The latest Google Panda (algorithm) updates shook the online world like an earthquake.
I’ve heard horror stories from massive layoffs to long-time Webmasters/Bloggers having to look for 9 to 5 jobs again.
If you think about it, it’s very scary how one algorithm change can negatively impact a site’s revenue in seconds.
When I saw Ken Evoy of SiteSell on the Google Forums requesting an explanation on behalf of his customers, that really emphasized to me how widespread this impact was.
Not saying Site Build It! sites are never affected by algorithm updates. Of course, they’re often impacted like any other site.
However, I’ve been inside the SiteSell community for 10 years and it was clear from browsing their forums that this update had a bigger collective impact on websites that are often unaffected (as a whole) by Google algorithm changes.
Even if you weren’t affected this time, you could get hit with the next update, so I hope you pay attention.
The Truth Hurts
This post is going to sting a little, and I don’t mean to offend anyone. Please don’t take it personal as I’m only trying to help you get off this emotional algorithm roller coaster.
The reason why Panda crushed so many of you is because your business model was flawed from the start. (Ouch! I told you it would sting.)
Anytime your traffic and business model is largely dependent upon one site you have absolutely no control over, you are playing with fire.
AdSense is not a stable income solution, and it’s even more unstable when your AdSense earnings are mostly dependent upon your Google traffic.
It always amazes me when I hear stories of people quitting their jobs solely because of their Google AdSense earnings. The main reason I continued to work at my 9 to 5 (even when I was earning six figures on my websites) was because I knew my income was relying too heavily on Google traffic.
My friends called me cheap. Some even said I was lying about my success online. I heard things like, If you’re really making that much money online then why are you still at your 9 to 5?
The simple answer was I just wasn’t comfortable with such an unstable source of traffic that was controlling my business. So I waited until I had multiple streams of traffic and residual income.
I realize it’s often difficult to recognize your Google dependence when your traffic is climbing and the AdSense checks are rolling in. Even though you know deep down nothing is guaranteed, it’s easy to fall into a false sense of security with the traffic Google is sending you.
Too many of you got comfortable and were sitting back relying too heavily on programs like AdSense and income sources that depend largely on how much Google traffic you had.
Here’s another hard truth…
Google never guaranteed you anything and they don’t owe you any traffic. They are running their own business as they see fit, and by relying on them too heavily, they are running YOUR business too.
Whether you think their practices, algorithms and models are inherently flawed or not, it’s THEIR business — period. They are never going to get that algorithm 100% right and “quality” websites will always suffer with these updates.
As long as Google remains the number 1 search engine, you should expect to see more of this going forward. Some months will be good, some will be bad.
So we can sit here and over analyze our rankings (analysis paralysis), manipulate keywords on our pages, create speculation, try to predict the future, publish articles that attempt to expose Google’s “unfair” practices, beg them to give us our rankings back…
Or…
We can restructure our business models to be more Panda-proof.
I vote for the latter. So here are some things you can do…
1) Engage Your List
It’s not enough to just build a list. A lot of people have e-mail lists, but they don’t know how to keep their subscribers engaged. And I’m talking about myself here. [raises hand]
I got so sick and tired of hearing everyone say, “The money’s in the list” because that just wasn’t my story. I went a long time just building a list and not doing anything with it because I had no real strategy and my open rates were deplorable.
I’ve spent the last year really focusing on how to get more out of my list and it really paid off when I launched my Easy Starter CSS Templates in June. I have been doing more with exclusivity, targeted mailings, and contests. Fortunately AWeber makes managing my list a breeze.
NOTE: I will be launching a WordPress guide next week that covers a lot of missing lessons with regards to building WordPress sites correctly for SEO and the user experience. I hope to see the fruits of my labor once again.
Ana Hoffman probably doesn’t even know this, but she’s a huge reason why my open rates and e-mail list engagement have improved. If you need some tips on how to polish your e-mail marketing strategies, click here. This is a page you’ll want to bookmark.
She also wrote a really useful guest post on my blog about list building.
2) Seek Residual Paying Programs
This is not always easy for everyone because not all topics have many residual affiliate and reseller programs.
Clickbank has added a lot more products that pay residual income in many different niches. When searching through their marketplace, look for the blue symbol that represents residual payments.
As many of you know, I’m a domain/hosting reseller, and the residual/passive income that I’ve built up over 9 years is enough for a medium-size family to live comfortably on.
If you target wanna-be Bloggers/Webmasters, this is something you may want to consider. However, if this is not your niche, I would not recommend it because it is a difficult space to compete in if you don’t have the right kind of audience.
3) Create Your Own Product
Not only can you generate a solid income through sales of your own product, but you can add an affiliate program to generate another level of residual earnings.
Thanks to programs like ShareaSale, eJunkie and Clickbank, setting up an affiliate program for your product is not the hassle it once was.
4) Get on YouTube
It is MUCH easier to get ranked in YouTube for competitive keywords because YouTube is not nearly as saturated with videos as Google is with Web pages. I rank well for many keyword phrases on YouTube that I would NEVER rank for on Google.com.
Embedding YouTube videos into related content may also improve the rankings for those pages. And some of your videos may also start to rank in Google by themselves.
I know I’m trying to break your dependency from Google. But aside from the Google SEO benefits of creating YouTube videos, you are also creating another traffic stream to your site from YouTube.
5) Work the Social Media Space
Social media is another avenue you can use to build more traffic and loyalty. However, it’s easy to get obsessed over your number of followers, fans and subscribers.
Those numbers don’t mean much of anything if you aren’t converting those people into customers and using that space to build up the foundation of your business — e-mail list, site traffic, sales for your product, etc.
As popular as social media is, you don’t technically own those pages and accounts. You may remember when SiteSell had their Facebook Page yanked out from under them for no known reason.
Fortunately they got it back quickly, but it’s a reminder why you should always use social media to continually promote sites that you actually own and control.
Remember to draw people back to your website and encourage them to sign up for your e-mail list so they stay engaged with your own site, not just your Facebook Page and Twitter account.
Speaking of e-mail, AWeber makes it super easy to add an e-mail sign-up form to the left navigation of your Facebook page. Here’s a tutorial that shows you how to set that up.
Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
My static site took a small hit in the September Panda update. I could sit and try to over analyze what I did wrong, but I chose to let it keep me focused on strategies that continue to build long-term income and traffic.
Yes, I’m still primarily an affiliate marketer, but I’m continuing to expand my portfolio with my own products and work on engaging my e-mail list more.
Google can take your search engine traffic, but no one can take your engaged e-mail subscribers, products and personal brand away from you. When the foundation of your business is built on solid models like that, Google algorithm updates won’t cause so much turbulence in your life.
I know I was tough on you in this post, but I have a feeling a lot of you needed to read this. If your website success is largely driven by Google traffic, you need to rethink your strategy NOW.
If you get nothing else from this, get that you need to break your dependence from the Almighty Google and learn to generate more stable sources of income and traffic.
Whether it’s social media, guest posting, a newsletter, your own product or a combination of all the above, I guarantee it will give you incredible piece of mind going forward.
I hope this post is the motivator you need to shift how you run your business.
Use the negative impacts of Panda and turn them into opportunities to build a solid foundation for your business instead of a shaky one that is dependent upon an unpredictable algorithm.
Hi, my name is 
Great tips. My SBI sites were hit hard by Panda. The experience has really woke me up to what I was doing wrong. I started looking for ways to diversity the next day.
Sorry about that Lovelyn, but it’s good you are looking to diversify. That’s the only way to ensure your longevity. I wish you all the best.
Just like Lisa said “Diversify your traffic” I have been talking in forums for over a year about this.
You have to have a business model that does not rely on Google traffic.
My site got hit but I also use PPV and CPA on YouTube as part of my business model, so Google cannot kill my earnings with one of their updates
I can not believe your static site can suffer any! I am following a few threads in the SBI Forums and I am amazed at how many good sites were hit.
Apparently, Google ADsense team and Google Quality search team are not working together as Ken said. A lot of sites that were hit have big adsense blocks at the top but at the same time Adsense is sending us emails about how we are missing on income
I agree 101% with you here and every time I implemented something you suggested it was worth it. So I am going to follow this advice and diversify even more.
Yeah a lot of people are buzzing over the constant AdSense Optimization tips and then the change in recommendation about not using large blocks at the top of the text. I think the sites that were affected because of the large blocks at the top probably had other issues (not enough quality backlinks, etc.) nevertheless it is still very confusing.
“Google never guaranteed you anything and they don’t owe you any traffic. They are running their own business as they see fit, and by relying on them too heavily, they are running YOUR business too.”
spot on! I couldn’t agree more.
The same happen when youtube decides to take down your youtube video. I remember once how Darren’s videos were removed and the hardships he had to go through..
It happens to the best of us.
cheers
Shamelle
That’s right! I do remember Darren blogging about that.
I remember that. My main source of income and traffic is Youtube. It would be very scary if my videos are removed.
Solid post Lisa. I have to admit that in the beginning I was one of those that relied an awful lot from Google traffic. Obviously, I never left my offline “Consulting” company in favor of solely online business. I think you hit an important point of “YOU” running your business rather than someone else running it for you. What you mentioned about being dependent on search traffic (e.g. Google), actually makes it look that way. Really a great mindset.. hopefully this will clear up a lot of people’s mind when they choose their business models.
Thanks, DiTesco. I really do hope it helps people shift their thinking.
Lisa, I want to add on to your points about YouTube. Many of the videos on YouTube are poorly optimized in terms of SEO. I see people using titles, tags and descriptions for their YouTube videos which could be vastly improved. On the other hand, I see low quality videos that have tons of views and show up higher on YouTube search simply because they use good titles and descriptions.
