For the last two weeks, the Net has been buzzing with chatter about the latest Google algorithm shake-ups.
This time there were 3 fairly big updates that rolled out over the span of 10-12 days.
So in case you missed it, here’s a recap…
On September 27/28th, Google launched an EMD update (Exact Match Domain) that targeted “low quality” (their words) sites that were ranking well primarily because of the phrase match (and didn’t have enough other signals to support and validate such a high ranking).
Google must have really set the bar high for “high quality” because when an awesome site like Traffic Generation Cafe gets hit, you can’t help but wonder what the heck is going on.
Nevertheless, a few days later, we learned there was also a Panda update around the same time…
@gregrysmith yes. 500+ algo launches/year mean 1-2 a day. I know of at least one other algo rolling out over same timeframe for example.
— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) September 30, 2012
That one other algo that Matt was referring to in that Tweet was later confirmed as Panda. So that would explain why the “small EMD weather report” didn’t seem so small after all.
So if you were hit and you don’t have an EMD then you were probably affected by Panda.
Then on October 8th, there was another update (Top Heavy 2) that targeted sites that had too many ads above the fold. (Top Heavy 1 launched in January.)
How Did I Fair?
With regards to my sites, I had some winners and losers. This blog won (15% traffic increase), but my static site saw a 10% drop in organic traffic.
In fact, my static site actually has 25% less organic traffic than it did this time last year. That’s the bad news.
The good news is my income has not dropped proportionately because of diversification and I’ll talk more about that in a bit.
But first, let’s discuss The Almighty G.
The Rumor Mill
I don’t want to spend too much time on rumors and speculation because it does no good, and no one really knows what’s going on but Google.
Some believe they are pushing down content/affiliate websites and favoring brands to force more spend on AdWords.
Whether that’s the truth or not is beyond my control.
Some people hit by the EMD update said they would change domain names and do a 301 redirect to the new name.
I’m no expert, but I personally think that’s a waste of time. Remember, Google didn’t penalize all EMD’s. They penalized the ones that didn’t have enough pre-determined “quality” signals Google looks for to support the ranking.
So even if you do create a completely new website, you still have to build it up to make it worthy to rank again, and that’s going to be much harder given that SEO seems to be changing.
I say, stick with what you have and work on diversification. That’s what I’ve been working on for the last year. It’s been a journey, but I’m having some success that I want to share and hopefully inspire you.
Email Marketing
You may remember I launched my WordPress Starter Tips for beginners several months back. This is the most success I’ve ever had with email from a conversion standpoint.
The list has been growing by about 1,100 subscribers per month and I have primarily been promoting the list in certain YouTube videos and pages on my sites.
Most of the tips are not promotional in any way. However, in some I make recommendations for WordPress themes, my WordPress ebook, etc. and it has really helped with income.
As you may know, I am having a love affair with the Genesis themes (Yes, that’s the theme this blog is now sporting). I’ve started switching more of my sites over to them, so I’ve been promoting the themes to my list, via video, etc.
(I will also be having a giveaway on this blog very soon. (Yipppeee!)
Email marketing has always been a struggle for me because it’s tough to strike the right balance between informational and promotional content. Obviously people don’t want to be pitched to all the time, but I still want to monetize the list.
So it’s been a challenge, but I’m finally seeing some results. Below is my current ShareASale affiliate earnings that have come mostly from Genesis referrals.
If you are having trouble getting conversions with traditional email marketing (something I’m just not very good at), setup some useful autoresponder tips that go out on various intervals.
Just keep the inform/promotion ratio around 90/10.
YouTube
You knew this was going to be on the list, didn’t you? 
I can’t say enough about YouTube and what it’s done for my diversification. Even though my 3 channels combined earn a small salary with the YouTube Partner program, I don’t focus on that because it’s Google-dependent revenue, and who knows what could happen with that in the future.
What’s more notable is that YouTube has helped with traffic, converting sales for more affiliate products, ebooks, etc.
Multi-Site Diversification
As I mentioned in another post, I have some other small sites I’ve been working on to further diversify my portfolio, but I have been spending more of my time building up my natural hair site.
It’s growing by the month and is not Google dependent. It started out that way, but lately more visitors are coming from Facebook, Pinterest, my YouTube channel and my forum that I just launched 2 1/2 months ago.
And finally, I’m getting into the Kindle publishing game and working on a book to add to the monetization mix.
So yes, I’ve been in Diversification Land, and it’s why I’ve only been blogging every other week instead of weekly (I hope you forgive me.)
The Verdict
Now, to answer the question I posed in the title…
No, Google did not kill the content/niche site model, but I do believe it is forever changed. The days of building content sites in hopes of drumming up a ton of Google traffic are coming to a close for the most part.
Of course, there will always be ways to find some success this way, but I think it’s even more of a risky model if that’s all you’re going to focus on.
There’s nothing wrong with targeting Google, but you should definitely plan to diversify sooner than later.
Don’t Give Up
I know it’s frustrating, and I’ve heard a lot of people say they are just going to throw in the towel. I can testify that diversification is hard work, but think of how much better off you will be when you do discover a way to be less dependent on The Big G.
