What Does Google Want? Here’s What I Think (You're NOT Going to Like it)
Hey everyone,
Firstly, I have completely stripped this blog post back bare.
There’s no “funnies” (sorry), no images (I might add a few to break up the text now, Hahahaha!), just pure written content.
For those who really mean it when they say, “It’s too long, I can’t be bothered to read it”, LEAVE NOW, there’s no point in you reading this, I wish you luck in your future endeavours.
For those who are extremely new to this business, LEAVE NOW (LOL. not in a horrible way you understand), carry on following the initial HUBS training, you need to learn more about your website and creating content FIRST.
For those who’ve been around a while, please read, but my apologies for not making my blog post “attractive”, I just wanted to get this information out there.
Okay, what follows is merely MY OPINION.
Plus, be prepared for a “brain dump”... there’s no structure to this blog post AT ALL, Hahahahahahahaha, I’m just “journalling” what’s on my mind.
However, as I’ve always said, Google leaves CLUES, and in truth, they have left MANY, MANY clues since around April 2021 as to “what they want”.
I’m going to try to break this down in very simple language, so I will sort of “make up” some things for learning purposes, but the principles remain true.
So, here goes!
Google ALGORITHM
Firstly, I think it’s important to establish what the word ALGORITHM actually means.
An algorithm can best be described as:
“An algorithm is a set of commands that must be followed for a computer to perform calculations or other problem-solving operations. According to its formal definition, an algorithm is a finite set of instructions carried out in a specific order to perform a particular task.”
What this means is there are HUMAN QUALITY TESTERS at Google who FEED information into a COMPUTER.
Google then learns from the information provided and it is from this information that the Google ALGORITHM makes decisions.
Here’s something to consider…
The Helpful Content Update and the Helpful Content Writing Guidelines THAT YOU HAVE ACCESS TO
The “Google Algorithm” STILL hasn’t “got it”.
Currently, these HUMAN QUALITY TESTERS are feeding COMMANDS into the Google COMPUTER and Google is making “calculations” based on this information.
In other words, real HUMAN Google employees are MANUALLY REVIEWING websites and then placing their findings into the GOOGLE COMPUTER and then TELLING THE GOOGLE COMPUTER what is “helpful” and what is “unhelpful”.
This will continue to happen until the “Google Computer” FULLY UNDERSTANDS THESE COMMANDS that they can go and do it for themselves (WITHOUT Human Interaction).
The GOOGLE COMPUTER (algorithm) is STILL CURRENTLY learning what the HELPFUL CONTENT GUIDELINES are.
And this is why the Google results CURRENTLY (it won’t last) seem so skewed.
Google is Evolving
Do you want to know what I actually think about all these recent Google changes?
TWO THINGS (number two is the next section)
Firstly, Google is trying to rank based on WHAT THEY THINK PEOPLE LIKE.
A great example of this is another GOOGLE-OWNED platform, namely YouTube.
Sure, YouTube requires “keyword research”, but those who do really well on YouTube are finding that people LIKE their content.
How does the YouTube algorithm decide whether people LIKE videos?
Because they leave comments, thumbs up, subscribe to channels, share videos to other channels.
Basically, if you’re doing well on YouTube it’s because you are “popular”.
The exact same can be said for most social media channels.
The more “popular” and “liked” you are, the MORE YOUR CONTENT WILL BE SHOWN TO MORE PEOPLE (the “algorithm” changes for YOU based on YOUR POPULARITY).
The Google Search Engine is “TRYING” to do the same currently (it hasn’t got it right at the moment, but it is still being “fed information by human quality testers”).
So, how has Google decided CURRENTLY what is “liked” and “popular”?
AUTHORITY & HUMAN INTERACTION.
At this current moment in time the Google “computer” is trying to be more like YouTube and more like “Social Media”, but they are choosing what is “liked more” and “popular” based on BACKLINKS (other people linking to your website is almost a “vote of popularity”).
Furthermore, social media, Q&A sites, forums, and especially Reddit and Quora are ranking because HUMAN INTERACTION is going on.
(by the way, this shows that COMMENTS on your posts are even more important than ever before, sure it is kind of a “fake it till you make it” scenario with Site Comments, and if we can finally get the “crap AI comments” under control, this could be your BEST FRIEND over the coming months).
This DOESN’T mean that these are the “best results” currently ranking (as most of you will already know), it simply means that while the Google Algorithm is learning the helpful content guidelines they view backlinks and lots of comments and human interaction as a sign that PEOPLE LIKE THE CONTENT (which is true to some extent, but obviously this can also be MANIPULATED).
Helpful Content = People “Like” Your Content
As I say, I have a feeling the search results will change dramatically over the coming year, as the “Google Computer” starts to better understand WHAT PEOPLE LIKE.
I don’t have a crystal ball, but I reckon the first “big change” may come about in March, plus for the last couple of years, Helpful Content Updates and SPAM updates have been released around August/September time.