I’m going through my videos and as I update the titles, tags and descriptions I’m getting more views and subscribers too.
I’m looking forward to your WordPress guide – thanks!
So very true, Ileane. It is much easier to affect your rank on YouTube by changing titles/descriptions just because it’s not as saturated. One thing I often do is use an engaging title just to get my subscriber’s attention and then after the video gets older, I’ll change it to something more SEO friendly. Which reminds me, I need to go and do that.
Lisa,
You hit ‘em hard, don’t you? But everything you said is true. I never got the hang of Google AdSense and I probably never will. Meanwhile, I’ve been building software and writing fiction, so the diversity will be there.
It’s great that you’ve kept a level head throughout the years. I wish you all the best!
Cheers,
Mitch
Thanks for stopping by Mitch and good luck on your projects! Writing software — now that’s something I’d love to get into one day when they invent more hours in the day. lol
This is what you call an ‘On-Time’ message! I have been told that I have excellent content and that my site was very user-friendly (Thanks to SBI!). However, I came to the realization that it’s not just about a good looking site with great content (Panda will certainly let you know that), but more-so about (as Lisa stated) HOW your running your business.
I am currently working EXTRA hard to build up my subscribers so that they will be my soldiers to get me more traffic. The more I provide quality, RELEVANT information to my regulars, the more NEW customers I will obtain through word of mouth, links (that my customers will create) and definitely with my social-networking business pages.
I refuse to rely on one source for traffic, I’m going to be the Google of my own world!
Yeah the game has changed. “Good content” is just not enough anymore. Now go get ‘em Louis!
Hi Lisa!
The only adsense income I’ve ever earned comes from my youtube videos and never from my websites, so I just about gave up on that lol.
The youtube videos never seem to be significantly affected by the updates so I usually end up not worrying about it. I only notice when someone I know is screaming to the heavens that their site has dropped in the rankings.
I never seem to see anyone screaming about how much they’ve gained from the updates, though. Might be just human nature to complain, or maybe they don’t want their competitors coming to their site to analyze it for clues.
I’m just starting up a niche site where I’m determined to do everything right this time, so I gotta start paying more attention and make sure this thing is diversified form the start. Your tips will come in handy -thanks!!
Actually YouTube received the biggest INCREASE in traffic with the Panda update according to many of the SE “expert” blogs I’ve read. Shocking that their own site would get such a boost right? lol Good luck with your new site.
I hear you loud and clear. I’m still figuring out how to make my email list better. I will have to check out some of the posts you linked too.
Thanks Lisa, for another solid message. Yes, I knew I was overly dependent on Google so I can only blame myself. This is a lesson that needed to be learned. I’ve only had my online business for 1 1/2 years so I guess things could have been worse. My new business model will be on more solid ground. It’s just another challenge to overcome. Thanks again.
Lisa-
Even though I have been following you for about a year, I still have a lot to learn about website building. I am glad that Google Adsense is just a very small part of my total business. I am not sure about what Google Panda is. So I will read and hope for the best.
yeah google is always changing it because they are trying to improve they service … like I always say when someone lose money someone makes money, I know google is the number 1, but I am trying to search on bing as much as I can when I need it because I dont like when one company has control of everything. thanks Lisa
Great stuff. I’m now considering creating other sources of income online that isn’t so dependant on Google. I’ll let you know how that goes. Thanks again.
Excellent advice Lisa. This post is jam-packed with good advice. I have never been a fan of Google AdSense ads but I haven’t created my own products yet either. I clearly have a lot of work to do. Between your article and reading the comments, I once again realize how far behind I am on taking advantage of YouTube and building my mailing list. Lots to do!
Hi Lisa,
So true all the points mentioned.
Traffic is the business of Google, not ours and they can change their algorithm at any time, and for sure they’ll be doing in the future constantly.
It’s clear that they are pursuing quality on sites and the best way is to show quality posts, today optimized for SEO and for social channels too.
Don’t put all the egg-efforts in one basket is a valid statement nowadays
Cheers,
Gera
Lisa,
You are so spot on with your comments and assessments. I’m a big fan of yours and use SBI as well. I’ve learned a lot from you already through your sites and just wanted to THANK YOU for it all.
Best regards!
Steve
Call me stupid, but…I think Google should have more consideration for authority sites. They should have worked the Panda changes out better so that it didn’t have such a negative effect on so many legitimate sites.
It’s like they took a machine gun and just started shooting all over the place without any concern for “humans!”
Yes, I said humans. There were too many innocent business people wounded and businesses killed by their technological negligence.
Hi Guys
I had a few sites hit by Panda in Sept..But I fought back because I realized there were genuine errors going on with my sites… I had old content, not much internal linking, some broken links, slow site load, and so on…
I fixed my errors madly and Google gave me my traffic back and so much more!!! My traffic is now going through the roof and climbing…
The best advice: make your blog the very best it can possibly be. With great content, you can build a great reputation, which will ensure you have an active readership regardless of what Google does!
I have 14 websites and several blogs. I spend every waking hour that I can trying to build quality websites and long term income.
I have been down about 40% since this month. My stats are showing that I am getting more search engine referrals from Bing than Google.
This never happened before, not even close. It’s unnerving. I am looking at SEO a bit more and using Google analytics for ideas but still sliding down.
Help me I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!
Thanks for the inspiration.
I won’t lie – it feels good to be liked. LOL
Thanks for the mention, Lisa.
And thanks for your wisdom; I wholeheartedly agree.
I have way too many readers who depend on Google for MOST of their traffic and that’s precisely what I keep telling them: what are you going to do when the next algorithm wipes out your site?
Ana
Excellent post Lisa and it is an eye opener indeed. Too much relying on one business is sometimes very frustrating especially after google panda update.
Lisa, thank you for alerting us.
I’m in deep trouble right now. 89% of my traffic comes from Google.
I don’t have a plan on how to diversify, but having a contest might help generate a list.
I’m wondering, I use feedburner’s email list. Is this OK or should I own my email list?
I thought of writing an eBook for baking mini pies, but is it worth it? I never buy them myself; so I’m thinking not many others will either.
Hi Pie Guy
Use your own list. Legally you can only use the Feedburner list to send out your blog posts, so I would recommend MailChimp or AWeber to setup your own newsletter. I use AWeber and love it!
Lisa, thanks for the reminder that while we are basking in the Google traffic euphoria, we should diversify. It’s true, we never know what the guys at big G have got up their sleeve in their effort to “make the web a better place”.
It’s a pity about your site. I’m thinking this may have something to do with your design change rather than anything else. You know, all those keywords on your left navigation column that were pointing into your inner pages are no longer there. I was going to ask you the effect of your design change on your rankings but I forgot. Google takes these into consideration too when ranking websites.
You cannot be farther from the truth about YouTube. I am experiencing first-hand that it is an untapped source of traffic that everybody should get into. YouTube is now my No. 1 source of referral traffic since I started making videos. I really wish I had started earlier.
Lol lisa, that last part is supposed to be “You cannot be closer to the truth … ” I got it backwards
Hi Lisa,
I’ve just read your post in my email and felt so compelled to jump here to leave a comment.
What you wrote resonated with my own experience. I’ve always felt that my niche websites were relying too much on Google for traffic and Adsense for monetization. Around mid October my two main sites (on two different hosting companies) saw big drops in traffic up to 40%! You can guess that my Adsense revenue also fall like a stone.
You are so right about not putting all the eggs in the same basket. Diversified sources of traffic are necessary if one wants to build a long term internet marketing business.
Cheers,
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for this post. My sites were hit pretty hard by Google Panda and almost all of my Web income comes from Adsense. I need to come up with a different business plan so thanks for the tips.
Diversifying your online empire is key. You cannot rely on google to bring you all your revenue; it’s like relying on a single big customer in a brick and mortar business to bring in 90% of your sales? Over dependence on a single person/client within a business is a very high risk model to adopt.
I definitely agree that it is not all about list building but about engaging with your list and about having a highly responsive list. There is no point in having a list which is 100,000 if only 3,000 people actually read your e-mail. It would be better to have a list of 10,000 people that are raving fans and much more responsive!
Membership sites are definitely a way forward. I have been going to my local gym for 6 years now and they are still getting $40 out of me every month. If you build a list with a good membership site/or monthly service you offer then you don’t really have to worry about the effects of google.
But what’s most important here is to DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY AND DIVERSIFY!
nice article. agree that someone should not rely on his/her adsense earning.
More Googley news: Google: redesigning AdWords from the ground up!
More ch-ch-changes!
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/google-adwords-redesign-looks-beyond-keywords-135950
This is confirmation for me as I already had experiment with income sources on my to-do list for next month. I’ve also just started my first youtube channel (for some reason having a youtube channel scares me less than guest blogging. lol.) and plans to branch out to the other video host such as dailymotion.
Anyone else get the little email from Google (YouTube):
“Congratulations, you can now earn money from your YouTube videos! Click here to begin.”
I clicked through and sure enough was able to select and monetize individual videos.
Hmmmm…
Yes, YouTube is now opening up monetization options for non-Partners. Way to go!
Incredible way of explaining the “Google Panda” I didn’t notice a hit from the panda the way most people did. I just hope people are taking this advice serious and building their businesses upon a more firm foundation.
P.S. THIS is a PERFECT example of Pillar Content
[according to your definition] lol you knocked it out the PARK, as usual
Thanks Sam!