Keep experimenting with different strategies and hang in there!
So what about you? Were you impacted? What are you doing outside of Google to promote your business today?
Hi, my name is 
Lots of useful info (once again), Lisa!
I just started working on my first Kindle book – like yesterday. I’m planning some niche books about photography and video. I’m also planning to create an e-book to sell on ClickBank.
How is your ClickBank doing these days?
Do you mean the books I sell or my sales from promoting other books? I now make more with CB from the sales of my own books. So there’s been a shift.
Lisa, I was wondering about books that you sell.
Oh OK, they’re doing well! In fact, I just wrote a post on that a few weeks ago. http://blog.2createawebsite.com/2012/09/17/ebook-creation-tips/
Thanks for the link to the other post (ebook creation tips). It has inspired me!
Thanks for a great article Lisa. I have adopted the mindset to not let Google’s changes discourage me. It’s difficult at times because for the past year I have seen the traffic to all ten of my sites go up and down like a yo yo.
This past month, I’ve noticed that my Amazon income went from averaging about thirty a month to one dollar.
Some of my niche sites have increased in traffic over the past month and some have decreased. When I look at the big picture of all of the changes Google has made over the past year, they have had a negative effect on my niche sites.
I am thankful that I started building email lists a couple of years ago. Without them I would have lost a lot of income.
Anyway, I am just trying to be level, steady and committed to my internet business even though at times there are large downward curves in my analytics reports.
That’s the way to go Jordy and the right attitude. I wish you the best.
@ Jordy – Your totally correct. You will never be perfect in their eyes, so whats the point. There not the only search engine anyways.
what’s interesting is that my sites that were doing well in terms of income are still doing the same if not better. others, more average in nature in terms of traffic and income have taken hits, a couple as much as 50% (these had recovered some of the lost traffic from the initial Panda and Penguin updates).
the landscape is certainly different and will continue to be. we are continuously forced to maintain a smaller/leaner portfolio of high quality sites – that’s why I have been focusing on my authority site lately.
Well that’s great news Sunil. Have you also noticed higher eCPM from Adsense in your niches?
not all Lisa. some have actually dropped in congruence with traffic while in others I have seen an opposite correlation, so yes to answer your question. very strange. sometimes I feel there are algos to “normalize” things because Google feels you deserve x traffic and y dollars. no matter how day to day goes, magic happens in the last few days of the month to ensure the “normalization” remains. beats me to this day
Also, Sunil just re-read my comment and I just want to clarify when I said “That’s great” I was referring to your income holding steady, not your traffic drops. I’m sure you got that but just wanted to make sure that I clarify it ’cause it looks a little weird. LOL
No! I am terribly disappointed and absolutely angry at your comments Lisa. How could you?
Hi Lisa,
Another timely topic, especially for followers who use SBI.
In my opinion SBI has made a big mistake in its continual (massive) investment in what it perceives as perpetual free Google traffic.
I don’t know if the writing is on the wall for small-time niche sites, but it is certainly a game that increasingly requires something truly special that goes well beyond the standard techniques of keyword mining.
I think people, and especially SBI, should learn to think of search engine traffic as an *ignition switch* rather than as the *entire vehicle*. It’s a great free way to kick off a business and get a flow (albeit a trickle) of targeted visitors to your business. But beyond that, you need to focus not only on other sources of traffic, but on getting your existing traffic to promote you to generate further traffic.
Those people who have been conditioned to just keep writing more and more and more content in the hope of getting more and more and more traffic are going to be increasingly disappointed at two levels.
Firstly, it gets harder and harder to increase traffic significantly through SE content as competition increases and Google gets better and identifying true quality. Not to mention the obvious fact that it’s darn hard to double the size of a 300 page site.
Secondly, the amount of time, energy, and skill it takes to monetize existing traffic is way underestimated by most people. I’ve learned that you have to put more into this part of the process than you ever did in writing content.
I didn’t mean to write this much, but it’s just frustrating me at the moment that all the thousands of SBI customers who are struggling to make a dime, many of whom have been badly penalized by Google, keep being told to rewrite their content and then write more. And more. And more.
I disagree (except in a few cases)
The Content/SE recipe gets the ball rolling, but it is the wrong thing to be putting all your energy into once you’re moving.
Derek
I’m glad you posted this. I actually just forwarded your comment to one of the contacts I have over at SiteSell.
I was lurking in the forums this weekend and noticed a discussion with Ken and another member about diversification beyond Google. So hopefully they will continue to update their guide to reflect the latest changes because just pumping out content in hopes Google will love you is not going to cut it. I have faith they will. *fingers crossed*
I’d love to see SiteSell respond to this and I’ve given them the opportunity to weigh in.
Lisa,
This is a awesome post and I love your take on the EMD update. I don’t have any EMD sites, I only have my one blog. In the future I do plan on developing more sites but I believe I will stick to just developing several different blog sites rather than EMD or static sites. I like them better and they seem a lot easier to control the traffic.
I’ve just relaunched my blog about 2 weeks ago and I’m dead set on building it up without the use of SEO. I’ve become a self proclaimed SEO rebel and I couldn’t feel more freer!
