) recovery (search visibility-wise). The site has…

www.linkedin.com/posts/glenngabe_google-seo-activity-7232737562623111169-Xmok?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

The August Core Update begun August 15th. It’s still ongoing, but there is some hope for publishers again.

At least the ones who have managed to stick around. Of course, not all the ‘recoveries’ are this dramatic.

You have to zoom into many of these charts to see the upticks, but it looks like House Fresh is seeing some signs of growth:

Retro Dodo’s positivity is not as dramatic, but zoom in, there are signs of life again:

These are just a couple of the more ‘public’ sites, but there are many, many other HCU sites that have done the hard yards, improved their sites, kept publishing and have not seen any kind of increase, at least so far.

Of course, this is only part of the story.

Many publications couldn’t hang on after HCU.

The Story of Hardbacon

Just a few days before the August update, Hardbacon made the tough decision and public announcement that they were done, claiming bankruptcy, suspending all operations and closing up shop.

It's Time to Say Goodbye

All employees of Hardbacon (Bacon Financial Technologies Inc.) have been let go, and our operations are now suspended.

hardbacon.ca/en/budget/its-time-to-say-goodbye

Today, the site does appear to have seen a bit of gains with this core update, but it looks like it’s a little too late, and not enough to save this company.

Sadly, Hardbacon's story echoes that of many publishers this year.

It’s really tough to keep publishing, to make improvements and to keep operations going on the promise of a better day. Not every publisher had the runway, or the means to find a meaningful pivot either.

I don’t really have a lesson in all of this except this: there are always going to be some winners, some losers in this digital game.

It’s up to us to keep figuring out where the new or better opportunities are. If you can learn to love the chase, the adventure of it all, you have a real shot of being around for longer.

This year has been a rough one. It’s been one of the most challenging years in my over a decade of digital business. And, yet it has also been one of my best years in the game as well.

Yes, both can be true at the same time.

It’s not just the Google stuff either that’s making this a challenging year.

There’s the macro economic picture, a return to a more budget conscious industry, shifts in the marketing world, social media algo changes…

And, if you are still here, putting in the hard yards, surviving and working hard to figure shit out, you are already ahead of the game.

And that is something to celebrate.

The Importance of Making Really Good Internet Friends

My digital business friends have become some of the most important people in my life. We speak the same language, we face the same challenges and we can connect on a moment’s notice.

My internet friends have been my lifeline this year.

If you want to thrive long-term online, the best and honestly, most fun way is to make some incredible internet friends.

We often get caught up in the metrics, data and strategic vision of it all, when what really matters is who we have in our digital corner.

I think my friend Dusti said it best:

I love that Dusti created this event to connect to her online friends, compare notes and really support each other. We don’t have to do this alone.

What Does Content Cost?

One of the questions I get asked most often is “what does content really cost?” There are so many factors to answer this question but I often tell people — much more than you think.

Content costs is not just the cost for writers, although that is certainly part of it.

Of course, my typical answer is always it depends.

Great content is more than just the words the writer creates. There should be a few layers of editorial. There may be some content design elements to create. There might be some subject matter experts to interview. And, there should be distribution as well.

This is why many of us hesitate to give an answer to this question. Well, the folks of Animalz decided to discuss what content marketing really costs and break it all down here:

Content Marketing Budgeting: What Should Your Content Cost? (With Pricing Examples) - Animalz

Curious what content marketing really costs? We're sharing real content pricing examples and the key factors that impact your content budget.

search.app/X9uSM2d5nDwnTEFm7

You can also get that article’s breakdown of what they would charge if you sign up there. They also break down the value of the content, and include distribution in their pricing structure.

If you are curious to know what this content piece would cost, you can get the article breakdown price here. Before you do though, try to guess. Were you close?

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️Is SEO harder to sell these years? Is it tougher to get results with SEO? These are some of the questions the SEOFOMO State of Consulting Survey asked and the results are in. Check them out!

▶️Would you love a no DM policy in your business? It may sound like a radical idea, but I see a lot of value in doing this and the team from Photoroom make a great case for giving this a go. Read more about their experiment here. 

▶️After years of keeping this under wraps, Upwork unveils the 5 key factors they use to calculate job success scores. Will this bring more talent to the platform? At the very least, it’s good to have some additional transparency if you’re going to dedicate your time and efforts there. Check them out now!

▶️If you are interested in Reddit as a marketing growth channel (do you want to be on the internet?), Ewen is sharing his thoughts weekly in the ReddVisible newsletter. This week, he shares why users actually prefer Reddit these days and asks ‘where does Reddit fit into a marketing strategy?’. Sign up here.

Thanks for reading. Next week, I’m sharing the story of a new, accidental digital founder who went from floundering and unemployable to the founder of a thriving online community and digital biz.

Stay subscribed to hear that story!

See you next week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back to share my thoughts on all things content marketing in this digital world.

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How to Think Like a Content Marketer

I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been in content marketing for so long, but I feel like I’ve had extreme tunnel vision when it comes to content marketing.

This summer, I realized that not everyone thinks like a content marketer.

I know.

This should not be such a big revelation.

I evaluate every opportunity and every task through the lens of a content marketer.

For me, it’s become so natural.

If I can’t write, talk about, get excited about something, it just doesn’t feel like a very good ‘something’ to work on.

I’ve turned down working with many clients just because I couldn’t envision the clear story or value of their business, or service.

I’ve also helped others figure out their story, shape their company content and pull out those content nuggets that help make someone memorable.

If you can’t market your business, talk about what you do, or express what you bring to the world, why would you want to build an entire business around that?

I think like a marketer all the time. This isn’t something I just ‘turn off’ - it’s become a part of my essence for sure.

But doesn’t everyone think like this?

The answer is no.

This summer, I got to work closely with a real business owner who finally said to me - you need to teach me to think like a marketer.

Whether you're new to content marketing or a seasoned pro, this mindset can be developed—it's about curiosity, connection, and the constant pursuit of meaningful stories.

This makes me think of The Copywriter’s Lifestyle from Very Good Copy

I believe thinking like a content marketer is not something you can simply shut off, but hey, why would you want to?

How do you find stories?

How do you discover trends, themes and topics to focus on?

Eddie Shleyner, the author of Very Good Copy goes explains that a real copywriter doesn’t just walk the dog, but engages with other dog owners. Wanders into a pub. Chats up a few people.

He says:

“Great copywriters share a common set of habits and values. They pursue new things, unusual things, first experiences. They speak to strangers. They open themselves up.”

I feel like really living your life as a content creator does become a lifestyle. You look at the world differently.

Even in business content marketing. Your conversations are based in real, intense curiosity. You learn how to really listen, to ask the right questions to pull those valuable gems in any conversation.

As a content creator, you don’t just want to ask and answer questions - you look for patterns, words, themes in every conversation to build great, authentic, valuable content.

For those of us who are die-hard content marketing thinkers, this really does become so natural. We get giddy when someone goes full ‘nerd’ when talking about something they love and we know how to use that nerdiness and mold it into something the rest of the world needs to know about.

It becomes a way of life really and I’ve 100% embraced this as part of my personality, what about you?

Does Media need to focus on connection over consumption?

I came across an article recently that really hit home. (You can read it here). It dives into why people aren’t posting on social media like they used to. The shift from genuine connection to content consumption is palpable, and it’s leading to a disconnect that I’m sure many of us feel.

As Julia Alexander aptly puts it:

This shift also explains why platforms like Reddit, forums and communities are seeing so much growth. It’s not all about Google, I do think people are searching for more ways to connect.

People are hungry for real connections, and when traditional social media doesn’t provide that, we naturally seek out communities where we can be heard and understood.

In a world that often feels increasingly disconnected, these communities offer a place to connect, share, and truly engage. That’s where the real value lies, and why I think we’re seeing this migration away from traditional platforms.

As content creators, I think we need to find these genuine ways to connect with our audiences, with the people chatting about the topics we care about.

One of my favorite content people, the brilliant Harshala Chavan, founder of Merrative did a deep dive on how brands are using forums to marketing that I had to call out here as well. I think more brands need to pay attention to this and build those digital connections in forums, and communities with their audiences.

How brands use forums for marketing [Content Asset Example]

Learn how to these five brands are using forums like Reddit, Quora, Slack, etc for their content marketing. Understand the latest trend on how Google is ranking forums like Reddit in SERPS

mediafirstbrand.substack.com/p/how-brands-use-forums-for-marketing

Is the Portfolio Career the Best Way to Survive The New Era of Work?

I’ve had so many friends and colleagues talking about side hustles, consulting work, and finding other personal income streams this year, but is this the future of work?

I think many of us in content have lived this contractor / freelancer / side hustle life for a while, so it’s not a new concept, but I’ve been feeling like we are moving towards a more massive shift to work like this.

I’m not alone in feeling this shift.

@annaclmack

Goodbye: corporate overlords and the 9-5. Hello: portfolio careers, infinite earning potential and creative freedom 💁🏻‍♀️ #business #caree... See more

I’m here for all of it.

There are so many benefits that come from exploring a passion project, or finding a new outlet to contribute your magic with. I take lessons from every project I take on, and from every side hustle too.

I’ve seen this resiliency in many of our writers and contractors — I think more companies need to learn how to work with this growing group of portfolio career people.

For us, that means giving our contractors and writers as much flexibility as possible, working asynchronously, and keeping communication channels like Slack open.

The portfolio career is here to stay. Flexibility, diversity in projects, and the ability to follow your passions—these aren’t just perks; they’re becoming necessities for a fulfilling and resilient career.

Need a Laugh? The LinkedIn Profile Roaster is Here

We can all take ourselves a bit too seriously in this age of personal branding. So, if you’re up to it, and up for a lighthearted giggle at your hard-earned career accomplishments, try the LinkedIn Profile Roaster and get a witty, AI-powered analysis of your life’s work.

Warning: May crush any remaining delusional tendencies.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️If you are going through a career transition, or just need some inspirational advice, I strongly recommend you check out this interview with Dusti Arab who shares the real deal realities and ups and downs of marketing entrepreneurship this year! Listen here! 

▶️ Smart publishers are taking advantage of the massive growth of Reddit and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Read Adweek’s take on the current landscape here. 

▶️ Reddit’s trajectory keeps going up and the team at Amsive did a really great deep dive that breaks down the presence of Reddit in various niches. Worth a read here!

▶️There is another core update rolling out right now and Google is promising to surface useful content from small and independent sites. We will have to see where this plays out, but you can read more about it here.

▶️Need an in depth look at how Google’s ranking system works? Grab a cup of tea and sit down to this piece from Mario Fischer, worth a deep dive into. Check it out! 

▶️I love hearing stories like Gil’s in this piece from MarTech on how marketers must adapt to a changing world. Our world is changing, but your story can still break through. Read this article here!

Thanks for reading. I am so happy to be here chatting about these topics, but I would LOVE to hear from you. Is there a topic you’d love to dive deeper into? Or perhaps a content challenge you’re facing? Let me know—I’m always curious to hear what’s on your mind.

Let me know. I’ll be here.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back this week for a quick update and to share my current musings on the world of content and SEO!

It’s Been 10 Months Since HCU: What’s Up?

Not that I’m keeping track or anything, but it’s been 10 months since HCU and for the most part, we’re not seeing any major recoveries.

Twitter tweet

While I have heard murmurings in secret rooms amongst SEOs that there have been some recoveries, I remain somewhat skeptical.

There were several ‘helpful content’ and algorithmic updates happening in parallel when HCU launched, so sites that may have seen recoveries may have not actually received the HCU anchor that is continuing to hold down so many independent, smaller publishers.

HCU certainly changed the game for new publishers and many pure content sites, and the search landscape has shifted and not always for the better. I’ve written a lot about this in past Content Forward editions if you aren’t up to speed on all of this.

Of course, the big players are seeing massive gains, and there are entire sectors of our industry that seem immune to these updates but here we are.

Other SEOs are starting to read the tea leaves. Chima Mmeje, Senior Content Marketing Manger at Moz had some thoughts on Twitter this week that echo what we’ve been seeing for a while. Yup. Google doesn’t really seem to get what makes good content:

Still, this is not all about doom and gloom.