Absolutely scary Lisa! There is another panda pending? You are scaring me with this Lisa “Even if you weren’t affected this time, you could get hit with the next update, so I hope you pay attention.” Well this is true ” Anytime your traffic and business model is largely dependent upon one site you have absolutely no control over, you are playing with fire.” and definitely not me. Maybe I shouldn’t worry.
Real tough truth indeed “Google never guaranteed you anything and they don’t owe you any traffic. They are running their own business as they see fit, and by relying on them too heavily, they are running YOUR business too.”
Another very informative post Lisa with proof that you have taken some real time out to put together. Thank you for sharing this with us, I will be bookmarking Anna Hoffman’s site.
There will always be more Pandas but no one knows when but Google. I wasn’t speaking of anything specific. Just a reminder of how we cannot put all our eggs in one basket.
Okay Lisa, gotcha.
Very well written article. I have a very SEO savy partner that set up our Radii Duck Jacket website with building around our google organic hits per day. We run contests weekly with our email lists and run coupons constantly. Too much What if factor with heavily relying on Google Search Engine Traffic.
Hi Lisa, I’m rely rely proud about your stuff and I love it very much. I’m trying to follow your tips and techniques as possible as I could. I’m trying to set-up a blog at http://www.electronictradingacademy.com but I’m still confused a bout how to make a good looking and build a rich fresh content for it. I need your help to let me find my way to get it a live. Please help meeeeeeeeeee to do it and I will thank you much for all of your efforts. Thanks once again for your understanding.
well Jim Cockrum has predicted that google will eventually diminish in its importance, that eventually people will develop and find new ways to get the information they want, not filtered by the whims of faceless, outsourced drones 1/2 way around the world with a “GoogleRatingGuidelines” pdf on their hardrive…
It seems google is trying very hard to customize each users search results, and I don’t think I appreciate that! I wish I could turn it off. And I DO NOT like all those damn YT videos showing up at the top of the serps either. I should be able to block videos from showing up when I search google, or I might as well be searching in youtube. (Why don’t webpages show up when I search in youtube, btw…)
anyways, maybe someday the SE’s will pay US just to use their services, lol…
Lisa I LOVE LOVE your desk. Can you please tell where you got it? Im shopping for home office furniture and i want a desk just like yours.
thanks
Thanks I got it from Office Max.
Good post.
A very hard hitting comment
“they are running your business too”
I hadn’t thought of it that way.I am one of those people that “rely” on adsense income . I will certainly start to diversify
Thankyou
Hey Lisa,
Great content ones again.
I am also getting ready for my mailing list, although its a lot of work I hope I can contribute to the community. Good tips Lisa, will keep that in mind.
Hi Lisa,
You’re right there. My adsense sites have been affected recently because the sole source of traffic was from Google. Fortunately I was already working actively to build my list and learn some tips to engage my subscribers.By the way I’ve been successfully using a tool called rapportive to engage my audience more.
You really inspire me .
Thanks again!
I was one of the victim of Panda Update and I feel sorry for that.. This was my own mistake because among all of my blogs,, I did not care about the blog which was the victim of Panda Update.. Later with some research, I was able to gain back my ranking. I removed all less quality posts and added some unique , long content and I was able to get my blog back..
A lot of bloggers and internet marketers lost a part of their income, whether it was their main one or just a sideline. I think Google made it clear that it was now taking things more seriously – “No more spamming backlinks and add more quality content to your sites!” Well, that’s how I understand it anyway.
Cheers,
Sandra
As you have rightly said, you tube is fair enough to get top ranks for certain keywords . The future is not so away, where even the videos will start flooding youtube
Google Panda has brought great changes. While it was sad to see some of my favorite blogs getting slapped, the fact that readers can now avail quality information I think is also a plus point.
Lisa, The main thing to keep in mind is. Keep your content unique, frequently updated, Try to meet up with google standards. And your blog will continue to grow. Love the post. Thanks for the write up. With the recent panda update my traffic has almost twice of what it was last month.
Lisa i wanted to tell you that in Pakistan more than 90% Adsense publishers have lost their Adsense account after this Panda Update.
90% really? How are you able to know this number? Was this reported somewhere?
This is true Lisa. I don’t know what the main reason behind this, Panda Update, may be Pak-USA relationship is not good now a day or Google is taking revenge of the legal case file by Pakistani government against them. Websites with Adsense account for more than 7 years are also banned.
This post is true on many counts. But, you can’t blame anyone for taking easy money for years and expecting it to continue. That’s human nature. Still, most people won’t be forced offline as a result of this. They’ll adapt, as always.
True words. People who are here for the right reasons aren’t going anywhere.
Just comes with the territory.
Wow! Very well written blog. I hate how google controls so much. I have been hurt by the google waves. I love them when I rank high and hate them when I don’t. I really wish we had like three or four popular search engines that were equally used.
In other words, anything from Google, Youtube, the Search Engines, etc… is not safe for any business to rely on, except if you have your own mailing list with engaged visitors.
Very thoughtfull, I got it…thanks again for your post:)
Regards,
Dev
Thanks for this great post. Yes I know I shouldn’t be overly Google-dependent but it’s easier said than done. If not adsense than for affiliate products you still need Google traffic and if you create your own product to make it search independent you will still need to invest heavily in online marketing – adsense, FB ads. So we meet papa G again
Great Tips Thanks for Sharing! It is quite strange how things change rapidly after panda update! Agreed With you that Google is running their business and you have to focus on your business after panda! After This Algorithmic update webmasters have to rely on qualitative content and social media to increase their sites traffic!!
Interesting to find out that SiteSell had trouble with Panda. Haven’t kept up with Ken Evoy and SiteSell for quite some time.
Couldn’t agree more, best to diversify your business model. Very precarious to depend solely on Google for your traffic, even if you practice only the best white-hat strategies and give Google what they love.
Thanks for the good info.
This was so relevant to where I am right now. I am trying to build multiple income streams, both online AND offline. Relying too heavily on any one thing can be your demise. My dad has been in sales his entire life either as the salesman or as the business owner hiring the salesman. One thing I have heard him say 1000s of times over the years is not to rely on your ONE big client. You better have lots of smaller clients there to support you when that big one goes MIA. Much easier to replace one small guy here and there than a big guy! The concept is very much the same when building profitable websites, providing services, etc. Whatever you choose to do…when you are depending on other people’s money, you better be versatile in your efforts.
Great post Lisa and it is an eye opener indeed. Too much relying on one business is sometimes very frustrating especially after google panda update. I think my sites are Panda proof, google didn’t smack my sites back till now..
I think I’m at the other end of the spectrum because I have not seen any drop in traffic (maybe I got more). In fact many of my reviews appear at the top of Google. You are very right though about diversifying income streams.
Joe
Hello Lisa,
This post hit home for me; my site took a hit in the rankings and I just could not understand what I did wrong. I seeked the help from others and I kept hearing the word “diversify” your linking efforts. So, I’ve been focusing on balancing my link portfolio, so when their are algo. changes, I have a better chance of standing ground. So far so good, I’m slowly regaining my rankings.
Lisa you hit the nail on the head with this. I saw several high traffic sites get hit with Panda and not recover. Your right when you say you must diversify.
Jerry
Hey Lisa,
Firstly, you have that flat stomach exercise website out there that I like. I recognized your picture. I actually drop by that website from time to time. It has good information. Also, I’ve heard about your success using site build it. Good service.
Now to the article. I agree about diversify. Relying on just one source for traffic can be dangerous. I’ve heard a lot of success stories about YouTube, but never really tried (which is stupid because they are like the 3rd most viewed site). Also, the recurring cash is great. I really never thought about it, but really makes since. Keep up the great blogging!
Thanks, Excellent post Lisa.This post is very helpful for my website.I think my sites are Panda proof, google didn’t smack my sites.
Yes, I too diversify. I once learned the hard way with my ONE site. It got hacked and turned into a phishing site and I went from making well over a full time income to being black listed, losing hosting, and ultimately my whole website. I have slowly climbed back up a bit, but I now know that you should never leave all of your eggs in one basket.
Many are amazed to learn I do tree work in the day and work my business in the evenings to support my family. Like I said, I am still working my way back up the ladder I fell from.
Good advice.
Aaron Siegel
T1 Internet bandwidth costs are not based on bandwidth but rather reliability.
Hi Lisa,
Painful but so true. What people forget is that a website is like a magazine, you can read info, do some crosswords, look at the ads or even colour a picture. But google and the readers who decide what people want to read.
People invest in their magazine whilst they should invest in their processes and people that produce these. If the magazine falls out of favour, …, you know what to do.
And once you have these processes imagine what else you can produce!
Nik
Lisa, I hadn’t known about a September Panda update until reading this post, and now it makes some sense to me. One of my sites was generating a nice monthly figure, and I noticed this month that it was going to come in around 33% less than normal. I hadn’t overly worried since it’s not liveable income, but I wondered what was going on. After reading this I went to check my analytics and saw that my traffic has dropped 21% this last month; that’s not good at all.
As you said, gotta diversify the update and spread out some more. At least now I have an idea why, so thanks for the post.
Great truths but like you warned some are hard to swallow! Thanks.
Thanks for the tips provided through this blog post. These tips are really helpful to develop online business and earn more money. The different types of programs will encourage the customer to go through the website, which will increase the ratio of income.
You know its true what you said in that Google is running many online businesses by default. Ppl are relying too much on them so building a massive engaged list with a builtin residual money maker is a MUST. This is how smart online marketers weather the Google storms and economic downslides.
Excellent article as ever!