I’ve been focusing on driving traffic to my site by leveraging social media (FB/Twitter), Content Aggregators (BizSugar/Scoop.it), Forums (WF/SME), Blog commenting, and building relationships with influential bloggers in my niche.
These traffic strategies have been working phenomenally for me. My blog has grown 10x’s faster than my previous blogs. Not to mention how much more fun I’m having blogging now without the added stress of kissing Google’s fanny.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. It’s much appreciated!
Ti
Ti, I am so proud of you. I have been following your tweets on Twitter and YOU are an example of what the future is about with marketing…. PEOPLE. And you are having a great time to doing it, which is always a plus. You are a great writer as well. I’m thinking of doing another post on diversification outside of Google and may ask you for a quote (with a link back to your site of course). Stay tuned!
Thanks, Lisa! I really appreciate all the great content you put out and how real and authentic you are in your marketing as well.
I’ve realized that to really make it blogging, you HAVE to build relationships with PEOPLE. There’s absolutely now way I could do this by myself.
It’s not all about keyword density, article spinning, or backlinking your site to a pulp. It’s about acknowledging, uplifting, and celebrating PEOPLE. That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned on my blogging journey.
I’d love to provide a quote should you release another diversity post. I appreciate you following me, and I appreciate the compliments. It means a lot coming from you.
Thanks again!
Ti
I love this theme
So Traffic Gen was hit by this too? wow, that is just crazy. I am not even sure what Google’s goal is cause you know they aren’t ranking better sites higher all the time. I guess diversifying is the road the go which I’ve been doing slowly over time and definitely plan to do even more 
Thanks, Brankica! You’ve got the social game down so you’re going to be fine. I don’t spend as much time in that arena as I should.
Lisa:
I have been building my website for 3 years now and got hit by Panda and Penguin, so I lost a ton of Google traffic. However, I have started a new coaching website that is not Google dependent and now I use my stress management site as a good source of information for my clients to read as they wish. I have about 225 pages of helpful tips for managing stress but I could never live on the adsense monies so I have diversified. I have several e-books I have written, so I am looking at Kindle and I have really enjoyed Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Your post is a great reminder not to become dependent on something (Google) over which you have no control. It is just frustrating to work on creating more content without any security that what you are doing will produce a positive impact.
Good for you (regarding the new website). It is discouraging to not know if all your hard work is ever going to pay off SEO-wise but they say the only constant is change so I guess we’ll just adapt.
I wish you the best.
Thanks for the update. Usually I don’t listen to all the mumbo-jumbo people tell about Big G but nowadays it’s pretty obvious how desperate they really are. I mean when do they start practicing what they preach? The paid search results which now eat away most of the screen are mostly garbage (depends, of course, but still).
Regarding AdSense: For me this month and the two previous where the best ones
But on the other hand: It’s still peanuts compared to what I make with affiliate marketing so I wouldn’t be too upset if Google decided to ban me for whatever reason…
I’ve noticed an increase in eCPM in 2012 for my niche so that means ad spend is probably up.
thanks for this info.. i was wondering how come my traffic increases almost 40%…
Hi Lisa, you provided some vital info here about the three separate updates Google made. I had a hard time keeping them straight, so thanks for the details.
My favorite is the “top heavy AdSense” updates you mentioned. It’s a double whammy when you think about it because Google is trying to make sure that advertisers get quality leads from their ads too. And most of those sites with ads right after or before content titles are low quality or they appear to be anyway. And you are SO right about YouTube. I tell all my readers that YouTube is the answer to their AdSense problems.
I referred someone to your WordPress starter guide this weekend because they wanted to have a static home page on their blog and they had a few other questions that I knew your book could answer for them. I’m not sure if they purchased the book but they replied back and said that even the sales page was a big help!
Chat soon Lisa, thanks again.
Wow! Thanks so much for the referral, Ileane. I’ve also been sending people your way because I am so amazed with what you’ve done with Basic Blog Tips in such a short time. You are definitely the GO-TO person for a great example of someone who built up a blog with social media. You won’t have to worry about any of these updates anyway. THAT’s the way to go!
Thank you for keeping me posted about the Google updates. I wasn’t really updated this past few days due to some personal issues that kept me busy.
Hi Lisa
My blog’s home page has dropped from PR3 to PR2 after the recent Google changes. In my opinion their search results will soon be dominated by the big corporate companies who are willing to pay the most.
I see from some of the comments here, that everybody seems to see social media as the answer.
But in the not too distant future even that will change. Because all of these wonderful social media sites. That we are using for free. Will soon realize that they need to make money to survive.
They are making money
that is the point. The more we rely on social media the better for them, but that doesn’t have to change for an average user since us doing business online are already paying for social media – ads!! I don’t think anything will change too much in this part of it, because they are already making money. For example, Facebook not letting you use your page timeline photo for any promotional purposes so you have to buy ads for the promotion and so on.
Actually, not all social networks make money. Facebook does of course, but Twitter as yet is not profitable, nor is YouTube and I doubt Pinterest makes a profit either.