These past 10 months have forced many of us to take a hard pivot and had many of us going back to the back of the napkin to figure out some new strategies - for our content sites and our lives.

SearchGPT Launches: Could This be a Legitimate Google Competitor?

There is a new search rival in town with the promise of “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources” — leaning into attribution for creators.

With all the problems with the current search landscape, could this be a real competitor to Google?

With the inclusion of clear attribution model for publishers, and ways for publishers to manage how they appear in SearchGPT, at first glance this gives me a glimmer of hope for the search landscape future. Read the full announcement here.

Follow Up: Mediavine Helps Independent Publishers, How’s it Going?

We all know it’s been a tough year for independent publishers, so it’s really nice to see some bright spots.

A few months ago, I shared that Mediavine was launching a new programmatic ad network especially for smaller publishers.

This new program now allows publishers who hit the 10k sessions per month a chance to monetize with Mediavine, instead of waiting to get to that 50k / month mark.

When I announced this, one of our writers, Melika Jeddi reached out to me to let me know how excited she was to give this ad network a chance for her personal gaming, entertainment site: Screen Hype — check it out!

This is a site she had previously only monetized through AdSense, which was about a $1 RPM at the time, so there was a lot of room for potential growth here.

There were a few bugs to figure out. For the first few days of implementing Journey weren’t that great for Melika as she explains:

“Ads weren’t displaying except for the ones from Grow themselves, and my RPM was even lower than with AdSense. After about a week, it did go up to around $3. Now, it’s been just over two weeks, and I’m on around $5 RPM, which is much better than with AdSense.”

She was having some issues with ad displaying in-content ads, so there were some lost opportunities there, and getting any kind of customer support was a bit of a pain:

“I’m frustrated knowing my RPMs could be higher. I’ve tried contacting support, but they don’t seem to have a dedicated help email. I’ve posted in their community like they suggest, but I haven’t gotten a response. When I email Mediavine, they just point me back to their community.”

So, there are some obvious bugs for Mediavine to work out for smaller publishers here. There are no options for a publisher to adjust the ads, change the ad density or customize display (unlike the traditional Mediavine dashboard for larger publishers) and larger publishers may have a much easier time getting a real human account manager to help as well.

After a few weeks, a needed theme change to fix the display issues, Melika reports that she is thrilled with the change over and is able to better monetize her recent traffic growth as well!

The numbers now: Currently, Melika is seeing $13 RPMs with Journey which is a HUGE improvement over the $1 RPMs she started with!

If you are thinking of joining Journey, Nina Clapperton of She Knows SEO did a thorough look into this program, analyzing as many sites that were on Journey as she could get her hands on (she explains her test group in this article):

I Analyzed Every Site on Journey by Mediavine. Here's What You Need to Know Before Joining

Nina found that most sites saw significant RPM increases and user satisfaction was high. She says, "The average RPM across the sites analyzed was about $15, which is a substantial improvement from previous networks like AdSense and Ezoic."

Final verdict: I love that Mediavine created this program for smaller publishers, but there is room for improvements. Still, worth a try and it does seem to be an improvement over AdSense and Ezoic or other ad networks for smaller sites.

Support Indy Creators

I have so much love for indy publishers. It takes a lot of gumption and passion to really get a publication off the ground.

Indy publishers have to do more to produce better content. It can be long days building into the void and it’s tougher than ever to compete with the big boys and yet, we need these authentic contributions to our world.

So, what can we do?

Raptive is actively working on protecting creators. They are actively pushing Google to consider creators in this age of AI.

If you want to sign your name in the open letter to show your support, do it!

What Keeps You Motivated to Keep Going?

This summer I’ve been swamped with big projects, life, travel and yes, I’m also a soccer mom. I’ve been feeling the pull especially hard this summer to play hard + work hard, but it can be tough to keep motivated in the daily grind of it all.

This year has been emotionally exhausting, full of new lows and yes, even a few big highs and while you’d think I’d be used to the ride by now, I still have to dig deep and find ways to hang on.

So, I’ve been actively thinking (okay, overthinking) about all the practical ways I actually keep motivated to push through the tough times and I thought I’d share a few here. In this industry, we need all the practical help we can get - am I right?

My fave ways I keep motivated these days:

My personal ideas + inspiration board.

Okay. I started this board to track all of the ideas I had that we couldn’t possibly implement but it has evolved over time into something much more for me.

I store so many goodies in this treasure trove and when I’m feeling overwhelmed, or just don’t know if I can keep going, I open this board.

In this board, I have:

• Pitch deck and presentation inspirations

• Ideas, ideas and more ideas for new side projects, marketing thoughts, or strategies I would love to implement

• My personal brag board/testimonials from my team and colleagues (screenshots baby!)

• Random frameworks, downloadable and site inspirations

• Things I want to work on when I finally get some downtime (this keeps me motivated when I can’t do it all)

For me, this board is my way of not only saving great ideas for a rainy day but it’s also a place where I go to reinvigorate myself and find those much-needed receipts that I’ve got this on those down days.

Getting my feet in the sand.

The beach 10 minutes from my house.

I live in the most glorious place in the summer and I become extremely down when I don’t see daylight every day all winter.

So, summers I make the commitment to get my feet in the sand as much as possible.

Do I get as much time as I want?

Not even close.

But there’s something about getting some fresh air, feeling the elements under your feet that opens up your brain to new ideas. I am an Earth sign after all.

Even just pictures of nature can make us less stressed, so here’s your sign, from me to shut the electronics off and get out there.

Making sure I get some real ‘heads down’ time.

This past month, I’ve been heads down on many projects and I still have days when it’s just tough to get started in the morning.

When we lack motivation, we can often find new and interesting ways to distract ourselves.

Our world is full of fun distractions and rabbit holes.

But, a lot of the real motivation for me often comes when I just sit in front of my screen, start typing, start planning… just start something.

Don’t underestimate those heads down sessions. Just doing the thing helps me to keep going.

These days, I’ve been trying to do more of the time blocking approach to getting things done. Well I am still a work in progress, there are many benefits to this approach, including getting into that flow state.

I love that flow state - I call it my work buzz and it can be pure magic!

Work friends that are always up for a chat.

My digital friends, work friends and colleagues really do uplift me and keep me motivated.

Building a network is so much more than just getting a few referrals.

A great network includes work friends that will kick you in the pants when you need it, remind you of all the reasons to keep going and motivate you when you are feeling overwhelmed or clueless.

I’ve been through all the big emotions this year in my career and it’s those voice notes left randomly in What’s App, or an impromptu strategy session that has kept me going.

When all else fails, my friends are there to remind me that this too shall pass.

During times of extreme pressure, overwhelm, it can be tough to plot your next step, but sometimes all we need to keep going is a good chat!

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Is spam and plagiarized content ranking higher in search results these days? Wired investigates. Read to get their findings here!

▶️60% of Google searches end without a click in 2024… this is just one of the findings from Danny Goodwin, worth a read here.

▶️ SEO of 2024 needs to be a part of a more holistic, omni-channel content strategy. Here are 7 platforms SEOs need to optimize for beyond Google, from Nikki Lam.

▶️The rest of the world is starting to realize how broken Google search is, but will there be a shift in how we search? The Guardian did a great job at giving us an overview of the state of search these days. Check that article out here!

Thanks for joining me this week. The past few weeks have been intense, and I have missed spending this time with you all.

Recently, I’ve also been digging into the blue ocean opportunity of Reddit, moving my way through Ewen’s Reddit course (it’s really good).

He keeps adding new strategies, things he’s learning and it’s a real practical guide for anyone who would like to figure out a real Reddit traffic growth strategy.

Ewen has been one of my greatest mentors in SEO, and content and taking this course is just like having him on a Zoom call, walking you through what he’s learning. I still have a few discount codes for Content Forward readers as well, check it out!

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

ReddVisible

The business of Reddit.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

Back again this week to talk about something I’m really excited about!

We’ve been going back to our ‘figure shit out’ days and I think we’re onto something…

It’s Times of Disruptions Where We Find The BIG Opportunities

I know a lot of people that made a serious ton of money in the early days of the internet.

I’ve heard many a tale about the growth hacks and traffic strategies that worked so well.

When I first started working with Venture 4th Media, over 8 years ago, there seemed to be endless opportunities to launch new sites, grow them (fairly) quickly and start making money.

In the the past year, our industry has been seriously disrupted.

AI.

Google updates.

It’s much harder to just be in the digital content business space.

And while disruption of this magnitude does have collateral damage, I think it’s also a time of great, untapped opportunities…that is, if you are willing to do the hard work of figuring shit out.

I have talked a lot these past few months of harnessing that ‘early biz energy’. Ewen (our founder) started growing Venture 4th Media after his 9-5, working late nights and weekends in a coffee shop. Just him, his ideas, computer and coffee.

When I first started my personal freelance, then agency journey, I didn’t know anything about SEO, content, or even where to begin. I didn’t know anyone who had even made any money online. All I had was my laptop, an ‘office’ space in my tiny living room and nothing to lose.

There is an energy and dare I say excitement we can all tap into when our backs are against the wall, when we’re starting from ground zero and we just have to figure something out.

You see, too often once we’ve seen some success, we get rigid in our approach. We want to stick to what works, but in times of disruption, we need to flex those early day muscles.

This is where the magic happens!

So, this year, we’ve been forced to some harsh realities.

Yes. Google has broken the covenant with publishers.

We cannot rely on search alone for the traffic strategy it once was.

Today’s Google and search landscape loves communities, forums and yes, that includes the big daddy of them all, Reddit.

And today we’re going to discuss what this looks like and dig in a bit more.

The BLUF of it all: Reddit feels the next big blue sky opportunity in our industry right now.

The Rise of Communities

With the proliferation of AI in our digital world, it’s shouldn’t be a surprise that we are seeing the growth of user generated communities.

But, I don’t think many of us could have predicted that in 2024, we’d see Reddit become as massive as Amazon.

Twitter tweet

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

For the past couple of months, we’ve been hearing about a lot of different traffic strategies.

We’ve heard a lot about Pinterest, Facebook, or other social platforms. Many of us have talked about diversification of traffic strategies.

The problem with many of these strategies for our publications:

• Diversification of traffic to many sources means diversification of resources. It’s hard to really double down on anything when you’re stretched too thin.

• We need to create many different types of content and have the resources to distribute.

• You are still on someone else’s rented land, and now we’re learning a new set of rules to follow and keep up with!

• Depending on the platform, all your previous content learnings and strategies may become obsolete.

• It can take time to see results (Pinterest, for example has a sandbox of sorts).

• It often requires a pay-to-play strategy.

Over the past few years, we’ve done a ton of small traffic tests to see where we might hit paydirt. We’ve tested Flipboard, Tik Tok, Facebook pages, Facebook groups, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter (sorry, I can’t call it X) just to name a few.

While we’ve seen mixed results in these, so we’ve always come back to what we know: SEO + great content to grow our publications because that’s where our ROI has always been best and most reliable.

But, yeah, this isn’t working the same these days.

Now, instead of our indie publications in the SERPs, we’re seeing forums, and yes, tons and tons of Reddit.

So, it kind of hit us like a brick wall — If you can’t beat them, why don’t you join them?

Our initial thesis was this: what if we could just start to use Reddit as a search engine proxy and recover some of the traffic we lost?

People are still searching for the queries we used to rank for. But now, people are being served Reddit answers.

So, we harnessed that ‘early days’ energy and started to really experiment with Reddit as a distribution channel to see if we could get some traffic that way.

This meant we could re-share our huge library of content without having to invest in a ton of new content production.

This also meant that we could still monetize our content the way we’ve been doing and start seeing ROI quickly.

Yes. This did mean that people would have to find us first through Reddit and then click to our sites, but at least they could find us! That’s a huge first step!

But, as we continue to dig deeper into the ecosystem of Reddit, we’ve discovered so many more ways to take advantage of this platform and we’ve really just scratched the surface.

It feels like the wild west days of the internet again. We’ve got a new massive playground to experiment in.