When the quality of the content is not compromised, I feel that there is no need to worry about anything. Informative and quality articles take care of the traffic (as in your sites) and the rest follows.
regards………
Like a lot of people, some of my sites were hit by Panda…at least I think. One of the most frustrating things about Google is that it’s really hard to tell exactly what might have caused your site to lose rank.
Was it something you did on the page? Was it your backlink strategy? Was it the content? Was it an algorithm change or a penalty of some sort? Was it because of something you did yesterday or 3 weeks ago?
Even when you do everything the way Google says you should, your site can still get hit. And anyone who tells you they “KNOW” what happened is lying to you in my opinion.
Yes, you can do some research, take a close look at your site, and make an educated guess, but only Google KNOWS and they aren’t going to tell you. So you can spend hours and hours trying to guess, tweaking this and that, or you can just keep moving forward.
Chances are you’ll tweak things that don’t need tweaked if you try to analyze everything too much.
Lisa, you hit the nail on the head with this post. People need to stop worrying about Google and expand their businesses beyond just one search engine.
Oh, and stop complaining if your site suddenly drops out of Google. It’s Google’s search engine. It’s Google’s business. They make the rules. They can do what they want. They don’t owe any of us anything.
They can’t come into your bricks and mortar business and tell you how to run it, so don’t expect Google to let any of us run THEIR business either.
Hi Lisa,
I’m in the process of deciding to use a WP blog or sbi for my fitness and weight loss authority site. Can one still engage enough with an audience using sbi compared to a blog?.(i want to build a follwing so I don’t have to rely on the search engines too much in the long run). I already have a mbshp site done which I can use to build a list (my personal training clients are using it; it has not been sent traffic online). With an evergreen sbi site do you think I just have to work to get visitors a) ‘like’ me (facebook) engage users to add pages c) get visitors on an email update for recently added content etc? The site is going to be an authority site not a faceless cheap ‘click me weight loss pills’ affiliate site. Any suggestions? Thanks (keen to start this long term project).
I must admit that what you have cited with all of your discussion his me. I understand that we are too dependent with traffic , adsense and we do not over think of making something which will be very much beneficial like creating our own business strategy. Google panda really made my life as well as an SEO quite difficult since it puzzles my brain on the changes it has done to push my clients website so hard. This post is a very good reminder which I am very much considering. THanks.
Why does everyone think google is a so great! I did for years but got tired of them being able to wipe me out in a day. I taught many how to use them(& WP) to make a few extra $ in these bad times. They are all asking me for help now after the rabid panda bit them.
I told them NOT to put all their eggs in the gogle basket but many did anyways and are in trouble now. Thier sites are ok but google just dumped them. MAny pointed out that site that STOLE thier content is now on pg1 and their original content is around pg20.
I told them how to fix it… just DUMP everything google. Use nothing google offers at all. They thought I was crazy but I did just that and have regained my ranking in google (oddly) and have seen great improvements in bing/yahoo too.
I still have to go thru my sites 300-400 photos and 150 articles and find where they have been copied and ASK the site owner to remove them. It could take months but I owe my members that much.
Anyone who get more than 20-30 % of thier traffic from any one source is not wise. Fb and twit** and all the other great social sites can easily make up the rest. I have 0% traffic from google now bc I use robot.txt to block all their bots and I am glad! Bing/Yahhoo have also rewarded me for this too, i can tell by my stats/refs my stats show.
Great site btw!
Zero Google, man you really kicked them to the curb! I on the other hand wouldn’t go that far because there are still so many ppl that use google. Instead I just balance my seo efforts by spreading tactics amongst other traffic sources and of course continually work on building my LIST
Oh they do still send me traffic, just not as much. I can focus my efforts on other sources and not slave to make the “G” happy. I re-did my sites 3 times over summer and I won’t do it again. Who’s to say g wont have a panda2,3,4 ..ect. They seem to change their opinion of what is good and bad according to the way the wind blows.
An example of how messed up they are now is if u g the phrase – rockabilly tattoos – #2 ranked is a BLANK page and the cache is also so it was there for a while. #7 (for me) clearly says “Links – Rockabilly Central” and leads to a LINK FARM!.
G claims bing copies their searches but if they do at least they are smart enough to remove the crap. Bing the same term above to see how much better bing search is for that keyword.
The most upsetting thing is the copied content from my sites getting others #1 rank where (my site) the original is pg10+. If my content was so horrible then why does it rank so well for others?? Make me mad to think about it.
So Tom, do you mean you removed Google search, Adsense, analytics, Plus One button, translator, Gmail, etc?
Yes Sue I did remove all things google from ALL my sites. I must say they have enjoyed much love from bing and yahoo and prob others too. I THINK they like it…lol.
I do still use/like a wp plugin that uses google to translate in real-time on page. Click my name to see the one I mean.
I am also working more on a local level to earn from local biz to place ads on a local community site I am working on. Not easy but better than wondering what the “change of the day” google will gift me with next. I am doing more w/amazon,linkshare,cj, chitika to name a few. I try out every ad service I can find to compare to google adsense. Honestly none are as good. One good sign is that they are all saying it will take a while to get approved because they are backlogged with new publishers. Prob. coming from adsense
Soon I think there will be a smart person (or bing) to create adsense-like publisher tools for us. None look as good and are better targeted to my traffic esp on tattoos site. I miss the way they look and sizes too.
I have given up on trying to get my content removed from the copy sites, google OR the host dont seem care, SAD.
Good luck to you Sue!
Funnily enough I had a site dedicated to offering security services for a business of mine and that wasn’t badly hit initially. It is only recently that i have started to see a drop in serps, i think down to duplicate content. This was simply because i had a page each dedicated to optimise for a certain region. I have since re-wrote a lot of the content or spun it in order to see how that fairs. here’s hoping! (fingers crossed)
such a nice post and a great research on Mr.Panda
he even ruined the traffic of my website but with the help of some tips i stand it again
We were also having nightmare with panda towards few of our sites. We wonder why is it that we were having hard times ranking our sites now when we use to do it quickly before. We’ve tried so many ways, doing backlinking manually until we found out about panda. I agree that we did not took precautions that moment we heard about it because we did’t expect it could affect our rankings. So it hits us. Now we finally established few techniques on how to ride panda stream.
But we are still in continuous search on how to keep track our rankings with panda. Any share of ideas are highly appreciated.
Great Article. It was an eye opening article. Many of the bloggers or say almost every blogger heavily depend on Google traffic. I read your article twice and thought of myself if I am doing any mistake to put all my efforts for Google traffic. Yes, I am having other methods of traffic on my blog but I focus more on Google only. Now I am looking to change my strategy and plan for a very stable blog and a continuous source of earning other then AdSense. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and make me informed.
Nice article lisa. I was hit with this update also and I’m planning to build an authority website that will help people.
Thanks for your blog. I’m inspired to pursue my passion.
Lisa,
This post was an eye opener and explained a lot about why our niche sites where crushed by the almighty Google. We are looking at diversifying our traffic as a new business strategy.
You are so right that Google does not owe us any traffic. People really need to wake up to that truth!
Lisa,
I would like to thank you, for all your help, you have helped me a lot. You have opened my eyes to things I was once blind to. About the Panda update, I dont believe I was affected by this at all oct. 2011 was actually my record high in unique visitors and visits in general, but I do agree about diversifying your income and traffic, I’ve only been doing this for a little under a year now and I learn more and more each day.
Sometime I find it to be a little difficult, I am signed up to a lot of sites such as bookmark sites, social media sites, blog directories. Its very hard to keep track of all this “im only one person” It can get overwhelming.
Question: What do you think about Federated Media ?? Do you think its something I should look into, Im trying to find more ways to drive traffic
Well Thank You !!!!
They do owe us to follow their own rules and apply them equally to everyone Don’t they?
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=242f7b2e08946892&hl=en
G can fix easily so why don’t they? They don’t care it seems.
That’s why I am not using them for squat.
Hi Lisa,
The sting was taken out of your comments a bit as I have already been slowly coming to these same realizations over the past few weeks.
I falsely believed that as long as I was publishing the content that I thought Google wanted that I did have some control over my traffic and income. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
While I am still smarting from the Panda slap, I am extremely thankful that I learned this lesson sooner than later. My online business can only be stronger going forward as a result.
Take care,
Greg
This information is right on time! I’m in the process of adapting my portfolio right now!
Thank you!
We were oen of the lucky ones I guess. We saw some of our keywords actually improve with the Panda update. I agree with most of your points. I think the key to a successful website is to diversify. SEO, PPC from multiple sources, social media, email, etc should all be employed to be successful.
Right on time as I’m investigating a niche.
As a person on the other side(a researcher) I’ve noticed on my favorite google serps that the top ten keep changing. I don’t think there will be a “static” set of top people anymore in any search.
Without to much speculation, I’ve noticed for me that in my favorite research subject areas that the websites which are now occuring on the first page of google are much more “concise” and answer the question or issue.
The reality for me is that I have a particular thing I’m looking for. If I want to know all about the different types of pillows, for example, then I go to Wikipedia or About dot com. But if I want to know how to deal with allergies of pillow stuffings, then I “google” it. Usually the answer to that question is all I want.
So why am I so picky? because of “time”. There is just to many things to do (like post in fourms…smile) and clean the house that I just can’t spend all my time on one site. There are to many distractions.
So if I have a problem, I google it. If I need a particular item, I google it. I think it is really important that your website addresses the issue. For instance if I want some comfortable sandals I’m going to zappos or sites which sell. I doubt if I would wade through a website which explains to me the nuances of buying comfy sandals. But, and this is a big but, there are people who collect comfy sandals and they may want the information. But, will they buy from your links?