I actually have to agree with Brankica, I don’t see them charging as long as traffic is growing the way it is. There’s just no need to — especially if they turn a profit from advertising. FB is still trying to master that part, but I can’t see them charging.
I can’t believe the “niche sites” will suddenly fall – perhaps this latest flurry should be considered as more of a “leveler of the playing field” – putting websites and their stats in a more accurate perspective?
Lisa,
Love what you do, and I have received such great information from you over the past 2years. I just need to put much of what you teach into action.
I do have a question though. I wanted to know why you are not podcasting?
I think that would be another way of building more loyal followers. You would easily be able to gain new followers from having your podcast on itunes which would direct people to you website. Sort of what you are doing on Youtube. There at tons of people that go to Itunes to listen to podcast.
Just curious!
John
Thanks, John. I honestly have no good answer for that other than, I just haven’t done it. I think I’ve just been so busy with so many sites. But you are right. That would be another way to expand and I should probably make that more of a priority. Thanks.
I’ve only recently launched my niche site, haven’t monetized it yet. But I’m aware that relying on Google for all traffic is a bad idea, so this post just confirmed that. I believe I have quite a strong, untapped niche though (learning to code) so I think I should be OK.
Nice new theme too Lisa!
I usually try not to pay too much attention to Google updates. I think you’ve hit the key points very well. Focus on quality content, you user experience and traffic diversification. Right now I’m getting over 55% of my traffic from referring sites and almost 40% from search. Not only that but 20% of my search referrers are not from Google. I have yet to try Email marketing but I’m sure I will be doing so at some point!
Lisa,
Great information as always…
I did have an idea/suggestion for a video/book in the future. You were mentioning to “TiRoberts” that the way she is building her business…though social as opposed to SEO…is the way to go.
For the ‘newbies’ out there, wouldn’t having a “Beginners Guide to Building Your Website Through Social Media As Opposed To SEO” book/video to refer to? I couldn’t think of anyone better to write it.
Just a thought.
Hey Tony,
The reason I wouldn’t write that book is I don’t really consider myself skilled with social media marketing. Yes, I have a large following because of my site’s traffic but there’s a big difference than having a following and using it to convert sales, etc. I’m honestly pretty green and basic with social media. So I couldn’t imagine charging someone for that (lol), but if I found a good resource already out here, I’d happily promote it.
Well, I appreciate the honesty…after all, that’s why I would have bought it after all.
But I do think that it is something that needs to be focused on more and more. So I apologize if I am being presumptuous, but the more tips that you could provide…even if you are a “pretty green” as you say, the better,
Thanks for the help.
I completely agree. That’s why I want to do that post I was talking about with Ti and others. Stay tuned.
This same question was asked on one of Google hangout video. The answer was, webmasters have work for their ranking.
Because your website url matches a key word phrase does not necessarily mean your website or page is the best answer.
As far Panda date, yes a few of my page on my main site, (www.MathATube.com) has lost some traffic, but I counter that by creating more quality page.
I think with Google you have to constantly try to improve your site. Keeping it niche is still the best way. I spend a lot of my time doing SEO stuff. My overall traffic has increase every year. With SEO you have to have Parthian. Whatever you do today, you will not see the benefit until 6 months to a year.
Diversification
Diversifying is a lot harder than it seems. Trying to grow traffic other than search traffic has been really hard for me. This is something I will try and change in 2013.
Lisa sometimes you talk about Google as if they will disappear soon. There are a lot of website owners making a living from Google AdSense. I am sure that Google and AdSense will still be here 5 years from.
Denzil, I’m one of those people whose AdSense income could earn a living but fortunately that’s not my only income. The reason I talk about things changing is in the last year I have probably received over 150 emails from people who were either banned from AdSense or were severely paralyzed by a loss of traffic and AdSense was their main source of income. It may even be more than that. There will always be people who will find a way to make good money as long as AdSense is around. Not trying to scare people, just being realistic. All I’m saying is diversify.
Off Topic: Hey Lisa, is there any reason why you have domains which you use to promote other products, but those domains, simply point to pages on your 2createawebsite blog? Just wondering.
I have some other projects I want to start in order to diversify my income and I can’t decide whether I want to create a new domain or just add it to my current site. The content is related.
Thanks!
When I started building sites, blogging was not around. So I just never took the time to consolidate. If the topics are related, I say add it to your site, but if it’s a different topic then choose another domain. If I started over today I’d definitely have the related stuff on one site.
thanks!
Hi Lisa,
Great article! Googles EMD update targeted low quality ones that were only there due to EMD’s. I totally agree with moving on as SEO is changing right before our eyes. Diversity and knowledge will keep you from losing ground, along with keeping track of Google changes. The new Webmaster Guidelines is a real help with best practices to help Google find, index and rank your sites.
My site traffic was decreased by 10% but the update did not affect Page Rank.
Lisa I like the Take away from your Blog post and that is Diversification..
Regarding Google Killing niche site, I disagree with it.. This new EMD update was kinda rubbish and Google should focus more on content level and on site SEO then targeting sites based on Domain name..