Some Reddit Use Cases We’ve Discovered

1. Traffic Strategy - Reddit as a search engine proxy.

This is the best advice you are going to get today:

2. Reddit for organic viral distribution.

You can hit paydirt on Reddit as well. I’m seeing a lot of this happen lately.

Twitter tweet

3. Idea Validation

As creators, we have a lot of ideas. Launching a new idea into the internet can be time consuming and costly. I have been on the losing end of a seemingly great idea that took thousands of dollars to launch only to realize after months that people didn’t really want to buy it.

But what if you could validate your next biz offering without even investing in a landing page?

Reddit can be a great place to test your idea in the ‘real’ world and start to grow an audience before you go all in.

I love this!

There is so much more to Reddit (these days) than I have time to get into here. Luckily I’ve got a great resource for you if you want to dig deeper.

Ewen finally decided to block some time to share his learnings and he created a course called Reddit Leverage!

The good news — you can implement this strategy in a weekend and start seeing results right away.

I’ve been going through this course and I’m learning a lot.

And, he gave me a special deal just for all of my Content Forward peeps.

If you are not taking advantage of Reddit, you are missing out:

Check it out here!

This is the CLOSEST thing to the Google playbook that is WORKING right now.

Use code: CONTENTFORWARD if discount is not applied.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Should we rethink our SEO strategies after the Google API leak? Rand Fishkin weighs in again this week, this time at Moz Con. Check out the learnings from our friends at Search Engine Land here if you’re curious. 

▶️ I don’t think I’ve shared this yet, but it’s a great resource on what content marketing managers do. Check it out now!

▶️ Freelance rates are all over the place, but Kaitlyn Arford has a great resource here on the all the rate databases that are out there. Good to know if you are looking to hire a freelancer as well! Read that here!

▶️Not every SEO job is a good one, but how do you know when it’s time to walk away? Kavi Kardos sat down with Women in Tech SEO’s Isaline Muelhauser to discuss. A worthy discussion to listen to here! 

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

Thank you for joining me here again this week!

I’m surprised that more of us are not talking about Reddit and forums, but I think that will change. This is just the start! We’re digging into a ton of strategies here, I’ll keep you all in the loop.

This is a really exciting time to be in our industry as we navigate new waters but I’m here for all of it!

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Hello, fellow content peeps!

Another action packed week in the world of SEO and we’re back here again! Let’s get into it!

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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The Great Google Search Leak: What Does This Mean?

If you’ve spoken to anyone in SEO this week, you’ve probably heard about the great Google Search Leak this week.

Internal documentation from a GitHub folder was ‘released’ by a Google insider and we’re now learning so much more about Google’s intricate algorithm.

While I haven’t personally had as much time as I would like to really dig into everything about this leak, I have been gathering all the coverage from SEOs and friends much smarter and more in the know than I will ever be.

And, I think it’s worthy of sharing many of this here, but we’ll get into what this ‘may’ mean to all of us in content.

Here’s a bit of a play-by-play of what’s been happening to catch you all up:

Sunday night, Rand Fishkin gets an anonymous email. We learn that there are over 14,000 ranking features exposed.

Rand writes about how he discovered this massive leak and shares his learnings as well, and yes, this is another article I suggest you spend some time reading.

An Anonymous Source Shared Thousands of Leaked Google Search API Documents with Me; Everyone in SEO Should See Them - SparkToro

On Sunday, May 5th, I received an email from a person claiming to have access to a massive leak of API documentation from inside Google’s Search division.

sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them

Highlights from Rand’s analysis: 

• There are ‘whitelists’ in travel, Covid and Politics giving Google tons of power to demote or promote certain sites.

• EEAT might not matter as much as some SEOs have said it does.

• Most smaller or new publishers won’t see SEO gains as quickly as the larger, known publications.

On Monday, the Mike King article drops.

I think Mike has been on a weekly whirlwind since first publishing his thoughts on this, but this was one of the first articles to come out about this, it’s worth a read.

Secrets from the Algorithm: Google Search’s Internal Engineering Documentation Has Leaked

Learn what you always wish you knew about Google's algorithms.

ipullrank.com/google-algo-leak

Highlights from Mike’s analysis:

• We don’t know how any of these attributes are weighted or how important they are in practice.

• There are numerous examples of how Google has mislead us publicly.

• Google uses Chrome data. Not a big shocker here, but this is important to note because once again, this gives Google a huge advantage over competitors.

• There is a Google sandbox, even if Google has told us there isn’t.

Erfan Azimi, the anonymous source who shared the leak with Mike and Rand comes forward.

There is so much more to this and I have a feeling many of us in SEO will be chatting about this for a while.

We’re already getting a new SEO vocabulary.

Who knew we’d be talking about Twiddlers in SEO in 2024?

Twiddlers, Ascorer, Golden sites… that’s one of my favorite things that has come from this leak. We’re getting an entirely new SEO lexicon where we can start to come together as SEOs.

If you really want to go down a nerdy rabbit hole, I suggest you listen to this Twitter space from Kristen Ruby with some of the nerdiest SEOs around:

Twitter tweet

Google finally responds to the leak.

““We would caution against making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information. We’ve shared extensive information about how Search works and the types of factors that our systems weigh, while also working to protect the integrity of our results from manipulation.”

Of course, this statement does little to establish any semblance of trust we may have clung to with Google.

We’ve been mislead and after this leak, it appears that Google trust is at an all time low amongst SEOs (at least anecdotally):

Twitter tweet

What Do We Do with This Information?

Google has been (at the very least) misleading us on a lot of the ranking factors we’ve experientially felt for a long time.

It should come as no surprise that Google has lost a lot of my confidence and trust this year after HCU and the core March updates.

What Google sayeth publicly is not what is actually true.

After this leak, I still have a lot of questions.

For example, we’re learning how important known authors, or known entities is in Google search.

I’ve felt this for quite a while but what does this mean for digital writers? What about subject matter experts who don’t have a strong digital presence? Are they less valuable in Google’s ranking system?

I think, for now, this is still largely an intellectual SEO exercise for me. I do think it may inform future SEO strategies, as more analyses come in and we can back this up with more actual data.

We still don’t have the full picture.

We don’t know how any of these factors are weighted in the algorithm, or how Google will weigh these, or use these moving forward.

Reading the Tea Leaves: The Findings Continue

I don’t want to downplay the significance of these leaked documents. I do think there are some inherently valuable insights here and I do not doubt their validity at all.

But, I’m a realist and someone who has been in on the ground floor of a lot of scrappy SEO and content projects over the years.

I know firsthand that intellectual SEO exercises are great, but what really matters is how we can implement it.

Isn’t that always the way?

I also know that we all come to these sorts of findings with our own inherent biases and experiences, budgets and motivations as well.

The SEOs that are all about link building are going to tell us how important link building is. And, yes, some will now talk more about link depth, user link data…

The semantic SEOs are going to find all the references that back up their strategies, and yes, some may tweak their or amplify their messages and use these leaked attributes as more ‘proof’ that this matters.

Will some try to manipulate SEO?

Of course.

But, again, I don’t think that’s anything new in this industry.

I am excited to keep reading others analysis, and from an SEO nerd and intellectual exercise, this is really fun.

Will I change my approach and strategy in SEO and content marketing?

Perhaps. But, then again, I don’t think that’s new either as we’ve talked about here many, many times. I think part of being a great SEO and content strategist is working with what you have (budget, resources) and figuring out the best strategy based on that.

Quick Hit Discussion: Should Great Writers Stop Doing Paid Test Articles?

This week, I hired a few new writers.

Part of our onboarding process has always been to start with one ‘test’ article for new writers.

Of course, we always pay full rates for these tests.

I spend a lot of time finding these writers. I expect that the majority of them should do really well, but over the years I’ve also learned that:

• Writers may have stellar portfolios, and the right experience but still not ‘get’ our internal creative processes.

• You don’t really know how much editorial got involved in their samples.

With the exception of a few really stellar, well known writers with star bylines, I have found that getting a new writer into our processes exposes many things. Not every writer can or should write for every publication either.

I’ve always been a ‘show up, do the work’ kind of gal and we’ll see if you’re a fit. That’s been my working thesis for a while.

But, I’ve been thinking a lot about our onboarding processes lately and then this LinkedIn post from Ashley Cummings caught my attention:

Ashley Cummings on LinkedIn: I NEVER do free test articles. And I rarely do paid test articles… | 48 comments

I NEVER do free test articles. And I rarely do paid test articles. Why? It takes HOURS to onboard a new client. You read all their literature, style guides,… | 48 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7201961036868931586?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7201961036868931586%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29

I agree with Ashley on a few things here. I do think it takes time for a writer to onboard a new client and I can truly understand the frustration of investing so much time at the front, just to get a one article commitment.

I’ve always encouraged our editors to spend more time with new writers. I get that there may be some additional back and forth discussions in the early days as writers figure out how we do things. My goal has always been to retain every writer we end up hiring, but not every writer gets hired.

It’s really tough, even with stellar writers to know exactly how they’ll do.

I love this discussion though! I’m always open to making our onboarding practices better.

Your turn: Would love your thoughts on this. Should writers turn down paid test articles?

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ My friend Jeff Coyle of Market Muse was super inspired by Google’s Content Warehouse API leak and wrote an in-depth blog post about it here.

▶️ Spencer and Jared weigh in on the leak in this week’s Niche Pursuits podcast. Watch that here! 

▶️ Do higher content scores mean higher Google rankings? Ahrefs says, no. You can read their findings for yourself here. 

▶️Mike King was on a media whirlwind this week, but he did take some time to share more of his thoughts on the criticisms of the Google Search leak with Search Engine Land here.

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

This edition is coming to your inboxes a bit late on this Friday night. There’s been a lot to get through with all of this.

I would love to know if the Google leak will change the way you create content?

Reply to this email and let me know!

Cheers! Amy

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

It’s Friday night and you know what that means — I’m back! This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the flux, ups and downs of our beloved industry and of course, pondering many questions including — what’s next?

We’ll get into all of that…

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Google Wants to Help Combat Creator Burnout!?!

I’ve been thinking about how tough it is to be a creator these days, especially one that depends upon the kindness of search engines to build an audience.

It’s been a rocky, wild, tough year to be a content creator.

But I think we’re far from calling it quits.

And yet, we’re all feeling the unease and swoosh in our bellies as we keep riding this SEO and content rollercoaster.

While some of my fellow publishers have been pushed into extinction, many more are seriously contemplating a complete shift away from a pure content-led business.

In the midst of all of these massive shifts in our industry, Google once again did not ‘read the room’ and offered a podcast on how to avoid creator burnout.

Yep.

I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

I think Katie Berry’s tweet encapsulates how many are feeling:

Twitter tweet

But, this got me thinking.

I’ve been in burnout mode before in my life and career.

If you care about your craft, about your career, I don’t think any of us are immune from times of burnout and frustration.

But there are always ways to keep moving forward, to keep our content creation muscles active.

And so that’s what I’ve been doing these days. It’s one of the reasons I’ve clung to writing this newsletter every week, even as the days get longer with actual project and content work.

I want to keep my own content muscles lean, limber and ready to dance.

It’s what I’ve always done during times of great change in my career.

In between content jobs, I’ve always found a way to keep creating, and finding ways to keep learning.

What strategies have you found effective in combating burnout and staying motivated? Share your thoughts and let’s learn from each other.

Choose Your Internet

There’s been so much advice these days about diversification of traffic sources.

And, while I’m 100% on board with finding your people outside of SEO or Google, this strategy can also quickly lead a content team to wearing themselves thin.

So, today, I ask, do we really need to be everywhere, or can we choose our internet?

I’m not the only one thinking about this either.

This LinkedIn post from Joe Pulizzi echoes what I’ve been feeling:

We have the ability to choose our internet. Not just as users, but as content creators.

Yes, our content strategy and distribution strategy should consider where our audience lives and hangs, but we can also choose to invest in a channel that feels good for us.

Not everyone can commit to a daily newsletter, or has the resources to invest in that.

Not every brand needs to hop on the Tik Tok train, but hey, some might want to.

