Last week, Google reported its earnings were up since the Penguin update. This, to the detriment of organic search. And after more than a year of throttling what fans can see on the pages they follow, Facebook is offering more paid promoted post options. In other words, if you’re not willing to purchase ads on both Google and Facebook, your posts may never get seen. Here’s what you can do about it.
Startling Advice
I recently joined a private brainstorming forum that is hosted by a super affiliate, meaning that she consistently earns six figures year after year. I was absolutely stunned by a remark she made during a live group session a few weeks ago.
She said, “Blog as if Google did not exist.”
She doesn’t post much on the big social media platforms either, like Facebook.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around those facts, coupled with the fact that she makes a wonderful living.
The SEO Bubble
I’m all about putting out the SEO white-hat word these days because I saw how much difference it made to my targeted traffic once I started using multiple SEO best practices consistently. The quality of my traffic increased. Meaning, more folks ready to purchase my offerings were landing on my site.
That’s super! But, I want to increase my total traffic and rankings too, and that isn’t happening. I hit a plateau and have not risen in the rankings for months no matter what I do with SEO.
The Social Media Bubble
I spend a lot of time posting on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Of them all, LinkedIn has the best ROI, in terms of sales funnel, by a factor of 20:1. The main reason for that is because I belong to targeted groups where I can answer questions and help folks directly. This is in sharp contrast to simply doing the billboard type broadcasting of my latest blog post and warm chit-chat on other platforms.
Again, the traffic from these social platforms is warm and in the mood to purchase. And, again, my traffic from them has hit a plateau.
Stagnate Growth Cycle
For about a year, my site traffic was on a steady rise, then two things happened. Google started changing its algorithms and Facebook began throttling how many of my posts were seen by those who followed BlogAid’s business page.
The Disturbing News
Google just reported a sharp rise in their second quarter earnings and crediting that rise to the Penguin updates. A Search Engine Roundtable report credits this increase to be caused by a serious decline in the quality of organic search results, leaving folks to more likely click on the paid ads that appear at the top of the page. More clicks equals more money for Google.
Facebook has recently introduced paid promotion of posts. The more you pay, the more people they will show your post to. So, first they throttle the posts, stating that if folks don’t engage consistently with your page they will simply stop seeing it in their feed (which is total BS). Then they charge you to have it appear in their feed.
Do you see a pattern here?
A New Plan of Action
I’m beginning to understand what the super affiliate marketer suggested. With the Google algorithm changes and Facebook throttling practices, the only real way to continue to drive up traffic without purchasing ads is to find places to engage your audience directly.
That’s exactly what LinkedIn allows me to do. I’ve also been seeking new forums and groups to participate in. Some of them offer do-follow links, which is a great way to get backlinks to the site. But, that’s beside the point for me. Helping folks directly does more for my business than anything next to word-of-mouth advertising, which has always been the backbone of BlogAid.
Am I still going to practice SEO and post to Facebook consistently? You bet. But, I won’t count on that approach as much anymore.
How About You?
For me, the writing is on the wall and I’m moving my focus in accordance. Will you be changing your habits in light of this news?
Alys Milner says
July 21, 2012 at 10:47 amThis is discouraging news. I’ve read your article through twice, trying to digest what this means to me and my business.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 21, 2012 at 12:26 pmIt really is, Alys. I had to read through Google’s quarterly report and other commentary on it a few times to ensure I understood it too. I had hoped that the spin Google put on all of these changes really would make for a better browsing experience. But the fact is, these changes make it faster and easier for Google to index sites and see which ones are best for AdWords. Very disappointed in the reports that organic search results are suffering.
Have been disappointed with Facebook shenanigans for some time now. I enjoy engaging with the folks there, but must spend my limited social media time wisely too.
Alys Milner says
July 21, 2012 at 3:33 pmFacebook has turned off a lot of people. They’ve also really suffered from a trust perspective, too. Funny, but I find myself avoiding the top three ad generated results in search, unless it is a site I’m already happy and familiar with.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 21, 2012 at 3:40 pmI’m surprised it took so long for more people to jump from Facebook to Google+, but part of that was the way the big G botched the rollout and took too long to let everybody on. But, the continued Facebook changes that don’t work, make the platform unstable, and affect privacy are finally taking enough toll that folks are willing to learn to use something new. I have to admit that G+ is a lot more fun now that it is not so much of a ghost town.
Ross Jones says
July 21, 2012 at 5:36 pmI think to would be a mistake to *really* blog as if Google didn’t exist.
Create great content? Yes.
Consider users first? Sure.
Don’t obsess over your rankings? Agreed.
Don’t depend on Google to be your only source of traffic? Absolutely.
But ignore best practices, white hat SEO methods? Strongly disagree.
I’ve been heavily in affiliate marketing since the 90’s. There are many ways to make good income as an aff and some methods don’t have anything to do with SEO. For example, if you’ve got a mailing list of 100,000 very interested subscribers, you can can make good revenue with no seo. There are certainly other non-seo methods.
If she’s suggesting that you should focus on becoming sustainable without Google, I agree. But there’s no reason to abandon using best practices to encourage targeted traffic thru Google.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 21, 2012 at 8:25 pmAgreed, Ross. I intend to continue the same SEO practices I use now too. But, I’m definitely moving my time to participating in the things that will help me engage directly with more people.
Myrna Greenhut says
July 23, 2012 at 9:47 amThis info is very informative for those less tech savvy than yourself. Thanks for sh
aring with this group.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 23, 2012 at 4:42 pmGlad it was helpful Myrna.
Myrna Greenhut says
July 24, 2012 at 1:05 pmManna:
Everybody must eventually monetize their efforts or compete for other marketers dollars. That is business. Youjust explained some alternatives for others at your level of engagement.
I don’t think that any one solution fits for everybody but we all learn by reading different perspectives and keeping an open mind.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 24, 2012 at 1:40 pmAgreed, Myrna. Many folks have not budgeted for paid ads and such. Looks like the free ride is coming to an end.
Aradia Knight says
July 25, 2012 at 10:30 amMy clients are coming from Facebook and by word of mouth from my clients and the relationships i’ve built with other business owners, however; on LinkedIn I get alot of decision makers engaged in my topics and calling me for permission to use my articles. It would be great to turn those decision makers into paying clients.
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 25, 2012 at 10:02 pmAradia, I hope those decision makers are giving proper attribution for using your articles. Are they posting it elsewhere, or just showing it to folks? Agreed that it would be great for them to turn into paying clients, but hopefully the increased exposure will bring you more clients too. Also wondering how much guest posting you do? Seems like folks are eager to pick up and share your info.
Aradia Knight says
July 25, 2012 at 11:00 pmI do some contributing writing (just started) for 2 very well known blogs. Im new to blogging but its been really great for me. I haven’t been asked to guest post yet. I know this may sound crazy but im not sure what they are doing with the articles when they ask to use them. I will start asking and making sure I get the proper attribution for my articles. Thanks for making me aware of this MaAnna!
MaAnna Stephenson says
July 26, 2012 at 5:34 pmAradia, if those posts are the same as the ones on your site, you could also get popped for a duplicate content penalty. You’ll also want to ensure that your rel=author code is set up properly on your site, and maybe even be sure that you are posting links on G+ for that content too. That way there will be no doubt to Google that you are the originator.