(Essentially, a long-term view is you are currently writing content THAT WON’T RANK, but hopefully will in August/September)
(Plus, those who are “ranking” new website content at the moment, ARE YOU REALLY? Are you ranking for REAL search terms that people would ACTUALLY TYPE INTO Google? Are you seeing “things happening” inside Google Search Console, such as Increased impressions and clicks to your “ranking article”? Remember, “ranking” for something that no-one searches for isn’t a “real ranking”. I could write an article titled, “How to Murder Your Children & Get Away With it”, I then check that “keyword” 10 minutes after I’m indexed, of course I’m NUMBER ONE, ain’t no-one else in the world written that article, everything else in Google is what THEY DEEM relevant, and of course, NO-ONE (hopefully) will actually search for that term. So “rankings” only count if you’re getting impressions, and more importantly, CLICKS, for that keyword).
Eventually, Google will “reward” content that PEOPLE LIKE, but they need to find a better way to determine this than they currently have.
Why is Google Doing This?
Are you ready for it?
You’re not going to like it…
Personally, I think ever since that first “Product Review” Google Algorithm Update came about in April 2021 Google has been targeting
AFFILIATE MARKETING NICHE WEBSITES
Realistically, the “traditional way” of creating affiliate marketing niche websites is dead.
In fact, even what I’ve taught you only about 3 years ago is also DEAD.
What I mean by this is you can no longer start a website and JUST add articles and NOT do anything else.
What I mean by this is that you can no longer just rewrite an affiliate sales page features and benefits and expect to rank and make sales.
What I mean by this is that the days of adding an article a day to your website and doing NOTHING ELSE are DEAD.
(if you are currently REALLY RANKING and making money from “Just a niche affiliate marketing website” you either already have some AUTHORITY←– think about how long all the current PP+ trainers/”Super Affiliates” have had their websites online, or… it won’t last forever)
Look, we had the “Your Money or Your Life” Google Algorithm changes a few years ago.
Basically, Google had had enough of “fake affiliate marketers” promoting “cures for cancer”, “genital enlargement”, “weight loss” pills, “forex trading”, or “stock market investments” WITHOUT any knowledge or experience in these areas.
Anything that could impact the health or financial well-being of a consumer was frowned upon unless promoted by an “expert”.
I’m not saying that you can’t succeed in a YMYL niche, YOU CAN, but it’s going to take you a long time or a HUGE amount of content (on-website and OFF-website) to be viewed as ”trusthworty, experienced, authoritative, expert”.
The exact same can be said of those who are simply starting a website with the sole purpose to just “make money online” by targeting the same keywords as everyone else and then writing product review after product review after product review with nothing PERSONAL to add.
By the way, CURRENTLY the above IS WORKING… BUT only for those producing an avalanche of content.
What many blackhatters are doing, and have done for years, is to create websites like this, smash out about 500 articles per month, they immediately get ranked for 1000s and 1000s of keywords, and this grows for a good few months.
Their “authority” is increased through blackhat backlinking techniques.
It’s poor quality content, it’s poor quality backlinks, but it “works” in the SHORT-TERM.
They earn a lot of money in a short space of time, but THEY KNOW that their website is going to DIE soon when an algorithm update comes about.
And then they start to process all over again.
Do you want me to be completely honest?
A lot of YOU are actually doing this WITHOUT REALISING IT, but on much smaller scale, e.g. 1 article a day, BECAUSE OF AI CONTENT.
Why do you think so many new websites that were created after around September 2023 saw an initial great spike and then suddenly died in terms of ANY rankings, impressions, and clicks? (forget “sandboxes”, forget “ranking fluctuations”)
Why do you think so many people are seeing “Crawled - Not Yet Indexed” in Google Search Console? (This is simply Google saying, “I’ve found your article, I’ve even crawled it, but I’m not going to include it in my index of articles because I don’t think it’s good enough).
Why do think that so many people are starting to have articles de-indexed and their “indexed articles” in Google Search Console decreases every single week (often a sign that a website may die altogether)?
Why do you think that “Helpful Content” (which the “Google Computer” is still trying to learn) has been spoken about SO MUCH over the last 18 months?
GOOGLE HAS HAD ENOUGH!!
So, What Does Google Actually Want? (At The Moment)
It’s simple really, Google wants to see that you are a REAL COMPANY (they’ve had enough of the niche affiliate marketing website with a few hundred articles and a few hundred product reviews and no other “footprint” online, i.e. I own a website and nothing else).
And of course, “Helpful” in their mind simply means “People Like Your Content”.
Before I get to the “real company” bit, let’s quickly talk about AI-content in terms of people “liking your content”
I’ll tell you what, here’s another way to look at it:
PEOPLE WHO ARE USING AI CORRECTLY, what is the main thing they are doing?
Trying to make AI Content NOT sound like ‘AI Content.
Read that again, it’s important.
Realistically, if you’re using AI how it should be used, you DON’T WANT IT TO READ AS THOUGH IT’S BEEN CREATED BY AI.
I do think this is where “experienced” and “not experienced” comes into this.
Then again, something I mentioned the other day, this will separate the “readers” from the “non-readers”.
