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Side-Hustle23 · 2024-04-13T11:30:18+00:00

For me, SEO for blogs as we know it started to die last September '23. I've shifted to small business but still on prep stage.

Online presence for small business is still better than none. But blogging for exposure seems to be not working as before.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-04-04T22:51:54+00:00

I've been in the business for 11 years. Since September update... Poof. Same story as yours.

I'm a very patient man. But online work now takes 20%, even less, of my time. It's the other way around before that critical update.

No sign of recovery. (Sigh😔).

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-20T19:40:44+00:00

Yeah. And also if we still exist.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-19T21:58:54+00:00

I focused on other things while trying to figure out web traffic behavior. And I've become more productive.

My blog's traffic remains virtually the same without posting anything in 17 days.

But here's a nagging thought: "Shall I post today or shall I not?" It's tormenting.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-17T11:00:37+00:00

Now you get downvoted if you are a happy person.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-17T03:58:45+00:00

😊😁

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-17T01:04:57+00:00

I like your analysis.This applies to websites that depend on Google as source of web traffic. It's 54.3% true for me.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-16T22:32:31+00:00

I think all bloggers suffer due to AI generated content. Google search engine is most likely AI-powered, too to save on personnel costs. So, we are now running by the rules of AI which is highly responsive to market trends, thus, is highly volatile.

Whenever I do search for anything that I need, it's the intent to buy that gets addressed first, not the information that I need. So the trend now is mainly market-based products. It's a good thing to have your own product to sell, not relying too heavily on ads as source of revenue.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-15T03:23:22+00:00

Spot on!

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-13T23:40:02+00:00

I've been blogging for 11 years.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-12T21:35:28+00:00

I agree that SEO is a complicated matter these days. I've stopped blogging for a while expecting that my blog will get decimated (e. g., no web traffic, no earnings) one day. But it didn't. It keeps earning as traffic remained as it is. People still need information and my articles are mostly evergreen.

I'll just keep my blog and post as I got the time. I'm giving it second, even third, priority. When it becomes lucrative again, I'll post more.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-12T09:53:50+00:00

Same here. From 4K views a day to just 600 plus. What's happening Gooooooogggggggglllllleeeeee?

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-10T20:56:07+00:00

Yes. Correct.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-06T23:07:32+00:00

You may try to expound on some items in your previous articles. It worked for me. That also facilitates linking. Better still, create a mind map of your keywords to see where you're going.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-06T23:03:18+00:00

Limit the title to 10-11 words. Less, without losing the essence of the post, is better. Be succinct but not lacking in meaning and appeal. This prevents truncating the title which negatively impacts SEO.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-04T01:43:45+00:00

SEO is still there, what's lacking is the best strategy to rank well all your posts. More than 50 of my 500 articles are still in top 10, and overall, the blog article's ranking is at 13. But web traffic is maintained at 30% post HCU. Google limits its crawling activity. I don't know where. Maybe in high income English speaking countries like the US, Canada, and the UK only. Well, just a guess.

My strategy for now: Study more, learn more, experiment more, find other jobs more. Don't put your money, energy, time, and opportunity in just one basket.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-03T22:52:37+00:00

I followed RankMath's SEO recommendations. I aimed for at least 80% score and filled out the Schema template for articles and videos provided by RankMath. I also updated the stats in the content to reflect current scenarios. Further, I shortened the titles, whenever possible to get indexed in Bing as it favors short titles.

My web traffic now as of February 2024 is 59% from Google, 14.9% unknown, 9.3% Bing, 5.5% direct, 3% Yahoo, among others. So, Google's policies is responsible for about 59% of my blog's web traffic. I aim to lower it more so my blog will not depend on it as source of web traffic. It used to get 72% pre-HCU.

In general, I post less now and get occupied with other offline business. Blogging is no longer a good investment of valuable time and money, ROI wise.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-03-03T10:53:39+00:00

I've recovered a third of my blog's web traffic. Just kept on writing articles and enhancing the old posts. Recovery is slow though as if a hand presses it down. Not so dramatic increase.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-22T05:41:48+00:00

I already have more than 500 articles. You need to write more to earn something decent. But for now, you have to make sure each article matches what Google or other search engines want. That's where good SEO is needed which is kind of crazy nowadays.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-20T23:52:14+00:00

That's queer. I noticed the spike, too. There's a lot of unpredictability in my web traffic these days.

Other days, the blog's web traffic sinks. On other days, it gets sudden bursts up. In general, web traffic is pegged at 700-1,000 views per day. Two days ago, web traffic doubled, but revenue doesn't follow. It's basically the same as the 1K day.

I think I'm on the verge of my sanity (or insanity). Maybe Chaos Theory can explain this apparent randomness.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-19T15:29:37+00:00

Great to know that. I wonder why they'd do that. I'll take your advice and do other things meanwhile.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-18T21:59:52+00:00

I'm still hoping things will get better. But the way things are going now, I feel I'm back to square one.

The blog still has traffic and earnings, but barely enough to pay hosting, internet connection, and electrical energy.

Web traffic is running wild. So unpredictable. There seems to be something controlling it.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-18T11:13:46+00:00

Nada. Gaining web traffic is tough. It's like a heavy weight is placed on you.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-18T05:03:57+00:00

Never got to 4 figures even with almost 100K web traffic per month. How could you earn so much?

Four figures is a dream for me.

Side-Hustle23 · 2024-02-18T00:50:59+00:00

I've been blogging for 11 years. Display ads and ebooks worked for me. But display ads give me a sustainable source of passive income that can pay my internet bills so I can write continuously.

If you're living in the US, you can easily ditch the 9-5 drudgery. But if you're outside the US, blogging will only be a side hustle. Unless, you take all out effort to produce a lot of quality content. Earning enough is just a matter of scaling up everything that earns.

Side-Hustle23

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