So, these days, I’ve been paying attention to where I like to find new content, where I get inspired online, where I learn about a new product or service.

I think we can all get distracted by ‘shiny object syndrome’ in content, but we do get to choose.

I Still Believe We Can Build Something Great

Our very nature as humans is to connect.

And, that’s where I really feel that’s where the path forward is taking us in this AI-fueled, digital world — connection.

And, yes, content is one way we can build connections with our people.

In a world that is becoming overly saturated with hype, overly templated content creation, mass production, what can we do as content people to build a better way to connect to people?

It’s in these touchpoints of connection where I feel there are many opportunities to build a better content strategy.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been working on a few new, fresh content strategies and projects — it’s been fun to think about new ways to build that content moat around our brands.

I think the ones that are going to survive this content shift are the ones that are willing to do all the ‘hard’ things that others won’t do.

Some examples:

• Building a strong community, one member at a time, spending time to build engagement and bringing a lot of value to early members. The data from these discussions and ‘insider’ questions can be a gold mine for topical creation as well.

• Spending time finding better experts, and one-of-a-kind creators that can share insights not so easily found in today’s search landscape.

• Personality: I see a big need for brands and content strategies to push the personality factor, especially with so-called ‘boring’ topics. Give your creators some free reign to bring their own thoughts, ideas and hot takes on your content as well.

These are just a few of the strategies I’ve been working on in the past few weeks. And, yes, some of these strategies are not easily scalable.

That’s kind of the point.

It’s easy to scale templated, SEO content. We all have access to the same SEO tools and now AI assistants at the ready, so how is this a competitive advantage?

It’s not.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ I feel like this interview with Scott Galloway is worth a listen right now for all of us in content. There are so many gems here, from someone who has won big and lost big too. How do you handle it all? There’s a reason this is making the rounds. Worth a watch here!

▶️ The Verge weighs in on Google’s new AI Overview and the many, many inaccuracies that its displaying for users. Read that article here. 

▶️ Is the SEO job market in decline? With all the changes in search these past few months, SEO Jobs takes a closer look at the data for Q1 of 2024. Read more here.

▶️ I still think having subject matter experts as an integral part of your content ops is important and necessary. Whether EEAT matters or not in the current Google ecosystem isn’t really the point — how are you creating content that gives you a moat on your competitors? I like this discussion from Jes Scholz, you can read more here. 

▶️If you are going to work with freelancers, you need to have a solid onboarding process. Here are some great tips on how to do that! 

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

It finally feels like summer in my part of the world which brings a renewed joy after a really long winter.

I look forward to many more days on my back patio with an iced coffee and my laptop. There’s something about sunshine that makes everything more fun!

Have a great week!

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

After a week away, I’m back. This week, I feel the entire SEO community is coming together and it’s Google that’s bringing us closer, but how? Keep reading…

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Google’s Big AI Overview Move and Normies Reactions

This week Google held it’s big developer conference and made some big announcements.

Starting with the release of it’s newly renamed AI search features, now called “Google AI Overviews” which has been massively released to the US market.

While Google is going to keep telling us that everyone loves this, the feedback from the ‘normies’ and public tells us differently.

Many searchers want to turn off the new Google AI Overviews in search. 

In just a few days, we’re seeing some signs that the public isn’t loving these AI overview answers to their queries.

Twitter tweet

Search volume for ‘turn off google ai” seems to be trending.

Twitter tweet

There is already a Chrome Extension that lets you hide Google AI Overviews.

Hide Google AI Overviews

Hide annoying Google AI Overviews.

chromewebstore.google.com/detail/hide-google-ai-overviews/neibhohkbmfjninidnaoacabkjonbahn

Google’s response? They’ve created a Web filter that allows us to see the old school Google. Is this just a fever dream?

How to Turn off AI Summaries With Google Search's 'Web' Filter

Google has recently launched an AI Overview feature that responds to queries like a chatbot. We break down how you can opt out of the tool.

tech.co/news/how-turn-off-ai-google-search

Google’s AI Overviews have not been massively released in Canada (yet), so I have to get my VPN out to see these searches. I like that I’ve been able to turn this ‘on’ and ‘off’ — sometimes it’s great to be a Canadian!

One Thing About Google’s AI Overviews — It’s Uniting the SEOs of the World

After the past few months of infighting in the SEO world, we’re witnessing a new collective, coming together in our distain for the AI Overview.

I think Areej, founder of Women in Tech SEO said this best:

Twitter tweet

Google has made it clear. They do not care if they are scraping, summarizing and stealing from publishers for their search results.

Search is still Google’s most valuable product, and they want to maintain their cash cow, even if that means there is even more publisher collateral damage.

The Washington Post in a recent article exposes what’s happening in our industry right now. They interviewed, Michael Sanchez, the co-founder and CEO of Raptive (an ad network that works directly with publishers) who says that:

With the public response + the slight to publishers, I don’t think this is a win for Google.

Still, it’s early days, but the writing is on the wall of where I think Google wants to go. They are trying to really redefine the search landscape to be the ‘source’ of the world’s information. Who needs publishers anyway?

Reddit Gets a New Deal

This week, OpenAI (ChatGPT) announced that they are also partnering with Reddit to train its AI. 

While Reddit is good for many things, it’s still a place ripe with spam, unfiltered and unproven opinions and is not expertly driven or vetted. The untrained, unfiltered masses are informing the very systems where we source information.

Get your popcorn out. Who knows where this will lead?

This is the world we’re living in — Reddit everywhere.

Twitter tweet

How to Get Paid to Learn Something New

Okay. It’s no secret that today’s content and SEO job market is tough out there. While I do think that we’re starting to come out of this slump, it might be time for a bit of a career pivot.

I’ve talked to a ton of writers, editors and content people about how to make a career move in the past few months.

First, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Most careers are not linear.

I’ve been chatting about this a lot lately. We’d like to think that every new client, job or opportunity we do is going to better than the last, but this is just not true. Most of us have ups, downs, and take side gigs to keep going.

The roles and titles in content and SEO are not one-size-fits-all or uniform in any way.

Content leads, content managers, SEO leads - these roles all look different depending on the organization you’re working in. In many industries (especially digital), role designations are somewhat arbitrary as well.

If you want to learn something new (say PR or media purchasing), you’re going to have to dig into what those roles look like at the company level.

So many of the skills we learn in SEO and content are transferable, but you’ll have to learn some new lingo to pivot to a new type of role. 

Every job comes with a new vocabulary — but the good news is many of the things we’re good at is super transferable. If you can structure an article, you can learn to structure a report. If you can learn the intricacies of SEO, you can learn the lingo and ways in a new industry as well.

When I was freelance writing, I really wanted to pivot to more strategic content roles. I took on a lot of projects with senior content managers, strategists or others in the industry and did their ‘grunt’ work so I could learn.

Each new project came with a new set of terms to learn, a new set of rules to follow but I got to learn all of these things.

I believe 100% that even in today’s job market, you can get paid to learn something new.

Some things I would do first:

— Take an inventory of what you’ve actually accomplished. Build a resume, or portfolio and gather up the receipts on all your accomplishments! I have an entire folder where I store messages from my team or compliments I get along the way. If you don’t have a ‘brag folder’ — start that now!

— Ask for testimonials from those you’ve worked with.

— Get some feedback to dig deeper at what you’re really good at. Schedule some chats with your colleagues and connections and ask them what they think you’re good at.

Once you’ve done these initial things, it’s time to get going.

Here are some things you can do to level up your skills, learn something new and get paid:

Commit to a new project in a new industry.

There have been many times in my life where I needed some additional cash. If possible, I like to think about my side gigs and side projects as a way to branch out and learn something new.

We have so many transferable skills in content and SEO — we’re organized, thoughtful, can communicate. Instead of looking for that next big role, find your next project!

A project has a start date and end date, and often has additional budget that lives outside of the day-to-day operations, so a lot of companies (large and small) are open to hiring contractors.

Find a project you can get behind and learn something new, maybe in an entirely new industry. You’ll learn a lot and make bank along the way.

Start a side hustle (learn as you earn on your terms). 

You can learn so much by doing the thing in this digital space. There are so many ways to make money online AND learn something new. Side hustles allow you to experiment and learn in a low-risk environment while earning extra income.

Want more side hustle advice? I wrote an entire newsletter about side hustling smarter. It’s what we’re all doing these days! Check it out here!

Take on a “consulting” gig.

You don’t have to be an industry leader to be a consultant. Anyone can consult on something they know deeply, but you can also use this as an ‘in’ if you want to grow and learn in a new industry. Position yourself as a consultant in a niche or subject matter area that you know well, but choose a different ‘setting’.

For example, I’ve consulted for agencies, solopreneurs, and nonprofits and got to see under the hood in these businesses (and got paid). This experience allowed me to learn about different business models, industry challenges, and operational strategies while contributing my expertise in content and SEO.

Start a podcast.

Okay. Admittedly, this one takes a bit more work and yes, you’ll have to put in some time and energy to get this going, but if you want to make a career pivot and want to get noticed in a new field, a podcast can be a fantastic way to do it. It allows you to interview experts, learn directly from them, and build your own expertise while creating valuable content. Plus, podcasts can generate income through sponsorships and ads as your audience grows.

My Final Thoughts: You can earn while you learn something new, but you may have to branch out a bit and try something new. Be open to new possibilities and see where it can take you!

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Corina Burri makes a strong case for having a personal website if you want to level up your career, and shares some thoughtful ideas (a reference section, love it!). Some great ideas here, check it out! 

▶️ Garrett Sussman has put together a really extensive guide on Google’s AI, what it means (potentially) for impact on search traffic, and how marketers can measure brand performance. A great resource, read it here!

▶️ The Google saga hits the zeitgeist with this weigh in on the broken state of search from PC Gamer. Read it here! 

▶️ More commentary on how Google search is changing from News Atlas as we’re seeing how much Google is embracing their AI search technology. Read more here.

▶️My friend Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits did a deep dive on the former Google success story websites that were hit by HCU, and shares some examples of sites that are actually doing better after HCU. Watch this video here!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

It’s so great to be back here this week.

I’m still always down for a chat. I love hearing from you. Just reply to this email — I’d love to help.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

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Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back for another week of SEO and content updates, and I’m doing a quick check-in here.

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Quick Check-In: How are We All Doing?

Okay. The March Google update is officially over.

Now, we’re left to evaluate the winners and losers amongst us.

It should come as no surprise that there was a ton of collateral damage in this update.

And, now, many of us in content and SEO are left picking up the pieces and asking ourselves, where do we go from here?

Even if you haven’t been affected by the latest updates, if you are working in SEO right now, there is probably someone in your orbit who is feeling the effects of what we’re dealing with.

Twitter tweet

Even Marie Haynes asked Google to do more to help website owners impacted by HCU and March Core updates.

Twitter tweet

So, I thought it might be a good time to ask — how are we all doing?

I know we’ve discussed these updates a lot in the past few months, but I think it’s a great time for a status update, don’t you?

I have been talking to a lot of content creators and SEO folk these past few months and I have to say, there is so much about our industry that I love.

I’ve seen so many fellow content creators connect and offer to share what’s working and what’s not and help each other find new traffic sources.

We’ve been there for each other.

So, now we dig deep together and help each other figure out a new path. Last night, I went to meet up on Flipboard, and there were almost 150 eager bloggers and content creators there — to talk about Flipboard!

And, the overall mood was one of optimism and help. We were all there to help each other out!

I know the past few months have been tough for many of us on this list, including writers, freelancers, content creators, and even SEO folks.

I keep thinking about when I first started my freelance journey. It seemed like a huge deal to get someone to pay me to do something.

I just wanted to get paid to write something!

I had so many days when I thought I was never going to succeed in this new career.

Then, little by little, I figured it out.

I built my digital portfolio. Got a few new clients. Got my first really big project (yay) and just kept going.

I feel like that a lot these days.

I don’t know where my next big career move or business breakthrough is right now. I’m just pushing forward, figuring things out, and taking it one next step at a time.

The only difference is that this time, I have a community.

So, if you are in the messiness of starting a bunch of new things, trying to plot your next move, know this: You don’t have to figure this out alone.