Summing up, google is changing every day and so my searches have got to be more pointed, because I don’t have the time.
Thanks to anyone who took time out of their day to read this…LOL
Great tips, thank you very much. I also learned many good life-changing tips from Ana Hoffman.
So far i wasn’t penalized by Google and i hope this will stay the same as much as possible. I wish you all the best!
I agree google not owe us anything, majority of websites are only depends on google traffic. They do whatever changes they want,they didn’t care if many are affected.
Although google panda is a big slap, all we can do is we should be aware for any changes that google will implement.
I was kinda worried when i heard about the panda update,but after the update i have had an increase in my search traffic,and i was very much relieved.
hi Lisa
i agree with Sandy. Google is changing every day.
its not easy to blog and have a business and a family
Lisa, I just purchased your ebook – thanks for writing it! I am looking forward to reading it. You’ve built up a good amount of credibility in my book- and that says a lot
Joe
Thanks, Joe!!
Last January when so many of my cohort got slammed by Panda I very glad that I did not get hit. I was very nervous but like an idiot I did not take the action I needed to diversify my income. I was lulled by the tremendous increase in traffic that followed believing that I was doing what Google wanted and I had nothing to worry about. Then on the morning of Oct 14th the bottom dropped out. Lost 50% of all my traffic and 60% of my Adsense income. What a dummy I was. Now I am feverishly going back to selling information products on the sites that I had sold them on before. I only hope I can survive.
Jim
Thanks for posting this Lisa. Nothing I didn’t already know but it’s easy to get lost in the fog of defeat when you wake up and find all your progress swept away during the night.
This has definitely been a time of reevaluating how much more time and effort I want to invest in online business building.
Your article helped give some clarity. I wish I’d seen it sooner.
Thanks Lisa, great post. But I have to say I have not had a problem so no Panda issues here. But it is good to get all the awareness about it as possible.
hi, its great..thanks for speaking about this particular useful information..Thanks Lisa..
Hey Lisa.
Thanks for this Post. After Panda its difficult.
But Google and Panda are the Future.
Thanks for the ideas and motivation, Lisa. My wife and I own three SBI websites already and two of the three took 50% haircuts with the latest Panda. We’re really motivated to diversify – I’m writing software tools and my wife is working on instructional videos and starting her second SBI site on a completely new topic in her area of expertise.
Good for you, Clark. All the best to you and your wife.
Hi Lisa:
I too have an SBI! website as well as a wordpress blog that I started after reading your blog. It was only up until about 8 months ago that I was relying solely on building my google adsense and traffic. I started developing a my list which made me feel better, but the problem is that when google’s Panda algorithm penalizes your site – it’s site wide so my blog took a hit too!
I’m not complaining because this was a HUGE wake up call for me that I need to really start looking at things from a different perspective.
As usual, you are right on target!
Hi Lisa. I agree that you cant make your business on Google traffic. But can you tell me who is wining on this pandas updates. We always hear lose lose lose is there anyone who win. When will the small bloggers with unique content get the peace of the cake?
Everyone, Google is out there for their business. They will do it often for rationale reasons to suppport their business strategy. You cannot rely on one business source, so try to use as many traffic sources as possible. For that reason I am moving into videos. For our SEO we look to rank on the other search engines and look for backlinking from the widest possible number of sources.
All the best
Steve
i don’t know about Google Panda, but i must know it now, bacause veri impostant for blog,,
thank’s
I’ve been watching the first 5 pages in niches for patterns in the google search. It’s interesting that the google side board is full of their google ads. And to the left of the google ads on the page are “stores”, “stores” and more stores. I had to go 5 pages deep before I started seeing content websites.
And to make matters worse, some of the stores are now getting into the content business. Overstock for example has pages set up to “inform and educate” about the different products. So, if for example, you wanted to write about “scarves” you now have to compete with other large stores that sell them, but then overstock, about dot com , e how (all content oriented sites) now have articles about the scarves, how to tie them and more.
I’ve checked this pattern out and see it over and over for different niches. Even in the sub category of “discussion” for various topics, you are now competing with large entities for discussion.
My take is, if you’re going to do a content site then you’ve got to beat out e how, article sites, about dot com, wikipedia. And to do that, you’ve got to do what they aren’t doing(Yet).
That is, as Lisa has done with her flat stomach site, is to give your Personal experience with whatever the topic is. Google is looking for content related to your personal experience.
Makes sense to me. I get tired of finding sites with all this information that I’ve got to read through for hours. Rarely do I read every page. Who has time? just show me what you can quick and fast and then I’ll decide to buy whatever is related to the process.
What about you? What has been your experience as a researcher? Go to your favorite niche, look up something and what do you see on search? was it what you’re looking for? what was on the first page of the SERPS? How many pages deep before you find the content you were looking for?
I really think you’ve got to step out of the box of being a “web designer” and see what you, personally, want from the web and if it is being found. The answer is not in speculating what you think people want but finding out what they really want.
Anyone up for giving examples of what you’ve found lately, not as a web designer with your own niche, but as a human being looking for something online.
I’m interested in what your personal experience leads you to. Why? because I think we can figure out ourselves what google is attempting to do.
Google has said over and over they are interested in more authority websites. I don’t see that as being a “specialist” in your field, necessarily. But I see that as showing you have experienced something and are willing to share it.
But here’s the kicker. How will you monetize this information? Well, I see that overstock ,who sells product, is now using their content pages on various topics, hoping to get you to buy the products on their site.
Remember Overstock was hit hard by the earlier panda and now they’ve obviously learned a lot and adopted a new model. Could that be telling us what google wants to see?
I think the answer is really getting in your own ‘shoes’ (smile) in regard to niches you’re personally interested in to learn what google is doing.
I’m interested in practical examples of what others think.
Thank you Lisa for presenting this post and giving us your examples.
But, from reading these comments, it seems people are still searching for other practical suggestions. I think we need to look at our own personal experience shopping online. What are we personally learning about google? What have you found? Let’s put our heads together.
Hi Sandy
Excellent point about the businesses getting into the content biz. So true. The reality is, the internet landscape is changing. Everyone is trying to present themselves as the authority so it makes it harder to compete. I am still a supporter of the keep-it-real approach and showing how you personally relate to your site — and of course providing great content as well. As content marketers, we all have to work hard at building our own individual brands.
Well Lisa i totally agree with you on why panda dealt a heavy blow to so many web masters I for one have both gained and lost from it.
While my other blog about business ideas has seen increased traffic and earnings, my hubpages sub-domain which was doing really fine before panda came on board has suffered severely both in terms of earnings and traffic.
My guess is that google wants to reward websites that are wholly devoted to certain niches and ‘punish’ others that seem to be jack of all trades and master of none.
I agree google not owe us anything, majority of websites are only depends on google traffic. They do whatever changes they want,they didn’t care if many are affected.This is confirmation for me as I already had experiment with income sources on my to-do list for next month. I’ve also just started my first youtube channel (for some reason having a youtube channel scares me less than guest blogging. lol.) and plans to branch out to the other video host such as dailymotion.
quick question for you Aarav…
Why do you feel having your first YouTube channel is scary? Just curious…
The Google panda update has caused many of my clients to drop their sites and stop doing internet marketing. They did not realize that there are still many ways to save their fallen business by using as what you have said, a solid foundation for the business and to not rely too much of Google.
I’ve heard a lot of stories of people just quitting. That’s when you really learn who’s in this for the long haul. A lot of people gained a lot of Google traffic very easily (relatively) back in the day by just spitting out content and submitting articles. They rode that traffic for a long time. Many got comfortable and didn’t seek other ways of promoting. But what really amazes me is the number of businesses that had to lay off people after the update. I can’t imagine hiring people if I knew that my business and their salaries were so dependent upon fickle Google traffic. Scary stuff!
What?? It was like THAT? Some businesses had to lay people off? Wow. I had to fight and scrap for every visitor so it wasn’t just about putting up content and riding the gravy train. Unfortunately, Panda wiped out all that traffic as I was working to diversify, so the Adsense hit is a hard one.
It does make you feel like quitting for a minute. It’s a bummer, but not the only basket I have for my eggs so there is still potential with my other niches.
Thank goodness.
Little did your clients know that the key to staying relevant despite the “Google panda update” was to have press releases widely distributed, with links pointing back to their sites. This is how they could’ve saved their pages in the search engine results saved from being negatively affected…
Great post.
I was absolutely smoked during the panda update and I didn’t even come close to the kind of revenue you have. You have some great tips here and i’ve bookmarked this specific page as I need to be reminded to get off my butt and build a list!
Great article Lisa! I do count on adsense for most of my income. The latest Panda cut me by about 70% and that hurts. Yes I should’nt count on Google like that but … I still can’t understand why they would care about how small, how poorly written, or if a site is lacking good content. Who made them the internet police? If a site is bad the folks who visit won’t return or recommend it. It’s like opening a restaurant and the food is bad. People won’t return. Eventually the restaurant closes. There is no agency that says I can’t open a restaurant that serves food people won’t like. I think Google is getting a little full of istself … to big for their britches. Your right … there not the only game in town.
>If a site is bad the folks who visit won’t return or recommend it.
you said it yourself.
if Google also “recommends” these CRAPPY websites people wont think so good about google or keep recommending it.
So, is the same thing, the reputation of the recommender is also affected. You wouldnt recommend crappy stuff yo your friends would you ?
Excellent post and it is an eye opener indeed. Too much relying on one business is sometimes very frustrating especially after google panda update. thank you.