Someone who reads regularly will look at “out-of-the-box-AI” and think, “No-one talks like this and it’s so over-the-top it's making me sick” ←—-REMEMBER, Google is trying to rank based on “What People Like”, so how many “readers” around the world are visiting your articles and thinking, “What the hell is this? I’m outta here!”
Something else I want to quickly mention, HIUBS and article ideas.
Do you know how many WA members have recently written the article “Common Mistakes in Affiliate Marketing"
Firstly, this is a terrible keyword to target, you won’t rank!
Secondly, Jay and Eric have created specific webinars around using HUBS and doing PROPER KEYWORD RESEARCH.
Have you watched these?
If not, why not?
I don’t want to cause issues, and I know that this is something that a well-known member spoke about a couple of weeks ago, but currently, those using Bootcamp and HUBS, YOU’RE ALL PRODUCING THE SAME CONTENT (very easy to see when you quickly review 20-30 MMO Wealthy Affiliate produced websites!!)
I’m not seeing much “originality” or “uniqueness”, something else that the “Google computer” is focused on.
What’s the Solution?
If Google CURRENTLY seems to be rewarding “high authority”, “brands”, “companies”, and “human interaction”, then this is what you MUST do.
Wealthy Affiliate speaks about “building a business”.
Guess what?
“Faking it” or otherwise, you must make your “BRAND” look like a REAL BUSINESS.
This also fits in well with the, “You won’t get far by just writing articles, publishing them to your website, and doing NOTHING ELSE”.
Okay, so first things first, a REAL business has a physical address and a contact telephone number.
I’m not going to suggest specific places, but you can Google things like:
“Free virtual telephone number”
“Free virtual office address”
And see what you come up with.
Btw, a lot of the telephone services simply take a message and then email you with the details.
To be honest, you don’t 100% need these, but it does make you look more like a “real business”.
(could you possibly buy a cheap old Nokia phone, and set it up with a voicemail message, buy $10 pay-as-you-go credit, and then use this as a “business telephone number”?)
Next, is BRANDING.
To me, Branding in the online world is simply what you see when you put a “company name” into the Google Search Bar.
One of my favourite “companies” to show this is GRAMMARFLEX
So, go to the Google Search Bar and type in
GRAMMARFLEX
(PLEASE go and do this, go and LOOK FOR YOURSELF)
And then go through all the platforms they are registered at and register there yourself, e.g. TwitterX, Linkedin, Medium, Quora, Substack, StackOverflow, etc.
These are basically social profiles and forum profiles.
Now, profile backlinks are often viewed as “spammy”, but this is simply due to how they are created, and the number of profiles created.
A lot of “old SEO” was focused “more is better”.
So, this led to practices such as “keyword stuffing” and using software to create 10,000+ social and forum profiles.
This is OBVIOUS to Google, it is obvious it has been manipulated, and it is obvious WHY this has been done (trying to get lots of backlinks in a short space of time in order to manipulate Google rankings).
So, my suggestion, open a profile at each of the places that GrammarFlex has and do this MANUALLY (do it yourself, just do one or two a day), and CHANGE your bio, create 3 different bios, and make sure your profile bio is BRANDED.
So, this would look like:
John Smith, Founder, Owner, & Author at mywebsitename .com is a content creator, affiliate marketer, blah, blah, blah.
Basically, have your full name and your url, and then a short explanation of who you are and what you do.
Create 3 DIFFERENT profiles (you can use AI to help you out, just no UNLEASHING please, LOL).
Next..
Once more, a type of backlink that is viewed as “spammy”, but again, this is simply due to the use of software, the “more is better” thinking, and adding links to low-quality, spammy sites.
Furthermore, John Mueller has stated that this type of “backlink” doesn’t really help with SEO, but it can be a source of traffic and it can help to create TRUST.
Plus, if you can find good, active platforms it “may” help a tiny little bit with SEO
Basically, you want to add your website to website directories.
Some examples include Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Yelp, FourSquare, Best of the Web (BOTW), AboutUs, etc.
(this is “Local SEO” so an address and phone number does make you appear more legitimate)
You also want to find NICHE-RELEVANT directories to add your website to.
However, you need to make sure these are NOT spammy and low quality, as many will be.
The best way is to do a niche-related Google search, e.g.
Exercise & Fitness + Website Directories
Once you get a list of names from your Google search take each one individually and type the name of the directory into Google.
Check the “number of results” under the search bar.
Is this a large number? GOOD!
Is it a small number? BAD
Check some of the results in Google for that directory, can you see recent dates on some of the listings, e.g. 2023, 2024 = Still Active = GOOD
Once more, this isn’t about quantity, but simply about “REGISTERING YOUR BUSINESS” in order to increase trust and possibly a trickle of traffic (and of course, you get some backlinks).
Again, 20-30 directories, adding 1-2 per day.
BUT
You really need to study these directories, as shown above, to ensure they are active, have a lot of listings, and are not low quality.
Next… I’ve mentioned that “simply adding articles to a website and doing nothing else” ISN’T going to cut it moving forward.
At the moment, lots of social media, forums, and Q&A sites are ranking in the SERPs, therefore, you need to “promote your website articles” on as many as you can.