I’ve got you.

There are still plenty of opportunities out there. Yes, we are going to have to pivot, adapt, and maybe take on something completely new, but isn’t that the fun part?

Big Publishers Brace for Cinco de Mayo Google Deadline

We’re starting to see some big publishers removing content. Remember how Google gave them all a heads-up?

https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/

Well, the May 5th ‘deadline’ is fast approaching, and we’re starting to see the big publishers removing directories, but who knows what Google will actually do to these big publishers?

Twitter tweet

Twitter tweet

We will have to see how this plays out, but the overall sentiment I’m seeing is that Google’s bark may be worse than its bite in this case.

What do you think?

Helpful Content Myths and Truths

Okay. I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the tough truths I’ve learned about content quality over the years.

When the Google smackdown with HCU first happened, it was hard not to take Google's diss personally.

What do you mean our content isn’t helpful?

The issues we’ve seen in the search world are not purely based on content quality right now. One could argue (and some are) that the results in Google are worse than they’ve ever been.

But, I digress.

Yet, I still feel that there are lingering myths about what helpful, quality content really is and what it isn’t, so let’s discuss.

Myth: You lost rankings in Google because your content isn’t helpful enough.

Truth: Google may have told the entire world that it was cracking down on spam and unhelpful content, but the SERPs tell a different story.

In these past few months, a lot of helpful, amazing content has been relegated to the basement. In the past few years, we’ve made it our mission to improve content quality, and yet, we’ve seen big drops. I know our content is great. When we consult or work on other (noncontent site) projects, our content does quite well and is well received when we distribute it onto other platforms.

Myth: Helpful content must follow a formula.

Truth: I get it. Having a template, or writer brief process can help establish a baseline of quality and consistency of content quality, but with AI-generated crap coming into our view, I think we’re growing tired of the overly templatized, overly SEO-d content already. Aren’t we? I think we’ve suffered long enough. Be brave enough to color and create outside the lines as well.

Myth: Helpful content must be perfect.

Truth: Most of my favorite content creators these days are deeply human and imperfect. Authenticity is becoming a rarer quality in content as we continue to mass-produce it. Mistakes, errors, even all the video ‘ums — this human side in content can also be a thoughtful, natural ‘pattern interruption’ tactic. Try it!

Myth: More is more.

Truth: It can be tempting to fall into the trap that many content creators fall into. There is so much pressure these days to keep pumping out content, not just on our sites but on many other channels as well. Great content can take time and resources, and that may mean not publishing as much.

Sometimes, you have to know when to leave them wanting more, too… which is why I’m wrapping things up for this week.

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ The Verge weighs in on how Google is getting worse for independent sites. Check that out here!

▶️ Speaking of the future of content creation, are we seeing some additional platform shifts? Um, of course, we are. It’s harder than ever to build real fans, Forbes investigates; read about it here!  

▶️ Want more SEO insights? Get the State of Technical SEO Report from Aira here.

▶️ Thinking of a career in SEO? There are tons of opportunities out there to use these skills, and Moz has created a rather helpful guide in Carving a Career in SEO, which you can read here!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

Next week, I’m off to my old stomping grounds and spending some time in Toronto. I hope to be back next week, but we’ll see. If I miss a week, please take some time to read one of my newsletter recommendations.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’m back, bringing you all the tea on all things SEO & content for yet another week.

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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SEOs Are Talking About The Man Who Killed Google Search

If you haven’t caught the buzz on this yet, consider this your catch-up session.

An article written by Edward Zitron, simply entitled “The Man Who Killed Google Search,” has taken over SEO circles this week.

It’s a great expose to what’s really been happening with Google search these past few years.

—> I strongly encourage you to read this entire article if you haven’t yet.

Now, we know more about how and WHY Google search has degraded these past few years.

The story continues with this commentary from an ex-Google engineer, who claims:

“The older systems had obvious problems, while the newer systems have hidden bugs and conceptual issues which often don't show up in the metrics, and which compound over time as more complexity is layered on.”

This explains a lot of what we continue to see in search right now.

Google has deliberately made their core search product worse over time and the complexity (and degrading of search) is only compounding.

We’re not crazy. Google search is continually getting worse, and we are continually being gaslit and told to create ‘helpful content’ if we want to rank.

Google sent Barry Schwartz their response, and he updated the SEO Roundtable discussion article to include Google’s official statement here.

But let’s hear from Ed Zitron again. I would encourage you all to read this response as well, as it continues the discussion.

Zitron calls Google out on yet another vague, meaningless response, brings us all the receipts (internal Google emails), and says this:

So, where do we go from here?

The BLUF of it all…

It’s very clear that Google has deliberately devalued its core search product to make more money.

This is destroying search for users.

Twitter tweet

And we are still here with yet another story about a publisher in steep decline as the collateral damage continues.

Google Wants to Destroy the Mountain Weekly News & Kill Small Publishers Across the Globe In Favor of Large Media Corporations - Mountain Weekly News

Google has decided to remove and hide most of the Mountain Weekly News content. This started during the September 2023 algorithm update.  So if you're

mtnweekly.com/health/google-wants-to-erase-the-mountain-weekly-news-kill-small-publishers-across-the-globe

Even the sites Google has promoted as ‘inspirational’ are being destroyed. That’s the reality of where we continue to live right now.

Twitter tweet

I’m sure we’ll continue to see these stories from publishers as time continues. I don’t hold out much hope that Google is actively trying to improve search as well. Perhaps it’s time for another search engine to take some of this market share?

We’ll see.

Are we seeing the merging of commerce and content more now?

After these latest updates, most SEOs agree that e-commerce sites did not experience the same level of destruction as pure content sites.

Our friends in e-commerce are doing alright, at least from a search perspective.

Content is still an amazing traffic and audience builder for e-comm, so it’s no surprise that we are seeing some big media and commerce partnerships right now. This may not be a new strategy, but my guess is that we’ll be seeing more of this happening with both large-scale media and smaller publishers.

My friend Stephen Regenold and I recently discussed some of the things he’s been seeing in the industry. He shares his thoughts on the CNET and Best Buy partnership in this LinkedIn post. 

It’s interesting to see this intersection happening at this scale and noteworthy that they are trying to present an unbiased editorial despite the partnership.

We will have to see how this plays out, but could signal some new possibilities for us content creators and publishers moving forward.

Of course, Ewen, our CEO, has also been researching the merging of e-commerce and content sites. In the latest edition of the Niche Media Publishing newsletter, he shares his thoughts on when it makes sense to add e-commerce to a content site, when it doesn’t, and what this may look like. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more content publishers looking into ways to add e-commerce elements to their sites.

I think a great strategy for a growing ecommerce brand is to hire a media company or content publisher to help create unbiased reviews, comparisons, and informational content (which we’ve been doing for years).

Despite what has been happening in Google searches these past few months, I think customers still want, require, and need unbiased reviews and information from real users and experts. That’s where publishers can help.

I like where this is headed, but I do think there needs to be at least a separation of editorial and monetization to make this really work. From an editorial perspective, this can easily become self-serving and muddy the waters of brand trust if not done right.

FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes

This announcement changes everything for freelancers, many of whom have not been able to take additional clients or get new jobs in their niche because of noncompetes (and fear of getting sued).

This potentially opens up so many new doors for freelancer contractors to start new businesses, expand their client base, and grow their own brands. I am personally thrilled to see this.

We’ll also see a shift in how companies hire and retain top talent.

Digital business owners who rely on contractors, freelance writers, and editors will need to adjust their hiring and retention strategies. Noncompetes have been used to protect business interests by restricting freelancers from working with competitors, but the rules have changed.

Will this mean that companies are going to make better offers to top talent? We’ll have to see. I do think it changes the playing field, though.

You can learn more and get the details here.

Speaking of Freelance Talent, What’s Going on Right Now?

There is this overall sentiment from the hiring side that there are a ton of talented writers/freelancers out there right now. And, there are!

But this sentiment can lead some companies to take advantage of freelancers in new ways.

Like everything else in business, freelance hiring tends to be very cyclical. While there may have been a slowdown last year, I don’t think this will continue.

Great freelance talent will always be in demand in some way.

This week, I listened to this talk from Lizzie Davey, a much more experienced freelancer than I am. She shares her thoughts on the current state of freelancing.

Worth a listen here!

She addressed a lot of the concerns I’ve been seeing as well in this current market:

• Companies hiring ‘freelancers’ or contractors full-time (when they shouldn’t be classified as that)

• Companies getting a ton of engagement from ‘we’re hiring’ posts on LinkedIn (are all of these even real?)

• A lot of people looking for writers or editors who can ‘work’ with AI (produce more content for less $)

• The ongoing struggle to find real work as a freelancer right now

From a Hiring Perspective

The reality — there are a lot of freelancers out there right now.

But this doesn’t mean that all the freelance writers or editors are great or a good fit for every project.

Whenever I share a job opportunity, even casually, on my LinkedIn, we get many responses (hundreds).

Most of these responses are vague:

“Let’s discuss more.”

“Would love to know more about this role.”

And, don’t really give me much to go on. If you’re replying to these roles on LinkedIn, don’t make the recruiter or hiring manager do more work!

The people who stand out in DMs quickly state what they do, share relevant portfolios or samples, and tell me why they are the best fit for the role.

If you are looking to hire freelance help, sharing a job posting on LinkedIn can be great. You don’t have to advertise a role, and you may even get picked up from one of the freelance writer aggregators (where your role will be shared with their email lists). Just make sure you actually need someone!

If you are serious about hiring, you may want to include a link to a form or application as well to give people a chance to share more.

I am working on a couple of guides that will explore the best places to hire freelance writers and where to find freelance writing jobs. I can’t wait to share them with you all. Stay tuned!

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Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Beam Content talked to over 400 GTM pros, including 73 content marketers, SMEs, and folks from their social networks, to pull together this report on the state of content marketing right now. You can download it here!

▶️ Is optimizing for one specific keyword an outdated SEO practice? Corey Morris shares when a narrow keyword focus works when it doesn’t in this article here.

▶️ The AI discussions continue, and Tom Capper shares his thoughts on why you might want to block AI bots on your publications when you don’t want to block them, and what this might mean as this technology continues to grow. Worth a read here!

▶️ Want to get into the weeds on SaaS content marketing strategies? Of course, you do! Our friends at Optimist met with Jess Joyce, who walks through her exact strategies working with 51+ SaaS companies over the past 15 years and she delivers! Watch the video here!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

What a week! I am still deeply saddened to see my fellow publishers struggling with traffic in this post-Google apocalypse. We haven’t even begun to see all the ripple effects in other sectors of our industry either.

And yet, the extreme optimist in me is also excited about what’s next.

I’m seeing a lot of scrappy publishers quickly pivot and discover new traffic streams.

We’re thinking about traffic, our publications, and businesses in a new light. I’m also seeing a lot of opportunities to use the content publishing playbooks with new partners; after all, we’ve pushed ourselves for years to make great content.

Of course, we’re still at the beginning of this turnaround in our biz, but I’ll keep you posted.

Until next week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

What a week in content and SEO!

I just got back from a whirlwind digital business leader retreat in Mexico, and it feels like I missed a month of happenings in the SEO and content space, so let’s unpack some of that here today, shall we?

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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Is The March Core Update Done Yet?

The ongoing, running joke from Glenn Gabe and other SEOs who monitor these updates these days is: Are we done yet?

We are now 46 days into these Core Google Updates, and we’re not done yet. Does this mean that there’s still hope for sites hit with HCU to recover?

Perhaps. But, I wouldn’t hold your breath.

While there may be a lot of volatility and movement happening right now, we still haven’t seen any major recoveries (at least not publicly).

Twitter tweet

This understandably frustrates many small publishers.

We’re at the part in a Feudal System where the peasants are fighting.

We have seen the writing on the wall. Google doesn’t care about the collateral damage. They’ve chosen their Barons and Knights (Reddit, The Big 16) and we’re left to deal with the scraps.

This feels familiar these days, huh?

This isn’t the Google and search landscape I signed up for, and we’ve just started to see the ramifications of where this new world will take us.