Though one reason for which majority of Micro-niche sites got hit by Google is because they have been sitting idle for months and most important quality of content.. One of my reader who is running almost 50+ real estate Blogs in U.S, almost all his sites got affected with DUO: EMD + Panda update and he made some drastic changes and he could see the improvement in traffic……
The whole deal is play along with Google new ranking signal and pick the obvious signals like Google authorship, site speed and integrate it on your site…..
I think why most of the Amazon EMD sites has dropped off the ranking is because most of the sites optimized for the respective keywords (with a few pages only) had been staying there for long unattended by the webmasters. I think Google said some time ago at the beginning of Panda update that it was trying to serve ‘most updated relevant content’ to the people searching for information. See it is ‘information’ and not for ‘universal truths’ people are searching for. And information need be updated. So when Google sees some pages that carry content that stayed untouched for eon, it sees those pages as outdated information, and such sites go down the gorge. Any sense in my guesses?
Diversification… How come we all know it, yet so easily ignore it?
Your post, Lisa, was a tremendous proof that driving traffic from several different direction is our businesses and bottom lines need.
And thanks for the mention, of course! I find it interesting that I stopped actively doing any SEO a few months ago, yet I still smacked hit by Google.
Wow am I glad I’ve been removing ads from my sites – not only from above the fold but also the low performing units or ads that just aren’t being clicked. I hope content stays King though because I’m pretty much invested in it.
Hi Lisa,
I took your concept of diversification and not be depending of SEO and organic traffic.
I’ve just started other new WP related blog, and it’ll be founded on email marketing and social media traffic, but if some natural traffic comes is welcomed
Big G is changing rules practically every week, so niche sites are challenge, because this model in general is more quantity than quality.
For me, the model is quality in every place and maybe with this concept, those sites will not be affected by the constant changes in the algos.
I’ll start to expand also to promote quality ebooks and your ebooks via CB are in my target
Cheers,
Gera
This article is comprehensive, however, I would like to add a few suggestions.
As with the new Google updates, niche markets are somewhat in a compromised position.
First, you probably now should not have your keywords in your domain. “HomeImprovement.com” , that could get you penalised.
Second, with niche markets, it is possible for a blogger to author content that seems to be repetitive because of the non-diversification. Now, this is something Google is watching keenly. As it did before on same content that appears on too many sites (I do not know what too many is), they probably though plagiarism.
I think the best route for niche websites and marketing is not relying on Google but developing a list of permanent subscribers which is only possible if you have epic content.
Lisa, Great update on what is happening with new Google algo’s. I have not noticed a drop in any of my sites so I must be doing the right thing. However I do have a question, you mention that SEO is changing and I understand the emphasis has changed and is now on more content, better content and most important not duplicate content. I think that everyone needs to constantly be on the lookout for anyone copying your content. Can you comment on that?
Lisa, I have been waiting for you to address this topic. I was curious of what you were going to say. Great summary on the attack of the wild animals coming out of Google’s deep and secret caves.
And the suggestion to diversify… yeah, don’t we all know that? Yet it is so hard to do! Any suggestions on time-management and other aspects of researching options while still maintaining what someone is already doing (like regular posting, social interactions, etc.). There are only so many hours in a day!
Oh, and by the way I LOVE the new look of your site! Very clean!
Lisa, I am going to be honest my site is ranked ok, but not enough for Google to be concerned with. That is good and bad because I want to be in a more traffic position.
I have an amazing resolve and right now I am not dependent on Google income.
Thanks Lisa for this great information. Actually i saw lots of fluctuation in my website keywords ranking from last 20 days. Everyday it shows some kind of variation in ranking but some time it shows lots of drop down or increment in ranking. It’s because of Google update ?
it actually is difficult. I’ve thought about throwing in the towel a few times. I think i better put in more effort and use better strategies, remaining persistent until success becomes reality.
hello lisa, thank you for updating about google updates, all the information you have mentioned above in this post are very informative for me. i am new user of your website.
Google is on the hunt for low quality websites ranking higher. At the end of the day its all providing value and quality content, so they say.
When it comes to the niche model, it often goes against what Google preaches. Less “natural” authentic linking, often scraped content etc.
I think the niche site model still works, provided its a “Authority” niche site model. Which means the effort one must put in is much more than before.
And it’s always best to diversify traffic sources, revenue sources.
Thanks for this thought provoking post.
Agree Shamelle, authority niche is the way to go.
Niche websites are the one survives than random websites. Other ways to get and maintain traffic apart from google is given good.
Google’s updates sure did do a number on my Google traffic!
I was expecting to see a major decline in sponsored posts (this is one area where I do very well) as I have noticed a lot of people contacting me to remove old posts but I’m still getting a lot of sponsored post offers.
On one of my sites I’ve actually noticed a huge uptick in guest post requests. I’d get one or two a month normally but within the last month I’ve seen two or three a week.
Same here Rick.
Nice post, thank you.
The niche based website with the exact match domain was a relatively quick and easy way to see traffic.
I’m not sure it should be so heavily penalized but it sort of makes sense. You could in theory become an “authority” just through the registration of the right domain.
