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, |
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You don’t need to write multi-thousand-word prompts to get a usable output from ChatGPT. Most creators overcomplicate writing AI prompts. They write paragraphs of instructions and still get mediocre outputs. A good ChatGPT prompt has four parts, and you can cover them in a few sentences. First, describe the Persona. This is where you tell the AI tool who it is. “You’re a master storyteller” or “You’re Steve Jobs.” This puts GPT in the right mindset. Next comes the Task. Be specific about what...
Writing and creating online has never been easier. I’m a big tools guy. Here are 15 tools any creator can use to get started: 1) SEMRush or AHREFS—for keyword research 2) ChatGPT or Claude—for content ideation 3) Canva—for creating images quickly and easily 4) Grammarly—as an AI-powered writing assistant. 5) Hemingway App—for improving the readability of a piece of writing 6) Ulysses or IA Writer—for writing and formatting articles for the web 7) Workflowy—for creating outlines. Tutorial here...
Hey Reader, I’m working on something for you and want to make sure it’s exactly what you need. Can you take 10 seconds to answer this quick poll? 👇 Which product would you be most interested in? Newsletter Monetization Playbook – How to get sponsors, ads, and recurring revenue from your email list. Content Repurposing and Strategy System – A step-by-step system to turn one piece of content into multiple high-performing formats across platforms. Advanced LinkedIn for B2B Leads – A proven...