There are rumors that Google went overboard a little and is slowly dialing things back. However, the way I see it, that rumor is unfortunately pure...You're the only one making sense here. Anyone else holding a different opinion is probably selling some overpriced service to unsuspecting bloggers. I have tried everything, nothing's working.
I used to have a bunch of clients we used to create niche content for. We're all in the same boat. Niche blogging is officially dead!
There are rumors that Google went overboard a little and is slowly dialing things back. However, the way I see it, that rumor is unfortunately pure...
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...Because if they dial it back, HCU has forced me to try out new things and I'm balls deep in GSA SER + AI spam right now, pumping out tiered link building campaigns with manual T1s together with new content volume like never before. I went so far as to even switch out all my handwritten content to AI content (thematic consistency - took a lot of trial and error to get the content to reach supreme levels of quality, $0.15 a pop). Either I just brute force through the tough times with sheer volume or I explode when they open the floodgates.
Google might be stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I'm right there with them, and there's only room for 1 of us:
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It's do or die...
(Now, granted, a little over-exaggeration for dramatic effect, but it's kind of the reality of the situation)
Google's "Helpful Content Update" and some of the updates following it back-to-back.#Thulf You said "after HCU"....my friend there is no cure for HCU. Homocystinuria. Ok all jokes aside, what is HCU?
There's always ppl who claim that, but it's probably thought in some niche scenario, say blogging on LinkedIn, Medium, or as an extension to an e-commerce site or the like, rather than one's own little niche site actual blog.I think bloging is not dead ,its still effective
That seems to be the case.I have put a stop to all the things I was doing regarding blogging. I have spent a lot of time in Research, trying to figure out what HCU actually did.
I have found that G has devalued all content that were published after the AI Boom. So all old content are ranking high, across all sites. To me, its a kind of a roll back of the web. New content is ranking for only a handful of a sites like Quora, Reddit, Webnode.page. Occasionally I see a small niche site getting ranking boost here and there. Can't figure out why.
The only way out that I think will work is Parasites. There will be a run for Parasites in the SEO community and it's going to get ugly.![]()
But you can also become an authority site if you give dedication for 2-3 years to the site.AGREE! Google updates are only favouring the top authority sites and not the niche ones.
THEN YOUR NICHE DOESNT HAVE FORUM CONTENT OR REDDIT CONTENT. I also noticed you sneaked in the words, "build links from....., purchased pbn links....'Yes, you're right it dead for people like you but not for everyone.
You don't need to be an agency.
So, you want to blog in a niche and once you start to rank you want others and people like me to not take advantage of your niche even after discovering a potentially profitable niche.
That's not how things work, SEO is an evolving process there will be endless updates and those who want to succeed need to adapt to accordingly.
Here's a website of mine:
Ahrefs metrics: https://prnt.sc/2I2jXeQzbsbk
Ahrefs traffic stat: https://prnt.sc/SPNsqfbva46t
Was working great until July 2023 then came the dip.
Made structural changes to the website content.
Added new info and images to various posts and improved the existing content.
Changed the theme to GeneratePress to improve the pagespeed insights performance scores.
Waited for a month.
It started to rise back again, if it hadn't, I would build links from forums, reddit and other UGC platforms.
If needed more I would have further purchased some decent quality pbn links.
This isn't just one website of mine that has seen the dip and rise roller-coaster.
All credit goes to solid research and planning picking the right topics & adapting with the changes.
I think that's the key to blogging now. Finding those niches untouched by the likes of Forbes and other giga sites, or forums/reddit/quora or other parasites like LinkedIn and the like. Something G's algo doesn't even push Pinterest/YouTube/etc on. Those "mystery" niches I've started to refer to.THEN YOUR NICHE DOESNT HAVE FORUM CONTENT OR REDDIT CONTENT. I also noticed you sneaked in the words, "build links from....., purchased pbn links....'
HCU Promoted forums, including Reddit and Youtube Videos.
@Thulf is right. SEO is DEAD.
I won't reveal my niche here but there's a thing in SEO often called as content gain by some people.THEN YOUR NICHE DOESNT HAVE FORUM CONTENT OR REDDIT CONTENT. I also noticed you sneaked in the words, "build links from....., purchased pbn links....'
HCU Promoted forums, including Reddit and Youtube Videos.
@Thulf is right. SEO is DEAD.
You're right niche & keyword research are key.I think that's the key to blogging now. Finding those niches untouched by the likes of Forbes and other giga sites, or forums/reddit/quora or other parasites like LinkedIn and the like. Something G's algo doesn't even push Pinterest/YouTube/etc on. Those "mystery" niches I've started to refer to.
So, essentially, churn and burn type of ordeal, and if lucky enough, something long term if no1 starts writing Reddit posts on it and giga sites won't bother to cover it.
I've found a couple of such niches and that's where I'm headed next once I wrap it up with the current projects.
I think it stands for Helpful Content Update or something.what HCU stands for