A few of my sites got affected while some others rank pretty well. I’m in the observing mode now. Well, there have been many updates recently. I’ll wait a bit more to see how it’s going before I tweak my sites.
This Blog is Great, So much to learn for a newbie like myself.
I really enjoyed this article. roatan excursions
One thing i always believe is seo and content, No matter the kind of algo google roll out, So far you have enough quality content, you are still the same. Content is king
I was killed by these updates. All of my blogs with EMD have gone very far away. I admit it’s my fault to depend 100% on Google and not build any email list. I think that in the future, I MUST learn how to build an email list plus stay tuned for further changes from Google.
Hello Lisa, thanks for this good blog post.
I think that if we are producing quality articles and do not try to link building in unnatural way then we don’t have to worry about any G update.
Regards,
Fahad
It’s so annoying, i set up EMD’s because that is what everyone was telling me to do, now i find that google has taken a stand against them, thats not to much of a problem if you have good original content so thats what i shall aim for and see how i go, also i shall have a look at diversity so that i dont have to rely on the big G
Check it out. I’ve been around the block for a while. My domain (not keyword specific) has been getting #1 spots for the articles on the site that I never researched the keyword tool for… even over major authority sites.
Google’s algorithm changes so much because it’s been broken since it’s inception. It’s flawed very badly. If they don’t fix it soon, other services like Duckduckgo, or Bing will reign supreme. Just look at this as a glitch. It makes no sense I’d be ranking so well for such competitive keywords if it wasn’t a flaw. A lot of my articles are “rewritten” content with my own twist but in actuality its rehashed gibberish.
Content won’t die. Nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed is you need to make more “broad” sites. What I mean by this is that you need to target a niche… no micro niches please! A niche meaning instead of: Toys > Ages 13 or older > Board Game > Monopoly. Use something like the following: Toys > Board Games For Ages 13+.
If this is a permanent change from Google, it does make sense in a way. Nobody should be able to make “EMD.com/.net” and grab all the traffic with crappy articles. One thing I have taken from my new rankings on my main site and a few others, is that Google is now looking at average content like I’m writing right here in this comment. I don’t even think the algorithm is taking keyword density as a strong factor anymore. Now, I’m sure they don’t like the same word repeated for the entire title/article/whole website.
That last sentence brings me to another topic. I do a lot of “testing” on bad domains and blogger accounts. With that in mind, a long time ago I had created a program that could take an article, even from CNN, and transform it into the exact same text. I can take an aged domain, and copy articles from CNN and over-rank the authority sites within a month. I’d be called a plagiarist by the naked eye to people; although there is a major flaw in Google’s algorithm they will never fix because it’s so whacked out there, that they would have to recode even their text encoding (UTF etc) part of their algorithm to even fix it. Even if they figured it out, it would break other parts of their code.
Now with that last paragraph said, I love breaking things. I think it’s always fun to beat the “man”; which is Google on the internet as a web developer/marketer. I don’t use these techniques on my serious sites, and neither should anyone else. I guess I’m juts a reformed Blackhat. (:
In closing, lets say that Google is causing Armageddon for the internet marketers. It doesn’t matter! Pay Per Click will never die. It’s worth too much to any search engine. The only thing you require with that method is a good bit of pocket change, some HTML knowledge to create awesome landing pages, and no conscience to sell crap products to people who are desperate for something. (So happy that the laws changed those rebills!)
PS.
Hey Lisa! You’re videos are great on Youtube. I kinda rambled a bit on that last stuff, but I just gave you some pro content for free with no website linked to my name! My main account is in the E-mail field. Hit me up if you have any questions about this comment or anything else!
Wow, Shawn! You have been doing some serious testing over there! Interesting finds. I agree that content sites aren’t going anywhere. It’s just about adapting and knowing the old tactics don’t work as well. Nothing can stay the same forever.
Something I forgot to mention in the original post is that the most crucial way to speak correctly to your audience and increase conversions, is to do major demographic research. I don’t mean a site or two, but multiples. Even the economic news and labor statistics helps with this in the current economy. I checked “HTML” on a website and without giving competitors way too much knowledge, single women who have children is one statistic that is a winner. Of course much more research needs to be done to get pin-point targets though!
not exactly, but it has affected allot on the blogs and bloggers income … like me
Sometimes I really don’t understand what Google is trying to do… I doesn’t matter if you are a whitehat or a blackhat person anymore, the updates are just making things harder then I think it should, as what we can see from many users, it is doing more bad then good. Correct me if I am wrong.
Hi Lisa, thanks for this post. As someone who is relatively new to SEO, there is one thing that I don’t understand – why would Google be trying to kill content-based sites? Surely (and from what I’ve read) content is still absolutely vital, it’s the people who drive traffic to ostensibly content (but actually are content-like, with farmed blog posts) that Google are going after. And not fast enough, in my book… Good advice on youtube though – you seem to be doing amazingly well on there! It’s a channel we’ve neglected, and will get back onto…
It all comes down to money. Yes Google wants content, but lets not forget they are a business and make most money from advertising. At the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for their bottom line. Perhaps this encourages more ad spend and that’s the goal. We’ll never know for sure but that’s what people are speculating.