Thanks for the information Lisa, the first day Google changed their Panda I saw a drop in my visits.
I mostly write about exercise and vitamins and I write all of my content so I’m wondering if that helps vs having a ghostwriter?
Of the people who got slammed by Panda, did you all write your own content or was it farmed out to others? I’m just trying to figure out why some were more effected by Panda than say, me who was not impacted.
For me its about passion and helping others. I would do this regardless of the outcome.
Joe I think if you have a good writer it doesn’t matter. But I think that when google reads “general” stuff about a subject(often called Pap) it is not a good thing.
For example you write about vitamins. Hopefully your articles are personal, conversational and not just regurgitated facts that everyone knows already.
What I’m seeing is that those websites in a niche which has stuff you can find on wiki, encyclopedias or articles are sort of glossed over. It’s like going to the store and looking for “flat shoes”. The clerk shows you a hundred pairs and they all have a buckle on them. Now each designer thinks his buckle looks different than the others but they are still buckles when seen in mass. Ah but there is a pair of flats with beads and a ribbon. Those stand out. Yet its a flat pair of shoes.
Personally I think if you take time from your website and visit some in your niche for the first 5 pages and then come back to your website, with fresh eyes, you will see if yours is apart of the sea of same. If as an artist you cannot be objective about your product. Then, ask a friend or family, who likes health, what they see about your site.
Nowadays, objectivity is a necessity in this business.
Good luck with your site.
Sandy, I think you just probably hit the nail on the head. my stuff is VERY original (I get plagiarized a lot so I must be good lol). I also beat a lot of those other sites in my niche in Google rankings. I guess its the “niche site vs authority site” debate? I aim to be the authority site
Thanks for the heads up! if you are right then this might not bode well for the industry of ghostwriters that seems to have cropped up to facilitate website content.
Create high quality and fresh content and be a best friend og panda.
One of the reasons I am so motivated to make money online is because of the many success stories I heard. Compared before, the change in algorithm made things difficult. I have no choice but to follow Google’s rules. I just have to learn the effective ways to generate more returns online.
content is still king my friends, so high quality content is the best way to be sure that u’re website or blog is still one of google’s favourite
thanks for the post
~alex
Yep Lissa !! The Google Panda has changed the fate of the SEO drastically.But every one must recognize that if we have the best quality websites with the exact approach, definitely it will be helpful in getting the best ranks.
I love your website Lisa! did you create this yourself or did you outsource it? Im looking for a blog design thats similar so thats the only reason I’m asking. Either way keep up the nice work I was impressed!
Thanks. I use the Thesis theme and I customized it further with CSS.
hi Lisa,
quick question for you. Did you do the theme for the website babble forum also?
Thanks for your response
DrewryNewsNetwork
There’s an array of things that I tend to focus on as a site owner when search engine algorithms change. the first thing I like to focus on is keeping my site content unique, informative, and down-to-earth. This way, when I write website content not just for search engine optimization purposes, real world people can relate to what I’m writing in website content copy thus giving them the ability to connect and respond to things posted on the site. the second thing that I focus on is promoting well-written press releases and articles. Not only does he give me the back point advantage in getting good positioning in search engines, but I like to write often in promoting articles and press releases for real people to read and relate to, not just so that I can get a quick index in major search engines and instant traffic. The third thing that I focus on is being myself. What I mean by that is my online personality is the same as my off-line personality, as you can feel the type of person I am as well is my character through the content I produce and publish to the World Wide Web. I’ve learned through trial and error that when you are genuine in your content creation, search engines quietly re-ward you for being real, humble, while using honest search engine optimization practices to effectively promote yourself on the Internet. So whenever a search engine algorithm is changed nowadays, I don’t worry too much, because as long as I put out good quality content, and focus on building meaningful online relationships, I’ll be able to survive any search engine out the rhythm update.
Oh dear..This algorithm also effect my site so badly. I research lot on how to get rid of this problem but i find nothing. Finally i starts again link building and my site again get set well.
Lisa, I enjoyed reading your ebook and apprecaite your comments on affiliate marking. Question: can you (or anybody else) recommend a good ebook on just affiliate marketing or affiliate marketing basics? I’m looking to do more of this next year and want to make sure I do it write (link cloaking etc)
Thanks!
Joe
Hi Joe,
Yes, get Rosalind Gardner’s book
http://superaffiliatehandbook.com/
I just tell people one simple thing, and that is key to content fresh and submit articles to article directories often.
Hi Lisa!
I totally agree with you on this post. Google Panda has really dealt heavily on few websites. However, the truth is that we rely heavily on Google. I did not have a second thought on this till recently. Yes, there are several other ways to get traffic and promote products other than Adsense and I already have a plan in my mind. Thank you for this good post.
Thanks Lisa I just got the ebook!
you’re right Lisa, sometimes too much relying on one business can make very frustrating especially after google panda update.
Wow, Lisa – very informative! I think that this all was issued that a lot of content was copied from one site to another spamming huge amount of keywords. The best solution to overcome all this Google dance is to create unique content…
i hate google panda. they eat my 10 websites!!
Nice post.Google panda alwayes love fresh content.
Great post, fortunately my website didn’t suffer any downfalls so I was happy about that.
It’s really an earthquake! My business website’s, really made so many changes when the time that Google Panda happen. My backlinks increases as my websites Page rank decreases. I can’t find the real thing that Google wants for me to do, so that I can increase everything for my website. Anyway, this post is really great! Thanks.
I love the fact that you have just told it exactly how it is.
There are so many people out there who rely solely on Google for their income. If Google was to disappear tomorrow, they would simply be broke.
It’s called putting all your eggs in one basket and it’s never a good idea. I totally respect the fact that you didn’t leave your daily job when making a good Adsense income, most would give it up, the smarter people know that it can’t last forever.
you can say that again
Lisa,
Great stuff as usual. It is amazing how many people rely fully on Google. Diversity is a must. Even if you “think” you are doing everything by Google’s standards, you honestly don’t really know.
One minute you can be on page one and raking in good income and the next on page 100. So, this post is critical for anyone serious about building a true business.
Thanks…Eli
Thanks Eli for your post.
You expressed a sentiment I have.
How do you feel about being number 1 one day and on the 100th page the next?
What is your plan to deal with this?
I know social media is the thing right now.
But how reliable is social media to bring you the type of traffic that search engines once did?
I also wonder about your experience in converting social media contacts to buyers.
Thanks for your comment.
In efforts of staying relevant in social media as well as getting good rankings on search engine results pages, one must focus on article marketing & press release distribution in efforts to keep themselves out there and listed in good positions in major search engines. In addition to using social media effectively, it’s also good to utilize the power of [social bookmarking], so that not only can one potentially “generate instant traffic” to every new piece of [unique content they publish to the web], but, they can also use [social bookmarking to a positive advantage] in terms of building authority, links as well is a positive reputation to their online existence. So, as long as a person is putting out some good content and using all forms of positive social media promotion, they should be A-OK, in terms of getting good rankings in search engines as well as quality web traffic, and keeping “puters puting Camron Dipset style”! LOL
It would be the best if you do have other option to get your website exposure rather than base on search engine organic search. Because it too risky while anything can happen.
My SERP can drop from 1st page to secona page and get back to page one again within one week time. It risk while this make your traffic not consistence.
Yeah, a lot of them rely too much on their main source of traffic which is the google traffic and can’r earn much sio it’s pretty understandable that some of them went back to 9-5 job for the same very reason.
I’m putting social media to work “all crazy” nowadays! =)
Hi Lisa,
I am happy that the PR of my blog raised after this update of big G. What I like the most in your article is your advice to deversify. Most people depend too much on one source of traffic and one source of income.
Regards
Albert
as long as you keep your site content fresh and distribute press releases regularly, you can survive any search engine algorithm update
That’s right. I agree with you Drewry.
the truth may be ugly, but the truth certainly set you free
I couldn’t agree with you more, Lisa. None of us should ever put all of our eggs in one basket (Google) with the expectation of sustaining. Post-Panda will be a learning experience for all of us.
it’s always good to diversify your eggs because you never know what additional opportunities are out there. Like you said, experiencing panda will be a learning experience for all of us
if there’s anything that I like about Lisa, it’s that she’s an “honest entrepreneurial diva”, as she tells the [heart truth] like it is
The internet marketing is the business where you have always to update your knowledge, if you are not ready to do so, if you fear out of an Panda change, than it is not for you, I do not mean you Lisa, I think about all marketers. Yes Panda did harm some of my sites too, but you know what it offered to me much more: if I build a site which really has a value, if I do a good promotion, I’ll get results, but most that are building spam sites, will remain forgotten! Thank you Panda! Seriously, thank you!
All the best from Igracke!
I have yet to notice any positive or negative changes in my traffic from any google changes over the last 18 months i’ve worked on my site. Unfortunately my biggest traffic killer is often me. Some how I manage to break a vital function holding my site structure together like breaking my custom menu’s ability to hold urls in wordpress really killing my pageviews per visitor while I have to learn to fix it. Other things include reaching adsense earning I could retire on and knowing I should just not change a thing but I get the bright idea to try a new plugin that ends up being incompatible with others and drop 2000 of my usual 4000 visits a day.
I Have managed to develop endless motivation and determination to solve every problem I end up creating for myself. I am glad I don’t have to deal with google dropping my ranking too!