If you like writing, then your choices are Medium, Quora, Reddit, Linkedin, and Niche-Related Forums (please adhere to their rules when “promoting” content, basically you need to be “social” before you promote, think about how you feel when someone new joins WA and starts dropping links!!!)
If you are more visual/image/video then promote your content (repurpose your content) on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
If this seems like a lot of work, remember you are BUILDING A BUSINESS, plus, you don’t have to do everything every single day.
Personally, at this moment in time, it would actually be better to write LESS content, make sure that content is fantastic, and then spend MORE TIME promoting your content.
Plus, don’t forget that when you “promote” your content you’re also getting backlinks to that content.
Admittedly, these aren’t extremely high-quality do-follow backlinks, but every little helps.
Here’s another way to look at it.
If I spent 6 months creating just 50 articles for my site.
I then promote these articles by repurposing them for YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, Quora, Reddit, Niche-Related Forums, Medium, and Linkedin.
I then follow the GrammarFlex branding as above and I also add my website to relevant, high-quality directories, I can GUARANTEE that this website will be doing MUCH BETTER than a website that has simply added 180 articles to the site in those 6 months and done nothing else.
CURRENTLY, Content is NOT King!
Final Thoughts
Lot to take in right?
And as I say, this is simply my opinion.
However, to me, it’s almost obvious that Google is targeting “insincere one-person businesses who simply want to make some money”.
Additionally, I feel that Google is trying to become more like YouTube, and other social channels, they want to REWARD the content THAT PEOPLE LIKE.
Unfortunately, this is much harder to do in the SERPs than it is via social channels.
And this is why all these high authority websites, with lots of backlinks, are ranking, EVEN WHEN THE CONTENT ISN’T HELPFUL.
Don’t forget the Google “Algorithm” (the Google “Computer”) is still being fed information by HUMAN QUALITY TESTERS, and they haven’t quite got this “Helpful” thing right just yet.
So, I do feel there are a lot of changes coming again this year.
I think the influx of AI content has made this harder, and this is also why poor-quality AI content is CURRENTLY ranking… it won’t last.
Are you now starting to understand why branding, being seen as a “real company”, and having some “authority and trust” is so important?
You’ll notice I haven’t listed many social and forum channels (apart from saying to follow GrammarFlex’s lead), and I’ve only mentioned a few website directories.
Why?
You;'re a REAL BUSINESS OWNER, go and do the research yourself… you can always come back and ask me if what you’ve found is okay, that’s fine, but I want you to start acting like a real business owner.
Thank You For Reading
Partha
Recent Comments
53
Partha,
You have a great way of explaining the current landscape of the blogosphere in terms that even an obscure keyword-ranking noob like me can appreciate.
I came here looking for your take on the current Google Update and found this. You have written a great "forward" to the undergoing update.
People need to take to heart your advice. Every time you write, it takes me an hour to reread it. I use your post as A "How To Guide". Today was not so bad, as I have taken up residence on the various platforms answering questions and creating posts with backlinks to my website.
But then this cold water hit me in the face... Bootcamps and HUBS, are all generating identical content. This becomes glaringly obvious when you swiftly peruse 20-30 websites created by MMO Wealthy Affiliate.
How many people a month are going this route?
The only thing separating everyone is the education, interpretation, creation, implementation, and execution. But with Hubs, creation is leveled a bit.
As always to be the best, you start by emulating the best, then find a way to take it up a notch.
Thanks for the post and look forward to getting your take after the update.
Noob, AKA Amazing Niche Master.
I am only 3 months in. You helped me out today. I followed up and found this. I was not even indexed.
Now I have just read through all of this. I can see many others have as well. No, I didn't like it. It made me think a newbie does not stand a chance. I better get a job.
Still have a lot on knowledge on my niche. I had better go over my posts, drum up some comments and start those backlinks.
I will also check out the next post even though I don't know what a snippet is. That is green.
Thanks for the insight. Thanks everyone for the useful comments.
Viv
This is an excellent article and a perfect example of the power of this community. While we may not like what we're being told...we need to hear it. For many of us, WA was our entry point into the sub-culture of online marketing. It helped us create a solid foundation, with excellent training, from which, to move forward. A "Home" if you will, to begin our journey. The WA Core and Expert training does encourage branching out into other traffic sources such as social media, etc. I see your insights as expanding on that to help us think outside of the box. Change is inevitable and it is up to us to adapt or be left behind. Your article gives us a well-thought-out road map to adapt to what's coming. It's up to us to put it into practice. Well done!
This was a lot to take in. But I wonder if the people who actually think that your posts here are too long even watch the classes here at WA. I mean it takes less time to read your 3k posts then watching a class. I honestly think they are long, but worth reading.
I really liked this post actually, thankfully I already have my website on a few different places, like Pinterest (that one you already knew, lol!), Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium, and Crunchbase too. I haven't done Reddit or Quora yet for my MM website (don't know why, should start right away.)
You have really showed that SEO isn't everything. Kinda backing up you and Diane saying that SEO tools isn't the whole world.
I have personally seen better results with the articles that have a link from other platforms, and that answers what people are searching for.