I think these bombastic changes to the way google bot behaves are unfair and should be more controlled.
Hi Lisa,
An informative piece of work. I got so much to know. For all these help to have a cool mindsets when Google comes up with different algorithm shake ups. Its so important to stay in control and manage the ways not to face deformations. It is beyond words to explain how it really helps to the novices or any established blogger. Thanks for the share.:)
Very interesting and inspiring to read how you’ve diversified and escaped the “wrath of Google” so to speak. I don’t think your posting frequency, by the way, should be cause for an apology when you churn out great content the way you do, Lisa. Love it.
Some sound advice here, but for the majority of new small businesses, diversification is a bitter pill to swallow when building good quality serps is so difficult. So much time is devoted to building a site with quality content, that there is little time to even look at other channels such as fb, g+, yt etc. Especially when those diversified channels can’t be measured in some kind of performance table. Like a search engine.
BTW – really enjoyed http://twitter.com/misery mammoth post above. Entertainiong and enlightening!
lisa i remember your you tube video where you state “why you don’t discuss link building” and from that post i learned a pretty awesome thing and that is to keep doing your good work, if your content is good enough, people will share it for you.
i am following the same advice and recently one of my blog post was picked by a eye ware brand and was posted at their facebook page, and from there i received over 600+ people and 320 fb likes and 41 tweets, i wish google put all the black hat opportunist away
, thank you lisa for the guidance 
I don’t personally feel that it’s dead all together. I think the sites that just wrote 4 total articles are on there way out, but if you continue to write great content you will get back in the mix. It just comes down to writing good in my eyes anyways.
it’s make me confusing, althoug many of site tell about good niche…i rather be simple way to make my site better, like this
Hi Lisa,
Do you think that if you still produce quality content that you can still rank well in Google or those days are over or is it heading that way?
Quality content alone won’t do it unless you have a niche all to yourself (which is rare these days). Plus if you are in a niche by yourself, I’d seriously question the demand. LOL Today, you need social media signals and quality backlinks.
It makes me too confusing as I run a number of my sites which are niche based and I wonder if these updates ruin my sites or I am safe.
My site traffic was increased by 15%
There was an update on October 8th ?!!!! What do you mean by “too many ads above the fold”. Please, please, please explain.
Yes, Google demoted sites that had too many ads above the natural cut off of a page. Of course not all sites were affected, but if you don’t have enough quality signals (social media, quality backlinks, etc.) then those sites were affected more. This is the 2nd update they’ve done.
Google AdSense just came to my city and they were warning webmasters about that very issue.
I had no idea. Thanks for explaining, Lisa. I really appreciate it.
This sounds like something a big company the size of Google would do. As for static niche sites I must say what I’ve seen to help which is to use paid traffic. Sure you need a budget to test and tweak certain traffic sources but once you find the winners all you have to do is ramp it up!
Hey Lisa and other readers,
Google updates changed a lot in the way traffic is distributed, but we need to remember that that’s a step in the right direction, always.
I’ve been active publishing niche sites as a sole source of income during college, and all of these websites have always been judged by google fairly, as I see it. Eventhough I spent almost all my time in preparing articles and blogging (which I am very excited about starting) partly because of my fear of google, I have to say I am very pro Big G as a search engine.
The reason for that is that Google’s only goal is having people use their search engine, in order to earn money through adwords. To do so, Google has to give searchers what they are looking for. If searchers over all are more satisfied with their search results, conversion rates are higher. If Google doesn’t give their searchers what they are looking for, they will inevitably start using different search engines. By this logic, if your site gets hit by Google, you are not what people are looking for. It isn’t resist from updating the search algorithms because it will prevent some bloggers to make money by promoting things their visitors weren’t really looking for. The sole reason for the existence of Google is to lead people to the pages they are looking for, whether there are affiliate links on them or not.
The publishers first goal is to create that content searchers are looking for, and secondly to monetize them.
What are your thoughts on this?
René
Rene,
You hit the nail on the head! Well said
Corinne
You know what, I am not surprised. Google whether on purpose or by accident sometimes throws out the baby with the bathwater. I haven’t built my second site (first niche site) yet but I’m prepping what other channels I can use to guide people to the content. YT is a great option but so FB, TW and even Squidoo! You have to diversify and make sure that only a percentage of your visibility relies on Google rather than the whole pie.
Great article!
I got destroyed by the 3 Google updates!
I got very frustrated and stopped working online for a couple weeks. I cleared my mind and decided I need to focus and get back on the horse and give it another go. I think I can learn from my mistakes and get better at creating content online and profiting from it.
Thanks for sharing your take on this Lisa. It is very helpful to see everyones point of view on this topic. Google really doesn’t give a lot of information on their updates and probably for good reason. So if I can get as much free information as possible from others its greatly appreciated.
I feel your pain James, and have had a similar experience, my income down by 70% from last year.
I too am so stressed and upset, but I am not giving up either, I think it’s just time to re-evaluate and get craftier.