I have noticed that some of the website’s ranked of some of the affiliate marketer’s on the internet have a decrease after google change, their algorithm. I don’t even blame google for this. I blame all the spammers who have a large number backlink than those people that are trying to rank their site in the right way. Great article Lisa! Cheers
Awesome post Lisa, but I think google is out there for their own business. I don’t think that they will pay for the google traffic. Even I am tried to add my own video on youtube but they will delete that
.But anyway thanks for these great tips.I will follow them in future 
.
From a reader’s point of view – Panda was awesome. So much garbage content out there! If you have good content, you will do fine, regardless of Google’s changes. Just my 2cents!
It was like THAT? I would do this regardless of the outcome. Thanks.
Even though the Panda update was painful, it was absolutely necessary because there where to many websites with zero original content gaining traffic just by copying and pasting articles from other websites.
IMO the Panda update Fixed nothing bc the searches are still packed full of junk. The copy-pasters still get to 1st page with tricks and the good hard working original content creator get the shaft when our content is stolen and turned into a 1st page ranking for all but the creators of the content.
Many sites are ranked higher with my members’ articles and photos. One site is #1 and has ALL my tattoo photos from my site/members! Many left and deleted their accounts bc they blame me. That hurts more than panda!
Panda was only a first step in a list of things come to weed out the little guys for their own profits. Watch n see. I dumped G**gle and my profits are actually up! I dont even mention then when I show friends how to earn online. Who needs them…really!
if you use article submiters will you be affected? And now thats it’s over won’t the spammers just go back to their old tricks again? also your still allowed to use plr and still be cool with google if it’s well written? and if people used other search engines like yahoo etc they should be ok? and when talking about spam sites are you talking about sites that steal content are are link farms? thanks
Hi Scott
I’ve never used article submitters, but the bottom line is Google is getting more selective. They aren’t just looking at who has the most content on a certain phrase or who is submitting the most articles. They are looking at things like site freshness, who is “authentically” popular by measuring who they are connected with in social media. So all the things people used to do to increase their authority may not work as well going forward.
Let’s say two websites have identical content and the same amount of backlinks. The one that’s going to do better with SEO in the long run is the one who is more connected socially with Google Plus, has the most updated/fresh content, etc. Link farms and content thieves will continue to get dinged, but now “legit sites” are starting to get hurt as Google begins to weigh things like social media presence, how many tweets and plus ones your content receives, content freshness, etc.
The point is, writing content is just not going to be enough anymore. Google is looking for true authority websites and they are starting to use different factors to weigh authority when it comes to SEO. The game has changed. So if all you’re doing is writing articles and not engaging with people then you may find yourself at a big disadvantage with SEO in the long run.
It’s going to be increasingly harder for spammers to dominate because it’s more difficult to fake your social media presence and content sharing.
I’m watching the traffic of an Empire of dozens of sites slowly waste away under _increasing_ pressure from Panda. Particularly starting mid-October (‘Brand update’) and November (‘Fresh update’). Fresh seems particularly deadly to both blog posts and static pages. With each successive crawl (and it’s important to note that every site has a pre-determined crawl rate of up to 30 days) – page after page are getting demoted, short and long-tail keywords are vanishing. Slowly. Steadily.
The truth really is UGLY. I suspect in 2012 it’s only going to get uglier for the vast MAJORITY of sites. Google is tightening the noose on Authority, Quality, Timeliness, Age, Authorship, and Participation with a voracity I’ve never seen before!
Lisa – We’ve probably both done a 1001 things right, smarter, and better than most. For the first time, I’m feeling that Google’s pretty much finally nailed the formula for declaring ’95% of the internet as garbage’ once and for all. Stay on your toes, Kids! If you thought successful Internet Marketing was tough – the year ahead is going to get even rougher.
Lisa,
I am so stinky happy you have touched on this topic and spoke your mind!
I could not agree with you more, with everything you just said. When I promote my sites, not only do I use [article marketing], but, I “write unique articles from scratch” & submit to only one article directory “for now”. All of my back-links are unique, as they are spread across an array of websites, blogs, and discussion forums. Speaking on my behalf, I am far from worried about [algorithmic changes in search engines], because, the majority of my site content is fresh “for the exception of automated Amazon affiliate links being posted via RSS”, as I seriously take into account the importance of unique content, as well as engaging meaningfully with others on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. When it comes to the power of the Internet, it’s all about the people, as well as sharing valuable information!
TOTALLY AGREE WITH U! PREACH!
You are right Lisa don’t depend on one income. Google adsense just one of the many income resource in the internet. There are many way to make money online like become a Affiliate marketer or sell your own product. Thanks for your sharing and advice Lisa
Just have to say I LOVE this post. Especially what you said on Panda updates and depending on Google (Google traffic) as your sole means of traffic and income. I agree wholeheartedly that Google is responsible for their business model – I’m responsible for mine.
Loved your advice – engaging your list, going after residuals, etc. … sometimes it’s easy to get off track or get sloppy. Posts like this are good reminders – thanks!
I tell everyone… As long as you keep your content fresh, you can survive any search engine algorithm update, as well as any Google panda update too
An article worth reading. Google panda algorithm brought many changes to the SEO world and we had no choice but to follow its guidelines as far as google dominates the search engine.
wishing everyone a blessed 2012. Remember to not drink and drive this weekend, as checkpoints will be virtually everywhere across the country. Also, if your licenses are suspended, it’s best to head on down to the Department of Motor Vehicles and renew it “with no delay” in your [2012 New Year's resolution] to make healthy changes in your life. Wishing you the best
College of Content wishes everyone at 2 create a website a fantastic new year
What was funny about this is about half of my sites appeared to gain rang and the other half appeard to loose rank. I just about broke even with this update. Wish Google would just tell everyone what there expecting in a good site. Funny thing it the site that lost rank are suddenly gain hit from bing and yahoo. SEO is always good for a head ache or two.
Just have to say I LOVE this post. Especially what you said on Panda updates and depending on Google (Google traffic) as your sole means of traffic and income. I agree wholeheartedly that Google is responsible for their business model – I’m responsible for mine.
I understand your point about not relying on one source of income. Diversification is king. But as this discussion is going on, we are at a point where Google and Facebook and Twitter are having a war. Twitter is currently upset with Google about their new Google + Search policy development. And everyone knows that Facebook and Google are at odds. So I’m re-looking at your post about not relying on just “google adsense” and I’m wondering what the face of web will look like in the future. I’m now left with this: At any point in your web development business activities one can never say definitively what they won’t do. The models keep changing based on the speed of internet technologies. For instance Google is now developing a television, along with some third parties, and this could change the quality and the way we do business with Google and even Google adsense. So while I agree with you on diversification, I also think one has to be open to not being “anti” anything, but flexible to go with the flow and to develop their own personal strategies which work for their business. I love your website and I just wanted to elaborate a little; because I think your acknowledgement of diversification was not an endorsement or non endorsement of any particular entity and its software.
Google may not be the same a year or two from now bc they are going to be in court a bunch. Many Companies are tires of their bs. + will fail like Wave. Their search is just adverts for their own creations. Once people see that the boat is sinking they will jump ship. I will be so happy.
My tweet are #1 for many things in google but the links goto a blank twitter page bc i guess Google is not happy w/twitter so they try to force their will on them too.
I still make $ from them but I use NOTHING they offer and they still send me traffic that converts. I have noticed that dumpling Google makes my ranks go up for bing and yahoo. RIP Google!
Lisa, this may just be the best article I have read regarding Panda, which I think is the biggest change that Google has ever made. The key here is diversity–you hit that point hard and it’s so true.
For any of you out there looking to diversify into affiliate marketing, I have created a product called The SEO System which provides great residual income. The system tells members exactly what to do everyday to achieve rankings in Google…and I am in the process of incorporating Panda updates as well
Hi Lisa, I believe that content it’s king. write long articles, use keyword density in your article, link to other articles and pages. That’s the way!
true story. Google does’t own us any traffic or incomes. That’s why not quitting your 9-17 job is a great idea until your business is more stable and not relative to Google’s traffic.
Hello Lisa,
recently Google announced “page layout algorithm”.
Have you lost some of your Google traffic from January 19 2012?
“Page layout algorithm” doesn’t like big headers and ads in above the fold area. You can find more details in my article .
Please leave a comment with your experience in my article.
I would say Social media engagement is must today as it sends you free traffic and helps in G rankings too.
However relying totally on BIG G is not good.
I would have to agree about webmasters being too dependent on Google. IF Google drops you off their SERPS, it is not their job to amend the situation and they do not owe you anything. You have to work your way in this very competitive IM world and learn that at the end of the day,you still have a boss and the name of the boss is Google.
Amen to that.
Lisa this post put my mind at ease. Being someone who solely relies on SEO for my sites, I always have a fear of being hit by Google, and this can bring on some episodes of anxiety. These ideas will put my mind at ease for the future.
Thank you,
Brian
Google Panda is Prevention of spamming if spammer stop spamming then we don’t need such as policies.
Remember the “Alaska Gold Rush” from 1896–1899 or even read up on it?
To keep a long story short is, the fact of making a fortune is in the hands of the tool sellers, not the worker bees.
FOR INSTANCE: A very small amount of “Gold Diggers”, meaning us the peasants might make a good living and around one percent us will get rich on the internet. (THE ELITE) like Google, YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo, not mentioning other are the tool sellers in a roundabout way.
They are the ones that make all the money off us “Gold Diggers” (WORKER BEE’S), that end up going broke on an idea that the “Elite” themselves tell us we can or will make a lot of money if we do as they suggest in this capitalistic world we all live in.
Only a few hard working and dedicated people on the internet will make a half way decent living and the rest of us will be the ones that are helping them build their wealth, just as in the days of The Alaskan Gold Rush.
