ranking at number 1 in Google for that article TWO YEARS ago got you 1,000 visitors per month, ranking number one today will only get that article 150 visitors per month
Very true. So much more clutter on the SERP now. Plus G are losing market share to Bing and others. I'm actually using Bing Copilot quite a bit for informational searches now where previously I would have 'Googled it'.
Also, as a feeble protest, I switched to Edge and am using Bing as my default search engine across all my devices now. Although I'm still using Chrome on my Chromebook because I figured they already have my Chromebook data anyway!
The biggest takeaway that I have seen from this, my first Google Core Update, is that new blogs and new posts have fallen to the wayside in favor of amalgamated sites like Medium, Quora, Reddit, and such.
I create condensed, Reader's Digest versions of my blog posts for Medium consumption. I see that these condensed posts are being ranked based on the domain authority of Medium. Further down the SERP, I see my answers on Quora and Reddit, though all are listed.
Finally, somewhere down the list of results are the actual posts that I created. I see where you mention -
If you like writing, syndicate all your content to Medium (they have an "import" tool)
Should I do as you suggest and import all of my posts periodically to Medium, or continue to create the condensed versions? It took a while, but I have a great set of prompts that do the work for me.
Why not just make a brand-new website that has basically no connection with my other website, and just try this mass production of AI articles, just to see what happens.
@jonathan yeah, why not give it a try? What do you have to lose?
New domain name with privacy protection, SSL obviously, cheap hosting account and then just crank out that content.
I think the main thing to keep in mind is this is mass production so don't worry about content quality. Just get as much content out there as you can. Having said that, with a well crafted prompt you can also make the quality reasonably acceptable as well.
Thousands of webmasters are doing this now. Must be a nightmare for the G engineers!
@partha ... what do you think is the top limit for the number of posts per day, when creating mass content like this?
new blogs and new posts have fallen to the wayside in favor of amalgamated sites like Medium, Quora, Reddit, and such.
@mrdon Hey Don ... yep G seems to have just pushed high authority sites to the top of the pile and all of us smaller guys and gals with the site-wide classifier applied are nowhere. Apparently G also signed a deal with Reddit to train their AI on Reddit's vast database of UGC, so that's one potential reason for Reddit seeing a boost in the SERP ... although I don't think anyone can confirm there is favouritism there.
The prominence of Reddit and Quora might just be down to the algo.
Should I do as you suggest and import all of my posts periodically to Medium, or continue to create the condensed versions?
Medium takes care of the canonical aspect so you can safely import the whole article. If you'd rather post the condensed version then that's fine too. Although if your prompts are rewriting the content substantially, I'd be a bit careful because it may get flagged as AI generated.
Hey Don,
Nope, no need.
The point being, you have found something that works for you, so no need to change it up, just keep doing what you're doing.
I've always said there is no "one way" to do things online, so while importing works really well, you've found your own system that works really well for YOU, so keep at it.
Realistically, people have ALWAYS tried to manipulate Google in some way, so Google is forever fighting against this.
So, more often than not, something works really well for a few years, and then it doesn't, it's just the way it is with ever-changing algorithms.
However, for the moment, "parasitising" off sites such as Medium, Linkedin, Reddit, and Quora works really well, so ensure that you are using these platforms to your full advantage.
What will happen next Sunday, I don't know, but at a guess it will be SOME of the "normal" websites that are allowing people to "parasite" off them that will get hit.
So, this will mainly be websites that have things like "Write a guest post for us" advertised somewhere on their website.
However, I'm pretty sure Forbes will get away with their practices, because let's face facts, they're a big enough company to take out a lawsuit against Google if they are "hit" in this update (kinda shows that Google is ALL about business and making money).
Furthermore, I can't see "user-generated content" websites (Medium, Linkedin, Reddit, and Quora) getting hit, as this is in line with the "Hidden Gems" update that Google spoke about around 5 months ago (people sharing their personal experience of something).
So, for now, carry on doing what's working for you, and if you have to "evolve" in the future then so be it.
Partha
Should I do as you suggest and import all of my posts periodically to Medium, or continue to create the condensed versions? It took a while, but I have a great set of prompts that do the work for me.
@partha AS always, thank you.
My prompts are devised around this post is 2000 words, keep the main points and condense it down to about half, build curiosity, and have the reader check out the original for more information. I continue to refine these to ensure I keep the original intent.
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