I have been reading all the comments to help me understand what the heck is going on with my traffic. Two of my sites were hit pretty bad by the P’s earlier this year. My 8 year old coaching website was not touched, until recently (traffic -10%). Reading this post has helped me get an attitude readjustment – no matter how much great content I put out, the traffic is going to my old content that has been around for five plus years. Getting traffic for my new content is almost impossible. I can see that I need to change what I’m doing.
thanks for the info, i was hit hard by the latest updates, ive lost half my traffic
i have a few things to try from this list so ive bookmarked it!
very useful information thanks! you have a great content.
Thank you Lisa for this interesting information. I hope to grow my business by following your wonderful blog.
yes, due to all google updates, most of the niche blogs has been punished, low quality contents are the main target for google..sound system equipment
hi lisa great advice and reviews , can i ask you opinion about social media marketing ? you know the almighty G are really not friendly at this time . so my question is social media marketing can really effective to attract traffic to our site thx
Yes, but it’s hard work. For example just having a Twitter account or using Google Plus is not going to get you more traffic. But building relationships, engaging with other users, etc. will help because people are more likely to share your content. The more shares you get from people you are connected to, the more it may help with SEO.
and what about pinterest , just a few days ago i saw many ebook and course about pinterest that they claim can attract traffic . is this true ? you know i am really tired about seo . i always follow the guidelne in google but sadly every time google change the algorithma my website always get effect including income and traffic . so i want to try social media marketing .
Quality unique content is king or in Lisa’s case – Queen. No matter what Google does, if you provide quality, in-demand, unique content, people will find you
Lewis
Yeah last google update has been thrown away my site from serp.
As usual you are always giving people useful content. I am in the process of creating backlinks to my site and your posts always help me find the best “white hat” way so I really appreciate that. Even though some websites were hit with traffic after the panda update, I feel that it was about time Google came out and did something about it so it penalizes those who were into “black hat” seo tactics and using shortcuts when honest people out there with websites were trying to rank the right way. What are your thoughts? I’m sure you agree because you were an SBI user, and I know that SBI encourages people only to use “white hat seo tactics”
Informative post.Yeah EMD is the Google’s update which affects on Exact Match Domain.But according to Matt Cutts, if you maintain high quality content, your site will not be affected.Maintain high quality content in your exact match domain sites.Thanks for sharing importance of email marketing.
Wonderful information here, Lisa! First time reader and really enjoyed your positioning on all the changes going on with Google. It wouldn’t surprise me that Google may possibly be “throttling” the way sites show up to help bring up the need to purchase AdWords. I have also heard from other articles that Facebook is trying to develop a search engine as well. It seems to me, that possibly Google and Facebook are taking ideas from one another (anyone who has a Facebook page noticed how on this year, the viewability was getting throttled by Facebook with posts). Diversification seems to be the way to stay ahead of the curve!
I think the best strategy is multi-site diversification. It is always better not to rely on one site or one strategy. Affiliate marketing, adsense, selling own products etc. could be embedded on different sites for stable online income.
Google has been busy this year. It can’t all be negative…someone must be benefiting
my website was banned for 3 months last year because edm. i have made improvements and hope to not fall again!
Hmm, it is not very happy to hear such a thing. Google has changed so often so it is very hard for webmaster and Seoers. My site was even banned, got penalty then I must write an email for them. Does current SEO methods such as social media, Linkwheel, directory submission still help?
Great article I am not familiar with affiliate programs but definitely I need to check ShareASale
Thanks once again
Hello Lisa Ma’am,
In last Google Page Rank update I have lost my Page Rank but by reading this article I have confidence that at this time I will gain my page rank back really thanks for it 
First of all I am new to your blog and your blog looks awesome
Your article is great! lots of things I have learned
hello lisa mam,
i am new to ur blog thank you for updating about google updates, all the information you have mentioned above in this post are very informative and useful.
I think the authority site model is the way to go. I’m letting my Amazon niche sites (that ALL got hammered) sit for a while. Working on them kind of sucks anyway. It’s way more fun working on stuff you actually like.
Great post… but I think the niche site model still lives. I think people need to be careful about how they do their marketing (backlinking) of their websites. Obviously spewing weak content into a ton of article farms used to work… but google doesn’t want that to be the way you get promoted anymore. To quote a pretty popular movie, “if you build it they will come” isnt good enough. You need to build quality, and have others talk about it to be good enough now. And if so, you can still create a number of quality sites that aren’t necessarily authority sites.
Thanks for a very useful post, Lisa. And yeppers to Adam there–everything I’m reading on my favorite blogs concur–just write good content already…that’s….why they are my favorite blogs after all. Google is simply starting to honor that more and more, so really the internet seems to be becoming a more “natural” place, at least in terms of search rankings, IMHO.
I know this is seriously getting to the point where people will have to add REAL, useful content on the internet to get ranked well. What’s up with that…?
niche content does still live on – diversity in backlinks is the best plus social markers this is getting our sites back to where they were we lost 50% revenues last may!
Other than “not giving up” what are some things that I should be doing differently with this new Panda update? SEO scares me because I think it changes way too quickly.
Write for visitors and not bots. Don’t stuff your pages with keywords you want to rank for. Update your content regularly, don’t participate in link schemes or exchanges and you should be fine.