I’ve been trying to keep tabs on all the industry happenings and discussions this week while I’ve been in Mexico, and oh boy, there’s still a lot going on!

To summarize:

Luke Jordan discusses how Google has destroyed his business in this Tweet. 

The industry wants some explanation.

We want a level playing system once again.

I think the message from Jon Miksis encapsulates how many of us are feeling:

Twitter tweet

This entire ecosystem is in flux right now, and I’m seeing a lot of infighting among the peasants.

If you want to get caught up in this week in SEO, you’ll want to catch the latest from Niche Pursuits. There’s a lot to unpack here:

Twitter tweet

As someone who is deeply passionate about this industry, it pains me to think that half of SEO Twitter is infighting. I’m not going to share the many, many examples of what’s happening here, but I don’t see this slowing down anytime soon.

It’s what happens when you’re in a feudal state, after all.

So, what do we do now?

Action Steps: A Good Analysis of What’s Happening in SEO Right Now

This week, between long, relaxing Mexican dinners with some of the best people on the planet, I discovered this recent dissection of analysis from Eric Lancheres.

If you really want to go into the weeds on what’s happening right now, this is an in-depth read and thoughtful analysis.

I know that we’re not officially done with this March Core Update just yet, but Eric's questions, review, and assessment are worth your time.

Google March 2024 Core Update - Review, Analysis and Recovery - On-Page.ai

Full March Core Update report by Eric Lancheres. Includes important information, analysis, experiments, charts, theories and recovery information.

on-page.ai/pages/google-march-2024-core-update

Some of the things I find really interesting in this analysis are Eric’s updates on what an updated Successful Ranking Model may look like:

This correlates with much of what we’ve already been discussing internally at our company, including how we need to build multiple touchpoints with our content to grow our audiences.

As Eric mentions:

“Here we can clearly see how social media drives traffic to the "resource section" of the site (depicted in blue), which then increases the overall site user metrics. Once the site reaches a certain engagement level, Google begins to drive traffic to all the articles on the site.”

Yet again, another reminder that there’s lots of work to do to grow a digital publication.

Another conclusion that I agree with (and have had many heated discussions with my fellow SEO and content friends over).

This is not just a content problem.

If we could make our content more helpful and suddenly get rankings, I would feel way more optimistic about our future in the Google/search landscape, but as Eric states:

“It appears as if having good articles might not be enough if you're relying entirely on Google visitors. Some affiliate sites had decent content and were still penalized.”

This conclusion is a relief from what I know to be true, but I take no solace in others’ coming to these same conclusions.

There’s much to be done, and we’ll continue to unpack these things here.

How to Make the Most of A Multitude of Counsellors

The view from the top, in Mexico!

This past week, I spent five glorious days with some of the best and brightest digital business leaders.

Now, the real work begins.

You see, it’s not enough to just show up, network, and attend the sessions. You have to take real action and do the work when you get back to your desk.

So, that’s where I’m spending my day.

I know that this excited, go-get-em energy won’t last for long UNLESS I put in the work to really document, track and take real actions on all the learnings I have received this week.

I love this framework from my friend Andrew Amann, who created this matrix to record, document, and take appropriate action on everything he’s learned.

The results.

40 pieces of advice tracked.

3.3 million earned from taking action on this advice.

That’s how you take advantage of a group of counselors, and you don’t have to wait to attend your next in-person event to implement this matrix, either. If you’ve read a few newsletters, you can keep track of the advice you want to take action on in this really simple, clearly defined way.

I would encourage everyone wanting to level up their business and life to try this.

You can learn more about this approach here:

Earning $3,304,011 from 40 Pieces of Advice from the Rhodium Network

I was on the hot seat for 2 hours, faced my biggest internal fears, and earned $3,304,011 for NineTwoThree Studio with the advice from members of Rhodium. In March of 2023 NineTwoThree was looking at a downturn.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/earning-3304011-from-40-pieces-advice-rhodium-network-andrew-amann-ip5ye

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Reddit is taking over Google, and the regular folks are noticing as well. Will this dominance continue? Read this article to get caught up on the discussions happening here.

▶️ The Animalz team has pulled together a great resource on their favorite content marketing resources. Check it out here!

▶️ There’s a lot of buzz right now about Google Discover. If you want a quick, introduction to Google Discover, this guide is a great start!

▶️ As more of us are focused on email marketing, we can’t forget the basics, i.e.) email deliverablity. Here’s a smart, comprehensive guide. Worth a read here!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

I am so excited to be back at my desk today. After my trip to Mexico, I’ve got a lot to unpack—and I don’t just mean my suitcase!

Looking forward to another great week in content. See you next week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

This week, I’m celebrating the fact that the Content Forward newsletter here on Beehiiv has been going strong for one year!

This has been a year for the books in content marketing & SEO for sure.

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One Year of Content Forward!

We’ve been through it this year, haven’t we?

Google updates, the Helpful Content Update, spam attacks, content goblins and alligator parties, niche site publisher shakedown…

It’s been a rough wild ride in content and SEO.

I’m so happy you’ve all been here every week to hear all about it.

This weekly end-of-week ritual of sharing my ramblings, deep dives, and strategies has kept me focused, and I am forever grateful for it.

I’ve been trying to think of a clever, special way to celebrate this milestone, but I keep coming back to the realization that this year has just been a smackdown, and perhaps we can just celebrate the fact that we’re still here.

Looking back a year ago feels like looking back on a decade.

When I wrote the first Content Forward newsletter, I was eagerly, yet cautiously optimistic about where we were headed with content and SEO.

A year ago, we were starting to see the effects on our industry from AI, the macro-economic shifts, and the ever-increasing ‘sameness’ that was SEO content.

I, like many of you, craved a new content playbook.

That’s why I shared this article from Jason Mountford, called F*ck Keywords. Write Barbecue Content.

F*ck Keywords. Write Barbecue Content.

Say goodbye to keywords and sizzle up your barbecue content! Our blog post explores a fresh approach to creating mouthwatering content that engages & delights.

hedgecontent.com/blog/fck-keywords-write-barbecue-content

I love how Jason calls this out:

Here we are one year later, and I agree, with one caveat — SEO is a much riskier place to focus all of our content marketing resources.

I love this idea of barbecue content as a more holistic content marketing approach. Moving forward in 2024, I want to implement strategies that:

• Serve our audience and solve problems that they are thinking about in fresh ways (opinions, information gain, stronger points of view, yes to ALL of this, please!)

• Emphasize better distribution strategies (Google isn’t the only way to get eyeballs. It may not even be the best platform for your audience. Where are they already hanging out?)

• Gives our publications a seat at the thought-leader table instead of trying to keep up, copy, or mimic what’s already happening in a fickle search landscape.

So, as we celebrate this one-year milestone of Content Forward, I guess you could say that I’m still optimistic about where our industry is headed.

Yes. There have been some painful lessons along the way, but I still believe that authentic, say-something-new content is becoming even more important right now in this AI, mass content conveyor belt world.

Looking back is fun, sure, but I really try not to get bogged down in the “I wish I could have done this…” narrative.

So, this retrospect got me thinking…

What if we could make decisions better moving forward?

Looking back, it’s easy to say… we should have done this, or I wish we had started this sooner… but unless time travel is possible, that’s just wishful thinking at this point.

We all have decisions in life we wish we had made differently. It’s no different in business, but it doesn’t help us to look back in regret on any of it.

But, what if we made our decisions going forward a bit differently?

What if we imagined the ‘bad outcome’ or things we may regret before we made a decision? This kind of thinking is a game-changer.

I love this idea of preemptive regret decision-making —of choosing to think through what could go wrong before we make a decision that we may regret.

But, what does this look like in real life?

I like to think of this as a framework where I ask myself:

If I choose Decision A vs Decision B, can I live with Decision A if everything goes tits up?

What do we have to lose?

Nobody can predict the future of our decisions, so maybe the real question is, can we live with this decision if it doesn’t work out?

This morning, I was discussing an update to one of our websites with my editor. We were weighing the risks and outcomes of what a revamp and overhaul to the site might look like.

In the end, my thinking is — even if we make major updates, what do we really have to lose?

The site has lost traffic as is. We won’t lose traffic to the internal pages where people are finding us.

We need to test something new.

The possible updates and focus shifts may bring in new opportunities, or they may fall flat. I can live with that.

If the level of ‘regret’ is going to be too catastrophic for you to handle, it’s time to rethink that decision BEFORE you make it.

This strategy is actually quite fun and freeing when you’re starting something new. Try it sometime! Let me know how it goes.

Okay, to celebrate one year of doing this around here, I want to reshare some of my personal favorite editions.

These are not the ‘top’ newsletters, but they are my faves.

3 of My Fave Content Forward Issues to Reread at the One Year Mark

Here’s What You Absolutely Need to Thrive in Content Today

I give some real deal advice for all of us in content here. TL;DR - Build a community of supportive people around you. I get into who I think those people are. I am 100% grateful that I have these people on my journey, too.

How to Side Hustle Smarter

Many of us are side-hustling this year. Testing new ideas is fun, but how can we decide where we put our energy? I share some tips here. Now, that I think about this, I may need a refresher on this too!

Unpacking Google’s Questionable Alliances

The future of the internet content ecosystem is changing in real-time. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and we are still seeing our beloved search landscape erode with dangerous spam, questionable love for Reddit, and small publishers left in the dust.

Yes. As an SEO, I, too, have believed in Google's promises of a better day and a better search environment. There is still a part of me that hopes for this, but that week, it really hit me—Google is really changing the entire search landscape, and they have broken the unspoken covenant that we, as content creators, had for many years. It is a new day whether we like it or not.

Isn’t it Time We Celebrate the Screw Ups that Got Us Here?

We often hear about big swings, big misses, and ultimate failures wrapped up in a narrative where the hero ultimately thrives, but what if we just celebrated…?

• Trying something new

• Taking big swings (whether we win or we lose)

• Daring to have big dreams and tell people about them

• The hard work in building something new

• Learning along the way

• The messiness and chaos that comes when you try to level up

• The boldness it takes just to try

I am so down for this! We don’t need to wait until those big risks completely pay off to tell our stories; we can and should celebrate the amazingly wonderful screw-ups, missteps, and try-hards along the way as well!

That’s why I love that The Failure Ball exists and that it’s back for another year. You can buy tickets or apply to speak and share your massive mess-ups with a crowd.

I have supported this event in the past but never made it to Denver to enjoy the festivities. This year, I think I may have to add this one to my list of must-have events. If you want to go, reply to this email and let me know — maybe we can have a Content Forward meet up in real life?

I am not being sponsored in any way to promote this event. I love what Jess and her team are doing and have been following this event and mission for years. Check it out here!

The Failure Ball | Denver Charity Gala & National Mental Health Nonprofit

The Failure Ball is a black-tie charity gala created to celebrate screw ups in the name of suicide prevention. Join us October 12th in Denver, Colorado for an evening of networking, cocktails, snacks, and live speeches glamorizing our biggest fails. This evening is for every single person who’s ever

thefailureball.com

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Jimmy Daly of Superpath reflects on a tough year and his thoughts on where content marketing is. What’s next for him? Find out here.

▶️ Lily Ray released a new video on the cycles of Algorithm updates, the state of SEO as she sees it today, and gives some good insights on what she’s seen in the past decade or so in SEO. Worth a watch here!

▶️ Evaluating the ROI in content isn’t as easy as you think it is, but Ryan Law breaks it down in this in-depth guide here. Read it here!

▶️ Hiring is so broken already — is the future of job searching in an AI world, a bot that fills job applications for you while you sleep? Get the lowdown on this ‘strategy’ and tool here.

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

That’s it for this week. Tomorrow morning, I’m on my way to sunny Mexico for a digital business retreat. We’ll be having some seriously fun roundtables and Lightning Talks poolside.

Lots to talk about this year, that’s for sure!

Have a great week!

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

I’ve had a tough week. I suspect that I’m not completely alone when I say that it is a tough time to be in content right now. If this is you, know that it’s not just you. We’re all feeling it.