I have also had to face things the hard way when it comes to AI more specifically GPT (the worst content writer in the world lol!🤣). I used to when these AI classes came out write articles that were either 99-100% GPT. And you can probably guess what happen to that website, it didn't rank high at all. But for my MM website, maybe got like 5 or maybe a few more articles that are GPT, should I delete them? I don't know, they don't give me any traffic at least.
When it comes to HUBS, I think the AI is great, but I don't DARE to publish it without giving it my voice, and editing it so that I like it. Like the introduction, I don't particularly like how the AI author does it, so I normally make it my own. Makes it sound like me. I am pretty sure that adding YOUR voice to an article makes it unique, just like that. But I still would shape it so that it is more how I like it, and making it a bit more unique.
I think also HUBS got some more unique ideas for articles that aren't "the same" as everything else. Like you mentioned.
I agree with pretty much everything you said, since I know that 100% AI content never ranks really.
Thank you, Partha - I've read everything very carefully! I've just started an Affiliate Marketing website and I knew there was something fishy going on with Google and Bing. They didn't feel as welcoming! Bing tells me more about what's wrong with my post before and after I get it indexed - which is helpful.
I've recently spent way more time promoting my websites. I'll spend more time creating the business presence now too - great advice.
Cheers, Alisa
Gee, there's so much in your article that I'll have to read it at least six times.
The only thing I can see that I'm doing right is in the way I treat HUBS. I use the HUBS generated articles, but then do my own research in addition to what I'm "fed."(Recently referred to them as a "coat hanger" -- someplace where you can support a garment and hang it when it's ready to be hung up.)
I then rewrite the whole article in my own words, perhaps using some phrases from the HUBS article that I like, and adding my own reference material into the mix. I like being able to add a "references I have used" section at the end of the post. You can't do that using just AI.
I have some affiliate links, but not many. Here's where I'm really doing poorly, as am not so much promoting a business as using my website for a place where I can write. I really like to write, and doing so has been my main focus. However, I don't care much if I make money on the site or not -- it's fulfilling a creative need for me. I am a poor example of an affiliate marketer.
I admire your know-how and your ability to pass on your discoveries to us. I guess I'm just the "maverick" who doesn't really want to be an affiliate marketer. I just want to write about my niche topic. I publish once a week now, and perhaps eventually will turn my site more into a money-making entity. For the present, I'm satisfied.
In the meantime, thank you for passing on information that can be truly helpful to those who really want to succeed at affiliate marketing.
Would love your comments on my website direction.
P.S. It's refreshing and certainly a good thing that your posts generate so many long responses. People really think about what you are saying. Keep it up; we need people like you.
*Partha turns up, tail between his legs, and slightly distraught...
I'll let you into a secret Fran, I'm not particularly fond of the "selling" aspect of affiliate marketing.
In fact, even in my initial career in Banking, I was touted as a fantastic salesperson, never really enjoyed it.
I'm much more, allow me to advise and entertain while remaining sincere and genuine... I feel I lose a bit of sincerity when I "sell something" (and yet, I've made a career out of it, hahahah!!)
Okay, firstly, what you've done with HUBS, yep, I like that, plus some of the other things you've mentioned here remind me of a conversation I had with Brenda the other day (I'll find that convo and link below).
The crux being, BLOGGING is very different from affiliate marketing.
However, combining the two has proven very fruitful over the years.
BUT
I come from a more blogging-oriented background, so once more, my main concentration was to "advise and entertain".
In fact, I love nothing more than NOT worrying about keywords and simply letting my mind flow and my "fingers do the talking".
You will actually find that there are many writing and blogging communities that are appalled at the use of AI in "finalized content".
Most "real" writers and bloggers will use AI like a "virtual assistant" (go and do the research for me, and then I'll put all of that info together in article format, while fact-checking you and doing my own research).
This sounds very much like what you are doing.
Furthermore, something you said struck a chord with me, YES, YES, YES, do what you ENJOY!!!
This is the whole point, and I honestly do think that writing and blogging in general is a CREATIVE art form, but all these darn affiliate marketers (hahaahahah) have to turn it into a robotic and analytical thing.
So, if you're getting enjoyment from what you do, PERFECT.
The one thing I would suggest, which I also said to Brenda, is if you enjoy writing, THEN WRITE.
However, you can utilize a platform such as Medium.
Firstly, Medium has an "import tool" which provides a "canonical link".
What this means is once you are signed up for Medium (takes less than one minute to sign up via your Google account), you go to the import tool - https://medium.com/p/import and then you simply copy and paste a published url from your website, click save TWICE and that article is ALREADY on Medium.
And it provides a "canonical link", which means that within the HTML of that Medium article there is a "message" to Google that states, "The article that I am linking to is the ORIGINAL article, please rank that higher".
However, this is ALL automatically done for you once you use the import link I've provided above (You don;t have to anything apart from pasting your article url and you DON'T have to worry about "duplicate content", as the canonical link takes care of this).
The great thing about Medium is that you have a community of writers, and the more you get involved with the community, the better it is for you.
You can "upgrade" to the paid membership for $5 per month, and you can then earn from ALL the articles you publish there (based on interaction on your articles)... plus, this works even if you're just importing articles from your own website.