I feel lucky because Google Panda algorithm has still not affected my blog
BTW as far as the article is concerned, it’s just awesome
thank you very much so much news about google panda update.thanks it is going to help me a lot
Superb article and i think google panda will hurt you when you not working hard on your site’s content. A well optimized substantial quality content will help you to defeat google panda.
Hello Lisa,
You mentioned that you were affected by the Panda update in September, but did you go back to “audit” the pages that already had posted? or did you just continue building and creating?
Dean
For the most part I didn’t do much. I just updated some pages that needed a refresh. I don’t spend too much time on audits unless there are obvious things that need to be fixed (broken links, etc.) But tinkering with keywords, etc is a waste of time to me.
Thanks Lisa,
Great article! It is very true that a site audit can be a great time waster for some. Many thanks for your tips about succeeding online, going forward.
This was a pretty accurate article from my perspective. A Google panda update on April 19 hit my main web site hard. I make money answering computer questions on JustAnswers.
Also, a few months ago I started a live Internet broadcast and archived podcast that has earned me a little money. I recently made my first Youtube video and plan to use Youtube quite extensively to drive traffic to my main web site that just lost a ton of traffic due to panda.
The Google panda update has caused many of my clients to drop their sites and stop doing India tours keyword down my sites pl z help me …………..
Here’s some UGLY TRUTH for you!
?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BslAhJ5-C9g
Hi Lisa,
I’m happy I read this post especially now that I’m about building my list. I use a blogger account for my blogging and yes I know you recommend wordpress and blogger is owned by google but it’s what I want to stick to for now. Adsense revenue as your only source of online income is like having all your eggs in one basket.
Thanks Lisa for your tips!
Hello Lisa,
Yes, totally agree with you as Google changes everytime its algorithm and that make the thing worst for the bloggers or web site owners who are solely dependent on google traffic as you mentioned above. Even my site also got affected few days back,but recover after some time. For a certain period i was in loss due to decrease in google search engine ranking.
My site is affected severe in recent google update, there is no artificial promotion, but went wrong any help?
Agree with the content of this post. So any website rely on Google for all their website visitors and on diversifying into other traffic streams. Myself I do no take anything for granted, traffic from Google is a bonus.
Panda affect hit me slightly as I did not update my website for 7 months with an fresh content. Many of my links dropped away and I have a new strategy that is showing good results to counteract Panda.
If I was earning 6 figures from my websites I would be set for life in one year. On another note, it seems that Google is slowly leaning away from creating oportunities for bloggers, but much like certain politicians, instead focusing on making life easier for those already doing quite well. I realize they are striving for nuetrality and trying to put the most relevant at the top, but relevance seems to be taking a back seat to views and traffic, which can easily be pumped-up with money, making the whole “neutral” search thing kind of a joke.
Also, I would like to point out that this is the percise reason monoploys are destructive to liberty.
Great article Lisa,
I love the concept of residual income thats why I got into network marketing. Great tips here. I am always lerning from you!!
Paul Butler
Google Panda, Penguin, one thing is for sure, just constantly blog, do not over optimize and I think your site will be safe.
The trend nowadays are blacklinks from video and PRs
Are you also using PRs to promote your sites Lisa?
Again, another stupendous post Lisa.
Yeah I also noticed your static site lost the top spot for some keywords it used to rank 1. This is the reason why I am waiting for Yahoo or Bing to compete closer to Google so Google could not hold new bloggers like me on the neck.
Hi Lisa
“I knew my income was relying too heavily on Google traffic” exactly my thought process too. We were hit by one of the updates on the 29th September and we still haven’t recoved fully although it is getting there.
However even before it happened we knew we were in a very difficult place where 100% of our income was via google and we knew we could have been in trouble.
In some ways, these algo changes have been good as they have forced us to re-evaluate our website structure, content and link profile and now we are building links with our local community which we have never done before.
i like your post, but don’t like panda bcoz it always lower my blog rank
I love the concept of residual income thats why I got into network marketing.
Lisa,
Insightful, honest and to the point as always, another great post! My question to you is you say that you say, “Anytime your traffic and business model is largely dependent upon one site you have absolutely no control over, you are playing with fire.”
Does this mean that you say that even with a business model that has several diversified income streams both on and off-line and small local presence, would you say that still you need more than one site?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks so much!
Hello Lisa… Great tips here..
stop building the site for search engines.. back to relevance and natural.
Great post Lisa, I couldn’t agree more, with Penguin and Panda hitting so many sites, I have started diversifying my traffic techniques concentrating far more on CPA offers, and email marketing.
I LOVE this post. Especially what you said on Panda updates and depending on Google (Google traffic) as your sole means of traffic and income. I agree wholeheartedly that Google is responsible for their business model – I’m responsible for mine.
Hello Lisa,
totally agree with you as Google changes everytime its algorithm and that make the thing worst for the bloggers or web site owners who are solely dependent on google traffic as you mentioned above.
Yeah it really hurts to see your income drop after an update. But then again, the people who were affected most were the one’s who didn’t do thei job properly. If you don’t spam and do your off page seo the right way and build qulaity content you shouldn’t feear anything i think in the future!
Absolutely correct. Another great post. All search engines are solo businesses and you can’t depend on them always. Thanks for sharing.
It’s beed almost one year of launching Google panda updates , and now we all SEO’s became much familiar with the updates. I was searching about Google panda and came to your post . Thumbs -up for a well written post.
one more buzz which is so common now a days if the positions got lost from 1st page seo freaks its coz of panda lol……the Google team have released around 20-25 set of algos which repetitively come into existence from last 6-8 months which make google dance….stay safe deploy links which look natural to search engine will be the best key to survive from google algorithms effects
There is a buzz around about the “google zebra” the fresh update from google .updates create panic after 7-10 days but rumors started from February itself so many forums continuously talk about it ..be natural make look links natural to search engine is the key of success
I had had a problem with the update last year but after I complained they fixed it. At least I think they must have done something because things went back to normal. Mine is all original content. Now last few days it’s again happened. Page views drastically gone down, and I think there must be another update which no one knows about. February 2013 Google Update of which there are rumours of.
As for content, mine is all original. However its a photo blog so I am not sure how much I can write below the photos. I write very little as the category is photographs. I wonder if Google penalizes photo blogs.
Great tips. My SBI sites were hit hard by Panda.so many forums continuously talk about it ..be natural make look links natural to search engine is the key of success…thanks you very much.
Thanks for this Great tips. My SBI sites were hit hard by Panda. The experience has really woke me up to what I was doing wrong. I started looking for ways to diversity the next day.
Thanks Lisa, for another solid message. Yes, I knew I was overly dependent on Google so I can only blame myself.
great post!! and the line like “Google never guaranteed you anything and they don’t owe you any traffic. They are running their own business as they see fit, and by relying on them too heavily, they are running YOUR business too.” is awesome spot. you wrote a very good topic really.
Well i think. Panda will only punish that blogs which has little or no original content. So as my opinion , don’t copy content from any site. You will get punish by Google Panda.
The best way to get rid of google algorithms be real to google .Work on content which is real and not copied from some else site….work on real links instead of quantity target quality
Shane I think you are right but see around yourself .. what do you see ??? We see sites which are using shady SEO techniques at the top of google… these websites pay to get lots (and by lots i mean thousands of backlinks) and what does google do about them ??? They put them at the top… I don’t mean to say that google is bad but the fact is search business is evolving and blackhatters are finding ways to bypass that leaving the mom and pop stores to fend for themselves!!
Your post was a bit harsh but it has truth… Google Updates have ruined many a businesses… it hurts small businesses to pay so much for SEO only to get that progress shattered with a new algorithm update… SEO Companies are also not helpful in that respect … they do blackhat SEO and amass a lot of links or use shady techniques… Ultimately the consumer is the sheep who gets slaughtered…
Google search is not for searches really it for getting you to their favorite sites. They should be called a suggestion engine bc thats all they do. The big guys out there in our biz have $$ to pay their way to the top bc it also make Google $$.
G also like to keep us working for them fro free bc all the changes they make to algo is more for their FREE r&d. They make a few senseless changes and see how we react, what changes we make and they learn from it. They see what we alter or do diff then apply them to their “pet” sites like Youtube. Most of the site there are copyright infringements but they are still there for all to watch.
People need to be allowed to know there are other options for searching besides the big G. I am on top for all my keywords for bing and yahoo and most others and a page or 2 behind them on G. I gave up trying to make them happy with original content crap only to have someone ans scrap my good content to their site for the #1 spot. G wont even do a thing about it ever bc it would cost them $$ to have someone work on it to set it right.
Anyone with $ can pay a 3rd world citzn to sit and make backlinks all day long and to G thats ok bc it not automated and if they stay on the site and lok around for a min or 2 then G wont know how to detect it being mot real backlink.
I am back to pre panda/penquin $ and I dont have to worry about the G anymore. I just made up for it thru other diversified way so my G has been slayed for ever. And if they evrr do go back to REAL search engine then I am set to dominate there too w/o any work on my part.
I have also made $ teaching others how to build sites and find tool to help them get to the top. I have a vos server that I host my own sites PLUS I rent space to others as managed or self managed webspaces to create other streams of $$.
SRY for the spelling.grammar errors I was in rush to write this.
Thank you Lisa, for another solid message. Yes, I knew I was overly dependent on Google so I can only blame myself.
There are many problems with online business or website to be run. Don’t under estimate Google Panda anyway.
I had a few niche websites that I built that were completely wiped out with the panda update. However, a few of them were design related and I found that I could get even more traffic from pinterest pretty easily.