Message To All Noobs: This Is A Dead Industry

Venusaur said:

No link building = no rank
No investment = no rank

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Investing in link building even too doesn't guarantee anything. You can just burn money buying "quality" links

Opulentos said:

I think you mean the 2007-2015 age of ranking sites with the 3-5% keyword density, 1000 words article and 20 PBN backlink days are over

That hasn’t worked since a decade ago, SEO isn’t dead, just the old method of ranking is.

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You rank where exactly? Google SERPs appears to have a rigid, predetermined shape in all verticals.. Position zero is AI Overview, followed by Reddit, followed by a known Media site.

So, the algorithm serves the TOP THREE that way. Rank where?

johandavite said:

SEO for ranking websites with ads has become much harder due to AI-driven results and Google’s algorithm changes. Focus on more sustainable strategies, like building a strong brand and creating valuable content, rather than relying solely on traditional SEO methods.

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sjmasku said:

SEO and search engines are evolving rapidly with the rise of AI-generated content, making SEO even more important for ranking websites. However, it takes more effort to stay on top!

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Nikolaus Mezoe said:

SEO has definitely changed, but those adapting to multi-channel strategies and new platforms are still finding success beyond just Google rankings.

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All of the quotes above this are just words being said for the sake of saying words

There is nothing of value, and they are some of the worst types of messages for noobs to here

Ghost Billing said:

To be honest, seo has never worked. No matter how hard you try, you won't be higher in search results than ads for even $1.

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This is not true at all for a variety of reasons

A) not all serp's had ads

B) there is/was tons of value being in the top 3 even if ads were above you


SEO was the easiest money available for the average Joe for many years, changed my life, but those days are long gone

Backlink Guru said:

This hit hard, honestly. Feels like the golden days of ranking simple content and making decent ad money are gone. Google’s basically squeezing out the little guys. But I still think there’s room if you’re smart about it like using SEO to support a brand or product, not just relying on traffic alone. It’s way harder now, no doubt, but maybe not 100% dead if you adapt.

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Adapt how? The only real ways to adapt are to go off your website to socials or Youtube and try to get 2% the traffic you used to get..... waste of time

Right now the only real way to adapt is to stop and get out of this

The problem is, go where? The only decent option I see is Youtube, and how long until they pull the plug on the little guy over there? Very hard to invest so much time and money into building a brand on Youtube when we just saw what Google will do to your brand in the SERP's the second they scrape your info and quit needing you

Opulentos said:

I think you mean the 2007-2015 age of ranking sites with the 3-5% keyword density, 1000 words article and 20 PBN backlink days are over

That hasn’t worked since a decade ago, SEO isn’t dead, just the old method of ranking is.

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Didn't start until right around the end of your age range, never used a PBN, and did very very well (relatively) from around 2016-2023

Nothing black hat, just 'create quality content' and get a few links pointed your way and it was an easy game if you weren't fighting with everyone else over the same keywords

It all died with HCU

Venusaur said:

No link building = no rank
No investment = no rank

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This is by far the dumbest place in the world to invest money in right now, I would rather hope for Blockbuster to return to dominance in the movie rental game than Google to start caring about small publishers again


And without money there is no real way to link build, 99% of outreach these days never gets a reply, and 99% of the replies you do get are 'whats your budget'

And after spending lots of money on links for a dozen sites with zero results years later it becomes pretty obvious pretty quick that you are never going to buy enough links to catch up to the Yelps and TripAdvisors of the world..... and who knows if Google would even put you above them if you spent the billion dollars it would take to match their DR

Game over guys, the sooner you admit it to yourself the better off you will be

And John Muller like Matt Cutts spreading lies to the world like; "you can't add EEAT to your site" whichis not true.

If local.results are dominating, why don't you learn that itself and make money with it. It is not like there are no search results.