As an example, if you've got say 500 articles on your website, you can simply import them over to Medium (takes me about 10 minutes per article, and that is mainly to add my images and YouTube embeds).
This provides a backlink to your website (500 of those would be really handy), which in turn can help your website articles rank higher.
Plus, you now have "more potential eyes" on your content within the Medium community.
Plus, currently Medium is ranking very well in Google, so you can also get Google traffic to your Medium articles, and then traffic back to your website.
Furthermore, Medium allows you to place affiliate links in your articles, so that's yet another way to earn.
Here's the post I wrote where I replied to Brenda (you'll have to scroll until you find my conversation with Brenda) A Quick Note About Google’s Core & Spam Updates Furthermore, Christina has written quite a few posts recently and given tips on medium (here's one article, but she's written quite a few recently) 6 Medium Tips To Get You Traffic and Earnings And even our own Diane has got involved, and is well on the way to having a 3-figure earning month (and more) after just a couple of months First 30 Days on Medium As I said to Brenda, if you like writing then write.
Basically, if you prefer doing something and it brings you pleasure then do that.
I think what you're doing on your website is absolutely fine, and I love that you think like a "real writer" and use AI and HUBS as a "virtual assistant"... it's just that if you love writing, and you already have a lot of content on your websites, then simply import them over to Medium, as this gets more eyes on your articles, and you have the opportunity to EARN.
The only thing about "importing" your website articles to Medium is that it doesn't "transfer" the images and videos.
Your article text will be on Medium in less than 10 seconds after you've pasted your article link into the import tool, but you'll have to upload your images from your Desktop, and any YouTube videos you may have on your website articles, just copy the link and paste into Medium where you want the video to go.
You're doing great Fran, but if you can earn a "bit extra" from all your hard work, go for it!!!
Partha
Thank you, thank you, Partha! I recently joined Medium and was unsure how to use it. Thought I had to write all new original content, and since I have no time, being able to copy from my website is immensely helpful.
I'm currently involved in writing a memoir about my 85 years of life, and as it includes a number of "little lives" inside it, has turned into a lengthy project.
So, will get with it soon and get some of my posts copied into Medium. I really appreciate that information. Muchas gracias!
Thanks, too, for your gracious replies...you have earned many more points in my estimation of you.
Yaaaayy!!!!
I have a feeling, that after the initial "getting outside your comfort zone", you're going to love Medium.
I spent about 2 days initially just "wandering around", reading articles, checking out things of interest, Seeing what was popular, "clapping" and commenting, etc.
What I've found is there can be a real "community vibe" if you get in with people who have the same interests as you.
So, it almost feels like a community just like here at WA once you're fully immersed (but same as here, you'll have to start from the beginning as an "unknown", LOL).
Sure, a lot of people use Medium just for "ranking" and "backlink" purposes, which works well.
However, there are also many "real writers" on the platform and those who just want to write for fun, and the bonus is that there's the potential to earn from it.
I would think that the vast majority of people are in the $100-$500 per month bracket but don't forget that if ever you do write anything service or product-based you can use affiliate links at Medium.
And there are definitely writers who make a great full-time living from Medium, but as with most things, you get back what you put in (and if that's just a love of writing and reading what others have written, that's all good too).
Plus, lots of interesting memoirs and biographies, life experiences, etc. you just have to look and find them.
And best of all, if you simply want to write for the love of writing, you don't need to worry about keyword research.
It's much like blogging here at WA, and once you have a "bit of a following", or you get "well-known", then community members will come and read your articles, and interact with them, all of which will earn you a few dollars as well.
I believe Jay and Vitaliy both have Medium Classes, Webinars, and entire series on both premium and Premium Plus!!
Enjoy :)
Hello Partha,
Thant is very informative and helpful content to increase or maintain website ranking for the future.
Actually, my site also less ranking in last year. appreciate your content and I also started to promote content last couple of weeks, on Quora, Medium, Pinterest, etc. additionally already used ones.
anyway, I got more about website ranking and Google update
Great content and more helpful
Thanks a lot Partha
See more comments
I'll have to experiment with this on a few of my sites, and see if anything is different on each of them - content vs branding.
I feel like there's something missing to this post, lol, about what's going on with Google, but haven't put my finger on it.
I guess my initial reaction (around 'branding') is similar to how I reacted when the whole 'you need to be an expert' thing came out - everyone trying to put an about us page with relevant links to different places to be shown as an 'authority' in their field.
I never did any of that and yet still ranked. I'm not saying it was the wisest choice, but the whole 'show your an expert' never affected me.
I personally think that it comes down to a mind shift for most people - revolve your business around helping others and something your passionate about (i.e. wanting to learn and know about), and you'll make money. Focus on the money aspect, and you're business just isn't going to thrive.
I don't think I'm disagreeing with your assessment, but I guess what I am saying is that 70% and more of the issues people are facing right now would auto correct if people focused on helping people.
