Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.
The Odd Thing People Do When Using Google
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Hi Reader, What are half of searchers doing after typing a term into Google? NOTHING. That’s according to a joint study by SEO companies SparkToro and Datos. Enter the world of zero-click search, where Google serves up content scraped from people’s sites and slaps it in front of readers without sending traffic in return. And get this: 30% of searchers who click are going to another Google-owned property, such as YouTube, Google Images, or Google News. As somebody who built a writing business on the back of Google search traffic, I wasn’t surprised by the study. Google has spent years taking away traffic from bloggers, content publishers, and website owners. (Ask anyone who created a Google Authorship profile a few years ago.) Now, with ChatGPT and Bing snapping at Google’s heels, Google is keeping even more traffic for itself. Google makes noises about supporting creators, but be under no illusions. Many bloggers, creators, and content publishers are quitting because of what’s happening with the search algo. I could get angry… But I prefer pragmatism. Last time I checked, Google’s share price hit an all-time high. So don’t expect major changes in our favor any time soon. But Google doesn’t owe any blogger or content publisher ANY traffic. If you’re playing the SEO game, then accept Google’s rules. Or play a different game. Building a writing business that depends on ONE traffic source is a gamble. Ask anyone who built a Facebook page in 2014–15 only to watch their reach plummet because Zuck wanted business owners to pony up for ads. So, what should you do instead? Write on earned AND owned platforms. You can build a large audience by writing on an earned platform. Write SEO articles for Google, create reels for Insta, share insights on LinkedIn, publish viral X posts, and blog on Medium. Excel at one or two of these platforms, and you’ll grow an audience of happy readers. But… The algos on an earned platform change all the time. Many creators have been complaining lately about declining organic reach on Instagram. Enter an owned platform. It’s one you control, like your email list. You can write directly to your readers about what you like. And you can sell your products and services. Now… I still rely on traffic from Google for my writing business, but I’ve also diversified. I’m building up a following by writing on LinkedIn and publishing on YouTube. I picked these platforms because that’s where my ideal readers spend their time. I also enjoy creating content for LinkedIn and YouTube. I write and publish on these earned platforms with one goal: to ask readers to join my email list. There, I don’t have to worry about tweaks Google engineers make to the algo. I’m launching a private affordable community for writers. It’s not for everyone, but if you’d like to join, reply to this email. Write on, |
Letters From the Desk of Bryan Collins
Do you want to grow a profitable content business? If so, join 25,000 readers. I share daily insights about personal brand building, writing online and growing a profitable business. It's for creators, coaches and business owners.
I tested Google Gemini’s content creation capabilities. I wanted to see how it stacks up against ChatGPT and Claude for creating business copy. Google Gemini offers two interesting “gems” (think custom GPTs) for content creators: Copy Creator and Writing Editor. Copy Creator helps write taglines, mission statements, and social media posts. Writing Editor focuses on fixing grammar and improving content structure. I put both through their paces using content from my daily newsletter. When I fed...
Your existing content is like an untapped gold mine - most creators keep digging new holes instead of mining what they already have. I’ve spent years writing online, It can easily become a full-time, low-paying job if you keep digging. One method for getting around this problem is building a content library of your greatest hits. It’s easier to repurpose content if you have a library that you can draw from. Another method is tracking a few key weekly stats across each channel so you can see...
I spent years obsessing over niche selection. When I was a Forbes columnist, branding myself as “the productivity and leadership guy” seemed like a safe bet. I covered topics like time management, leadership, and getting sh*t done at work.I mapped dozens of hot niche-specific topics in a spreadsheet and published articles like: The Fastest Way To Accomplish More This Week How To Use The 4 Ds Of Time Management 4 Common Mistakes New Home Workers Make I wrote about these topics not because they...