We’ll get into my thoughts…

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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A Reminder. We Don’t Have to Do This Alone

For the past few years, I’ve prioritized connecting with other creatives in my professional life. I’ve attended a few events, joined some great Slack groups and communities, and built some amazing relationships.

Working in the digital realm can be quite lonely at times.

While having a fully remote role is great for so many reasons, the reality is that, for the most part, it’s just me sitting behind my computer, trying to take on the world one step at a time.

I am one of the lucky ones in this industry who has found meaningful work over the years. I’ve met some incredible people digitally who have become real-life friends, colleagues, and confidantes for life.

When I started my career, I could never have imagined this would be my life. And that I would be surrounded by so much support in a digital world.

The past few months have been brutal for many of us in SEO and content as we’ve had to pivot. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It’s been a bonafide shit show and I’ve discussed the many, many reasons this is happening in this publication before.

And, yet, many of us are still here, logging into our computers every day trying to figure things out. We are a resilient bunch, us creative types, aren’t we?

So, if there’s one thing I want you to do this week, it’s this:

Find your people.

Build a community if you don’t have one.

Join a new community in your niche.

Reach out to a few people and get some coffee chats on the books.

We don’t have to take this journey alone.

People want to connect. This week, I joined a new What’s App chat for freelancers + those looking for new gigs. In just one week, the group has grown from just a few people to over 230 (and growing).

Every day, people in this small group share new opportunities, offer tips, or just provide a sounding board for others struggling to navigate the challenges of finding a new gig.

I love to see this!

Moving Content Forward: We Got This!

This week, I do not want to discuss Google updates, SEO, or the ongoing war between in-house SEOs, SEO experts, and niche site owners.

The reality is we cannot change Google.

I do not want to spend what little resources and energy I have trying to figure out Google’s next move. There is still much to do.

I echo another creator, Morgan’s sentiments for all of us here:

“And so, fair or not, our only option is to pivot. Pivot our traffic and our business. Also pivot our income and start new non-Google dependent businesses.

Focus on where the market is rewarding creators versus where they have a foot on our heads.

Every minute I spend fighting Google I might gain and inch, I might gain nothing at all. Maybe a few Twitter followers.

Every minute I spend putting my effort into companies and platforms that are rewarding creators I gain a mile.”

You can read Morgan's entire tweet here.

If you are in this industry right now, you will have to dig deep. We will have to collectively decide to be there for each other, value our craft as creators, and find a new path forward.

I enjoyed this take from Ashley Cummings on the state of content right now. She echoes many of the discussions I’ve been having lately. Like Ashley, I’m hoping that we figure things out in 2024

Twitter tweet

In the meantime, what is keeping me going is knowing that I’m not alone in this. If you’re reading this newsletter, know you have a friend in me here. I’m always down for a chat. Just reply. I’d love to hear from you!

No, It’s Not Just You. Things are Weird Right Now for Everyone

There has been a lot of chatter in many of the groups I’m in about clients not getting back to people, projects taking a long time to push through, and being ghosted when asking for approvals.

I’ve noticed it as well.

If you’ve been in the freelance/digital space or work in an agency, we’ve seen these things before.

Here are some reasons this may be happening (and what we can do about it):

We’re starting to feel the effects of companies downsizing.

Many of us are working with fewer resources. We still have projects that need to be completed, but we may not have the team to implement them. This is usually when many companies hire contractors or freelancers, but I suspect that even those budgets are tightening right now.

So, companies are cutting back, and work isn’t getting done as quickly as usual.

My advice: If you are feeling the slowdown working with clients or companies, just be patient. Things like this are usually cyclical. Yes, follow up when needed, but giving a little extra wiggle room and time right now is okay.

A lot of companies are not used to working with freelancers or contractors.

It can seem like an easy switch to go from working with an in-house team, to working with contractors, but it isn’t as easy as plug-and-play.

Many contractors and freelancers are used to juggling many clients - freelancers are quick to communicate and can work independently to complete a task. Some companies are not used to the asynchronous nature of working like this.

My advice: Teach people how to treat you. Overcommunicate and deliver what you can on your end. Give clear directives on what you are delivering and what they need to do for you to deliver.

People are trying to build the plane while the plane is flying.

It can be tough for any industry when change is happening so rapidly. Some of us are changing direction weekly.

What was critical last month may not be a priority this month.

I know this is super frustrating.

I’m sure I’ve frustrated a few writers and contractors because we’ve had to suddenly re-prioritize something.

My advice: Ask questions. It’s okay to ask if this project is still a priority. Try not to take it personally if a project is suddenly de-prioritized. Just ask what else you can do to help!

People may just be checked out, overwhelmed, and burnt out.

For many years, we hustled hard in this company. As we scaled and grew, there was a dynamic energy that can be really energizing for some.

Today, we are taking a more deliberate approach. There is inherently a lot less fury and action.

For those who thrive on scaling, growing, and having lots to do, suddenly facing a ‘blank page’ can be tough.

I’ve seen it many times.

Not everyone can quickly adjust to a new way of working. Solo-creating is so different than creating with a team, for example.

For all of these reasons and more, people can momentarily check out, get overwhelmed, or plain ole’ burn out.

Burnout comes in many forms. I wish we talked about this a lot more as creatives.

We are all intrinsically motivated differently. Burnout doesn’t just happen because we work long hours. It usually happens when we feel intrinsically demotivated by our work.

My advice: Take some time to assess your feelings. Be open to discussing these things with your team. Listen. Sometimes, all we need is a few days away from the office. Sometimes, we may need a bit of clarity or a new, more focused approach to a project we’re working on.

Yes. Things feel a bit off for many of us right now. Acknowledging this and having a forum to communicate our current challenges helps me. I hope this helps you all as well!

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ The freelance life isn’t for everyone. In this article, Jo Juliana Turnbull shares some insights on managing the loneliness, downturns, and challenges of freelancing. Read it here!

▶️ Are Google results still getting worse? Here’s a deep dive from The Washington Post, worth a read!

▶️ Gaming has been hit hard with the latest Google updates, and it looks like even great publications like Retro Dodo, trying to do all the right things, are caught in the crossfire. You can read Brandon’s raw thoughts in this article here.

▶️ Need some great advice on how to manage frustrations at work? Yes! Check out the latest SEO Mindset Podcast with Tazmin and Sarah for some tips on how to keep our emotions in check. Listen here!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

Thank you all for being here. I’ll be back next week with my usual deep dives. One of the things I am working on is investigating all of the new remote and freelance job boards. I will report back on my findings soon.

Have a great week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

It’s a long weekend, but I’m still here sharing the latest updates.

But first, a word from our sponsor. If you haven’t downloaded the Hubspot State of the Marketing report, here is your chance.

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The Biggest Losers, SGE, Is AI Okay?

We are still officially in Google's March 2024 Core Update, and we’re not seeing many changes for the better.

If you want a decent overview of what’s happened so far and who the biggest losers are in these updates, you can check out the Amsive team's report here.

The Biggest Losers: Gaming and Travel

It looks as though the gaming and travel niches have been hit the hardest in these latest updates.

First, let’s talk a bit about what’s happening in travel, shall we?

Google has destroyed a lot of really great travel sites with these updates. I’m talking about the sites where the writers are actually in these locations, taking authentic images, sharing real world experiences…

All the things Google says they want from travel.

These are the sites that Google has been scraping and using to train its AI as well.

Now, Google is releasing SGE for a few beta members and it’s spewing out generic advice that is often factually wrong.

Make this make sense.

Check out this Tweet from Nate Hake to see what’s happening.

Gaming is another vertical that seems to be one of the biggest losers in these latest updates. But, who is winning?

Of course, the biggest gaming sites are seeing some gains. Also, Reddit and forums are taking over the SERPs.

But, it’s a bit of a head scratcher to really dive into what Google is showing right now for gaming sites.

Sites that were hit in previous review updates are suddenly seeing surges. Unless these sites did some major overhauls and revisions to their content, writing teams, this doesn’t add up. Shouldn’t Google be getting better with each update?

Twitter tweet

And, now we have something else to think about again — SGE (Search Generative Experience). How will AI results in the SERPs actually help users?

So, far, the SGE experiments are not great.

Google’s SGE is a Hot Mess: Will they keep pushing it anyway?

Right now, SGE is default for some US based users and so far, the results are not great. Right now, Google’s SGE results are loaded with spammy results that are frustrating users.

There are countless discussions on Twitter (or X) right now:

Twitter tweet

We don’t really know the full effect this will have on the SERPs, or on brands in SEO, but the discussions continue.

AI in Content Creation — A Game of Whack-a-Mole?

A few years ago, I asked one of our most talented, expert writers to help out with some rewrites for one of our sites.

We had been testing out a few newer writers, and they weren’t really up to snuff.

Since we paid for the content in these articles, I was hoping that a great wordsmith + talented expert could just come in and tweak them in order to get them publish-ready.

So, I sent them over to this writer to get a cost estimate on how long it would take to just tweak and rewrite some sections.

The writer reviewed the articles and let me know that it would cost us more to have them tweak, rewrite, and get them publish-ready than it would be for us to just have the talented/expert writer start from scratch.

So, we did just that.

Yes. I could have gotten an editor to ‘give it a go,’ but I trusted this writer's expertise. She informed me that there would be a lot of necessary fact-checking and reworking of the organizational structure. Okay, it was much more than just a few tweaks.

But at a quick glance, I, someone who did not have the expertise or subject matter knowledge, couldn’t see that this was more than an editing exercise.

I think about this encounter a lot these days as many publishers are still experimenting with AI in their content creation processes.

And it reminds me of an old saying that I’ve learned over and over again in my life…

Sometimes, the cheap comes out the most expensive.

If you are using AI in your content creation to save a few bucks, hoping that reducing the cost of creation (writers, subject matter experts) will improve your margins, think again.

I like to think of this as a game of whack-a-mole. You may save some money in one part of the creation process, but sure enough, you will have to spend in another part of the process.

That is, If you care about quality.

Let’s break this down a bit more, shall we?

As you can see in this chart, saving costs in creating the content ends up costing exponentially more as you move through the workflow.

Of course, this is a simplification of one part of the content creation process, but it’s important.

I think a lot of publishers who use writers are still super curious to see how AI can help save them money. While I do feel that AI can be used in parts of the content creation process, we do our content (and budgets) a disservice if we think it can 100% replace a writer or subject matter expert.

If you don’t use experts, you will have falsehoods and hallucinations. AI isn’t as fantastic as we think it should be, and using AI requires a much different skill set than writing well.

I don’t think writers or editors are particularly fond of AI creeping into their realms either. Does it really save money? Time?

I still think AI can contribute to creating great content, but it cannot completely replace a writer or subject matter expert. If you want to dig deeper, I wrote about all the ways AI can support content creation in this previous newsletter.

So, what’s a writer or editor to do in these times when publishers and companies are experimenting with AI (despite all the issues we’ve discussed)?

I think there will still be some roles for creatives that AI will not easily replace, and I’m really excited about these new opportunities in our world.

I get into these a lot more in this newsletter, but here’s one role I’m really excited about these days…

The Community Manager: The Content Role We Can’t Sleep On

I’m hearing a lot about building communities these days. I think we’re going to see a lot more publishers, brands, and companies put some real effort into this.

With so many touchpoints, platforms, and ways people can find us online, our connection to our most dedicated fans can get lost in the shuffle.

For far too long, we have relied on very transactional relationships with our readers. They look something up, find a resource, get their answers, and then either buy something or bounce.

Having a dedicated community, a place where your most dedicated fans can hang out, learn, and connect with other fans is worth way more than a fly-by-night transactional audience.

But what makes a great community?

For me, it all starts with those founding members and a fantastic Community Manager. Someone who can lead the charge, engage in more meaningful discussions, and have that disarming charm that makes others want to join.

Great Community Managers are also subject matter experts. I think this is an exciting role in content and I predict we’ll see more opportunities for roles like this in the future as well.

It’s Time for a New Content Playbook, But Who is Going to Lead the Charge?

This week, in a LinkedIn post, Jimmy Daly, of CEO of Superpath, asked:

Who’s writing the new content playbook?