You would double/triple check your AI written content to confirm that it was actually written well, with what a searcher actually wanted to read about (and not about the entire history of some recipe). You would go to the social channels that your audience hung out at (side note - Tik Tok is trying to be come a search engine, and the last statistic I think I remember correctly is that 40% of Gen Z use it for searching things. How come we aren't talking about that?)
You would check to see what your ranking competitors and businesses you are affiliating with are doing and 1) do BETTER what they are doing, but also 2) collaborate with them somehow some way. (which sort of sounds like, well, backlinking...)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, after I rambled for a little, I think I know what my biggest pet peeve is (not necessarily with you) is that we're still so focused on Google, that we lose site of the so many other ways we can gain a following/traffic to our sites so many different ways.
Google was (and still is to a certain point) a great way to get traffic, but if its getting consistently harder and harder to rank on it, then why should we focus all our energy onto it? YT, FB groups, Pinterest, Tik Tok, even Medium (to a certain extent though I don't endorse it, lol) are ways where you can gain a following/get traffic back to your site (SHOULD YOU EVEN DECIDE TO HAVE A SITE - sorry, this is something else that I'm realizing, we as a community have been so focused on needing to have a site, that I also feel as though we've forgotten that there are thousands out there who are making more than most people here without owning a site. They do this with just their social media accounts alone).
I could ramble on a few more paragraphs (with how we should be diversifying our traffic streams regardless so that if one of them should disappear, i.e. google, it then doesn't affect us drastically), but I'll end it here, since I'm probably off topic at this point, lol.
TL;DR - I agree with most of what you said, but think that there could be other factors that people should be thinking about too.
Hey Andy,
Hahahahahaha!!
You know what? I agree with EVERYTHING you have said.
Plus, there is "more going on with Google", but there's probably only about 5 people on the platform who would read a 10,000-word blog post written by me!! LOL!
Okay, the "expert" thing was NOT what Google wanted, i.e. "About Me page, talking about qualifications, etc.
So, all the people who did this wasted their time.
And just look at how many websites got HCU "hit" that had author profiles, expertise listed, etc.
Basically, these are JUST WORDS that anyone could write.
And as I've mentioned, the "algorithm" is a "learning computer" which learns from information that has been "input" (by humans).
They are clearly trying to go the "YouTube algorithm way", but it's much harder to do on written content without a specific system (likes, subscribe, comments) that can actually be tracked by the algorithm.
So, they've just gone with AUTHORITY (backlinks) for now.
Temporary solution until the "algorithm" finally figures out the difference between "helpful" and "unhelpful".
Plus, I would also say that you have actually done "branding" anyway, and most sites have been doing it for years, but the main reason I think it's so big NOW is that Google has had enough of the
"Start website, whack up 100 articles, find affiliate products, write "fake" reviews, add affiliate links, rank for longtail keywords, and BOOM!!! you just made a ton load of money"
Essentially, you're simply trying to "fake" that you're not just here to "make money online" and a one-hit wonder website.
BUT
That leads beautifully to your next point, which I fully agree with.
It's all about the Mindset, and unfortunately the VAST MAJORITY of people "chase the money", and it's also quite interesting that the VAST MAJORITY also fail in this industry.
Realistically, what most do is to look for shortcuts.
Most people open OFFLINE businesses in an industry (niche) that they love, and they get real pleasure from seeing the smile on a satisfied customer's face, which is why they go out of their way to HELP and be of SERVICE.
I agree, this should be the same perception for ONLINE marketing.
Agree
Agree
Agree
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!
Don't solely, or too heavily, rely on Google, which unfortunately is what the vast majority do when everything is so focused on, "write content, write content, write content, etc."
At the moment, JUST writing content is not going to get you anywhere unless done at scale (and even then there's a good chance that Google will decide the "quality isn't great" if you don't have a decent domain authority and a load of backlinks, Hahahahahahah!!)
CURRENTLY
(I have to keep saying CURRENTLY... wait and see... LOL)
Partha
p.s. I'm distraught... spent 40 minutes replying to your "flawed" PM, lol, hit the wrong button deleted everything, and when I tried "Undo" it didn't come back... I'll have another go later, but in summary, it is completely and utterly flawed, it's a No-Goer... You're not going to convert "freebie seekers" (that's why they used Google business sites) into decent figures, so it would have to be a very basic monthly hosting amount that is COMPETITIVE for "freebie seekers". Therefore, to make a decent return you're looking at converting a few thousand, but then you need a full SiteSupport team, if you're controlling their hosting, and therefore there's a lot of work and a lot of expenses. Not for me!! LOL
hi Partha, what would you consider a "decent" domain authority? my miniature site is now 34 on Moz, but the SEO traffic hasn't come back (yet)
thanks
Lizzy
Hey Lizzy,
I'll be back to your "main comment" later, It takes ages to reply to everyone, so I have to keep taking breaks. LOL!!
Okay, firstly, and I know you know this anyway, but obviously Moz DA and ahrefs DR are just "made up" metrics.
They are NOT official Google metrics (Google had PR 1-10, but got rid of it over a decade ago... well, they still have it in place, WE just can't see it anymore)
But, as you can see, the Moz and ahrefs metrics are pretty good and fairly accurate.
For me, once you;re into the realms of DA45+ you're starting to get decent authority.
From there up to about DA60 you're doing really well.
Then for every 10 increase from there you are getting better and better.
I'm making the following up, but as an example,
DA60+ = great authority
DA70+ = fantastic authority
DA80+ = out of this world authority
DA90+ = You should be earning about $1,000,000/month MINUMIM
So, I would class DA45+ as "good authority".
The other thing to remember, sure Google seems to CURRENTLY be ranking based on authority, but there are also millions of say DA50+ websites that get no traffic.
Typically these are the "link farms" that people on Fiverr try to sell you links for, so they generally have been "punished" and probably even have a manual penalty.
BTW, this IS actually a standard business practice for many "Blackhatters"...
What I mentioned above about the "500 articles per month", make a sh*tload of cash over 8-9 months, website receives a manual penalty and traffic dies
BUT
They now have a DA50-70 website, so the "new business model" is sellling backlinks.
They can't be bothered to save the website, but they know they can sell say "niche edit backlinks" for $50 each (easy to do as the website has about 4,000 articles on it), they can sell Guest Blog Posts for $100+, and so on.
So, even if your website completely dies, BUT you have a decent DA, there is always the option of becoming a "backlink seller" (it's not particularly "honest", but in my mind, people buying links from Fiverr deserve to get punished, Hahahahahahahaha!!)
Anyway, finally finally, just seeing your DA increase at the moment WON'T suddenly see traffic come flying back.
Don't forget that HCU was a sitewide thing, and even if you've been hard at it, REAL changes won't come about until AFTER the next HCU (which as I mentioned to Frank below, will no longer be "officially rolled out", i.e. we won't know an HCU has happened until it's over).
Finally, finally, finally, I'll give you some homework.
Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
And you KNOW Andy's gonna read this and follow along as well.
I will blog about this later in the week, but if you want to get slightly ahead of the game...
Go to Google Search Console
Change to Last 28 Days
Go to Queries
Click on Avg Position and AVG CTR in the boxes above the graph.
Use the filter search if you want, but I want you to take a note of ALL keywords (queries) that you are ranking for in positions 2-10.
Next, check each of those indivdual keywords in GOOGLE and see which ones have a FEATURED SNIPPET.
Keep a list of JUST the keywords that you are ranking position 2-10 and that have a Featured Snippet showing in the search results.
Once you've done that I'll let you know what to do next, but I'll probably publish the blog post tomorrow or Friday anyway!!!
oooooooooooohhhhhh!!!! Mystery!!! Are you excited??
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!
this is going to be part of my series on "Quick SEOs Wins" (things that you can do that MAY have an effect on your rankings in as quick as 7-10 days)
Partha
thanks!
Well, there are a 160 keywords ranking from 1-10, so before I figured those out on google, I think your next post will be ready lol!
You are all keeping us all frustrated with tension and mystery haha!
Lizzy
Hahahahahahhahahahaha!!
You're not finished yet.
You need to put those 160 keywords into Google INDIVIDUALLY and make a note of which keywords have a Featured Snippet in the search results (I'm guessing a lot, but not ALL, so this may reduce the number of keywords to say, just 100).
NEXT
Those 100 keywords that are ranking 2-10 obviously many of them will be for the same article.
So, you want to find the ONE keyword (that you're ranking position 2-10) that has the MOST impressions.
You'll probably find that once you go through all of that you'll only have 50 keywords.
THEN... I will reveal (in the blog post) what to do (it's pretty simple, takes about 5 minutes, and you may see results within about 10 days... BUT... if Google is still being a bugger, you may find that you get a massive upsurge in traffic at the NEXT algorithm update)...
But, I have to keep the mystery going a bit longer as to what you have to do after that!!
Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha!!
Think yourself lucky, one of the sites I am experimenting with has 792!
Hey, who needs sleep or holidays anyway??
I'm glad I looked at what you said for the FOURTH time - I was going through and looking for only keywords that were currently ranking for the Snippets Feature... I guess I need to start all over again (insert eye-roll emoji).
For those who are reading this, please be aware that if you are in the Printables, DIY Crafts And Arts, or the Recipe niches, you aren't going to find much - that is unless you are targeting questions/answers within those related niches.
And as a side note, I found that for "20 year plan", not only am I ranking position 1, but I'm also ranking ABOVE Medium (position 2) - and all this time I thought I needed to be on Medium... (insert winking emoji here).
I'll have to work on this later, when I have more time. But I'm also clueless as to what to do. I've got a hunch, but I'll just wait (if I even decide to follow through with this, lol).
yeah, I noticed that not much snippets are found lol, lots of Pinterest, stores and such ranking above me, as usual. Eventhough average pos is 2, I sometimes even can't find myself on page 1. Bizar.
auwch! I feel you!
aaaaargggh I hate you lol
I can´t wait for part two.
But I couldn´t be more agree: "People buying links from Fiverr deserve to get punished,"
Here you go Johann, published it yesterday #ParthaShorts Quick SEO Wins | Legally “Steal” Featured Snippets
Friday evening is saved ;)
Thank you!