He goes on to say,

I couldn’t agree more! As we break free from Google Search's chokehold and start to really realize that user journeys are non-linear, we can begin to find new ways to serve our people.

Indie media often gets to lead the charge at figuring out new content playbooks and these times are no different.

As painful as the past few months have been for me and my team, I believe we are long overdue for a shakeup in digital content creation, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

In the meantime, we’ll keep experimenting and figuring out some new playbooks.

🤔 Content Musings of the Week

❤️ I don’t think perfect grammar is as important these days in content. Human creativity is imperfect. In our overly polished, AI world, maybe it’s better to be 100% authentic, imperfect and human?

💎 Curiosity is something I always look for when hiring. I’d rather hire a curious person than a knowledgable one. Curiousity leads to new solutions. Knowledge brings proven solutions. Both are important, but if I had to choose, I’d choose the curious.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ Glen Allsopp’s latest Detailed Q3 Report is out, jam-packed with the biggest winners in the current media landscape, detailed analysis, and much, much more. Bookmark this and read it soon! 

▶️ Kevin Indig breaks down the conflicting advice we get from Google, and talks about how we’ve relied too heavily on search metrics to serve our people in this article here.

▶️ If you’ve been following the career of Moz founder Rand Fishkin, you’ll want to listen to this interview, where he breaks down the pitfalls & real-life lessons of getting VC funding. Listen here!

▶️ It is so important to back up your decisions with data. Want a mini refresher on how to look at the data for SEO? Sara Taher has you covered in this guide. Check it out!

▶️ The Verge is back talking about why AI search engines can’t kill Google. Do you agree? Read this article and let me know what you think!

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

Thank you for joining me again this week. This weekend is a holiday weekend, so I’m going to try to get some family time in. I may also polish off a few chocolate treats from my mother-in-law in England.

UK chocolate is the best. If you know, you know.

See you all next week.

Cheers! Amy

P.S.) Did you know that we have a service to help you find the best content teams on the planet? We rigoursly search for real deal subject matter experts, evaluate writing samples, and find great talent for companies that want to do content better. If you’re interested, check out the Content Teams site or reply to this email and send me a note.

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com

Hello, fellow content peeps!

There is still a lot of turmoil in the SEO/content world right now. We’ll get into that, but I’ve also got some tips for freelancers here this week.

But first, a word from our sponsor.

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Google Updates: The Harsh Truth. There are NO Recoveries from the Helpful Content Update

It’s been six months since Google rolled out the Helpful Content Update, which demoted many smaller indie publishers and content websites in the SERPs.

Many of these site owners and publishers have been improving their sites in the past six months.

I know many site owners who have been doing all the things that Google and other industry SEO leaders recommend:

• Removing unhelpful content

• Improving UX and offering a better user experience for the reader

• Updating content

• Making sure all the EEAT recommendations are followed

Just to name a few things.

For six months, we’ve waited for another core update to correct the wrongs. If our sites didn’t see some turnarounds, surely someone, anyone, would have done ‘all the things’ and figured out a way to recover a site.

Nope. ZERO recoveries.

Twitter tweet

Well, my friends. I really don’t want to be the one still talking about this.

I’m tired of Google having such a chokehold on our industry.

In the past decade that I’ve been working in SEO and content, I’ve never seen anything like this.

What message does Google want to send to publishers if there is ZERO chance that their site will recover?

I really wish this wasn’t the reality of what we’re dealing with as publishers right now.

I know that there are entire sectors of our industry that are not feeling this pain right now, namely:

• Ecommerce sites

• Big brands

• SaaS sites

• Services

So yes. If you have a legit business in front of your content and are a big brand or legacy publisher (Sports Illustrated, Forbes), you play by a different set of rules.

I know. I know.

We’re still officially in this update. Things may change. But, I’m not holding my breath.

I’ve seen too much.

Time to Act: What are publishers doing now?

A few notable industry leaders in the blogging and publishing sphere have joined forces to create a collective non-profit association, the Web Publishers Association, to hopefully inspire change.

They are looking for members and maybe this might be the move forward the industry needs. There are great resources available for all those who join as well.

Tony Hill shares his thoughts on this here:

Twitter tweet

I love the indie media community so much. Many of us have spent years honing our craft, and we care a lot about our content and audiences.

There have been a ton of shifts in publishing over the years, but I still believe in the little guy.

Let’s pivot a bit for now, shall we?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the unsung heroes in our industry—the freelancers. I know many of you reading this newsletter are freelancers, and it’s time to show you some love, right?

Some Freelance Pitfalls to Avoid (Hiring or Looking for New Opportunities)

I absolutely love the freelance life.

I’ve hired a ton of amazing freelancers over the years.

Now, with the job market in flux and our industry experiencing major shifts (AI, macro economy), many are turning to the wild world of freelance work to either take on side work or hire amazing part-time talent.

And that is fantastic!

But not all freelance opportunities are created equally, and I want to share a couple of pitfalls to avoid that I’ve been seeing recently:

Companies hire full-time ‘freelance’ writers to avoid the W-2 classifications.

There have been a ton of freelance job postings floating around these days that really should be W-2 employees.

Why does this matter?

Misclassification hurts freelancers and can have real consequences for companies as well.

It is a slippery slope for a freelancer to commit to a ‘full-time’ role, without the flexibility that contractors should command.

Contractors should be able to work with other clients, control their own schedules and working environment, and they are responsible for paying their taxes.

If you are new to freelancing or just hiring freelancers, it’s good to understand these classifications. There are also different rules for hiring contractors in different countries to be aware of.

People advertising for freelance jobs that do not exist!

I’ve seen this a lot recently in my LinkedIn feed: Someone announces that they are hiring. The post says, ‘DM me’ or leave a comment if you know of someone great.

Only, the person who posted it cannot be reached.

It’s just another case of people using the popular ‘we’re hiring’ posts on LinkedIn to increase engagement and followers. Because they all follow the same script, you can usually spot these fairly quickly.

It’s infuriating for freelancers and it gives those of us who are actually hiring writers pause when posting our opportunities publicly.

These are just a couple of pitfalls to avoid in freelancing these days, but let’s talk about where some of the opportunities are in freelancing now!

The Best Places to Find New Freelance Opportunities

I originally posted this advice in an internal writers' newsletter for our writers, but I thought it would be good to reshare this here with some additional resources!

If you are looking for some additional freelance opportunities, here are some great places to expand your search:

1. LinkedIn Jobs

We love posting new writing jobs on LinkedIn and have found some really quality candidates here. Use LinkedIn to your advantage by setting up some industry and job search term alerts so you get the jobs in your feed as soon as they are posted.

Pro tip: Ignore the number of candidates reported by LinkedIn as well. This number just reflects the number of people who clicked the job, not who applied.

Even if there are hundreds of applications, if the job is a good fit for your skills, apply! We've received hundreds of applications for writing roles, but quickly narrow that down to less than 5% of qualified candidates who actually fill out the application form.

I also included a tip on how to find hidden job opportunities on LinkedIn in a past newsletter. Check that out here!

2. Superpath Job Board / Slack Group

I love what the Superpath team is doing to help content creators! The job board is quickly becoming an industry go-to for companies that want to hire exceptional writers and editors. The Slack group is an active community where you can connect with other writers and editors as well.

Pro tip: Writers who apply through Superpath tend to be more professional copywriters and often apply at higher than industry rates. You'll be competing with more generalists there, so lean in with your niche and demonstrate quality writing abilities to stand out.

You can check out the Superpath job board here: https://jobs.superpath.co/

3. Industry-Specific Slack Groups

While not every niche has a dedicated Slack group, many do. You can do a quick Google search to find these groups. I happen to love the Women in Tech SEO Slack group, which has an active freelancer community. Members often post new roles and opportunities here first before publicly sharing.

4. X, Formerly Known as Twitter

There is a strong community of freelancers on Twitter to connect with. People often reach out to their Twitter followers with new opportunities first before posting a job. I have seen jobs for all kinds of writers, editors, and video editors posted on Twitter. If you haven't been there in a while, maybe it's time that you come back.

Pro tip: Google loves Twitter and will display your Twitter account in the SERPs when you search for your name. Update your Twitter info and tell the world who you are, and what you love to write about, and recruiters might reach out to you. I've done that to find writers!

5. Binders Groups on Facebook

Did you know that there are many dedicated Facebook groups to help women and non-gender-conforming writers and editors who want to find more opportunities? There are Binders Facebook groups for entry-level writers and editors, and many of them have rules for posting new jobs that include minimum rates. Many of them aggregate job postings from around the web, saving you time on your search!

If you are hiring writers, you can also post in many of these groups as well.

You can do a Facebook group search to find more, but here are some examples:

Binders full of Entry Level Content Writers & Jobs

Binders full of Finance and Investment Writers

There are also Facebook groups dedicated to writers as well:

Writers Helping Writers

7. Email Newsletters

We get a lot of applications lately from aggregated newsletters that scour the web for writing roles and then share it in a newsletter. One of the more popular ones is from Kaitlyn Arford, who shares over 100 job opportunities each week.

You can sign up for her newsletter and get some helpful freelance writing resources. Two of my personal faves:

Freelance Opportunities: Kaitlyn Arford has been helping brave freelancers for a few years now and curates one of the best job posting newsletters out there!

Freelance Framework: Chris does a great job aggregating and finding new freelance roles. He shares all types of roles as well.

8. Remote Job Boards

As remote work grows in popularity, so do the remote job boards. If you are looking for some new freelance opportunities, try the remote job boards.

Here are some to try:

remote.co -- They have a section for remote writing jobs here.

flexjobs.com -- There are currently over 5000 writing jobs posted here.

weworkremotely.com -- There are not as many writing roles here, but there are some content roles. Worth a look!

Freelance Writing Job Board — This is a job board dedicated to freelance writing roles, worth checking out.

Bonus tip: Bonnie Dibler has some amazing resources on her Stan Store, with a list of her fave remote job boards as well. Check it out here!

9. Other Freelancers

Another way to find new writing opportunities is to connect with your fellow freelancers. We hire a ton of writers from referrals. Connect with other writers and ask if they have any clients who are hiring.

Subject matter experts tend to stick together, so make sure you build a great network of people in your niche as well. Most new freelance opportunities never make it to the job board because they find an internal candidate or referral candidate.

I hope these tips are helpful for you. If you are looking to hire some freelance talent right now, know that there is a lot of talent out there!

🤔 Content Musings of the Week

❤️ Caring about your craft matters. It's what gives you the edge when the chips are down. Keep caring.

💁It's okay to say, " I don't know." Most of us are just figuring things out as we go.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ What differentiates one SEO from another? Soft skills. That’s what Eli Schwartz discusses in this piece on The Mindset Shift that Unlocks SEO Success — it’s a great read!

▶️ There is always something new to learn in SEO. Check out what we missed at the Women in Tech SEO Fest in this article here.

▶️ The media landscape is not all doom and gloom these days. There are a handful of digital media startups that are finding success. Check out this NY Times article to find out more!

▶️ Having issues with Google Search Console? It’s not just you. The super smart Gianna Brachetti-Truskawa, Product Manager, breaks down some of the most frustrating parts of using Google Search Console in this in-depth guide. Read it here! 

Check out the Venture 4th Media Job Board! These are the roles we’re actively hiring for.

We never post roles we don’t need to fill.

Check it out!

Thank you for joining me here again this week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy:

Niche Media Publishing

News & Views On Online Media Publishing

Subscribe

MarTech Toolkit

Discover & Implement marketing tech in your business.

Subscribe

Content Bites

Free, weekly content marketing strategies from top 1% content marketers. Tactics, templates, examples, & case studies you can steal & use immediately.

Subscribe

Freelance Opportunities!

Handpicked, exclusive freelance opportunities twice weekly

Subscribe

Affiliate Insider | Ewen Finser | Substack

An affiliate industry newsletter dedicated to sharing resources, best practices, and news to support the PUBLISHER side of the story. Click to read Affiliate Insider, by Ewen Finser, a Substack publication. Launched 6 months ago.

affiliateinsider.substack.com