I'm digging through some news on this Google update, and there are stories of web publishers watching their websites losing 90% of traffic overnight and regaining the next morning. So, if you are into web publishing and running sites, prepare for major ups and downs. In fact, my own pages almost returned to their previous positions while I was editing this video. I don't have high hopes, though, as I've seen this behavior in the past; it doesn't end well.
I am afraid this is most probably temporary. The lesson I have learned from the latest 2024 updates is that we should NOT depend entirely on google and SEO by having all of our eggs in one basket. We need to diversify our content in other platforms/social media.
Hang in there Jim, You will come back! From what I've seen you're not a quiter. Persevere my man, I feel for you. You will come out of this stronger than you've ever been.
Keep it up Jim! I don’t have the answers either and the digital world can be a strange one. While my situation is different from yours (younger and without children), I do connect with your struggle and the silence that being an entrepreneur can entail.
Google actually said this update was about addressing the concerns over the wipeout of niche, independent blogs. Yet my 16 year old niche, independent blog has been hit again by it. It's a bit early though to give up hope.
A bit different, but I had a webshop which got hit in the latest June update. I changed a lot of the things which likely caused my decline, but my site has been stable like a rock for a month now after a heavy decline for a month straight. Some days it can go down a bit, but it never really goes up. I made the decision to start working on a new webshop while I wait to see if this penalized state of my old website ever recovers. It might be worth it to start working on a new website for you too, because if your site never recovers, what will you do then? For me it'd be starting a new site anyways, this is all I know. Might as well already do it, and if my other one recovers that'd be even greater. PS: I now see at the end of the video that you already sort of realized this 😅 Putting a lot of time into a site that is penalized is likely a waste of resources indeed. Better to keep it up and alive to see if it recovers at most.
@@JimMakosCom I want to do it full time, but currently as a side hustle. The webshop I had was exploding in growth, so I was expecting to go full time soon. It was a webshop selling bucket hats in the Netherlands. But then the June update wrecked the site so I'm back to side hustle 😆Looking forward to my new site though, as it's an exact match domain for a commercial keyword with high volume, will be a new webshop. A new project also brings an excitement and new motivation for me. I won't give up on my old site, but I see how anything I do to it just has no effect because in the eyes of Google I betrayed their policies. I can wait and see if they forgive me sometime in the future so I regain their trust, but I might as well largely move on in the meantime.
I'm digging through some news on this Google update, and there are stories of web publishers watching their websites losing 90% of traffic overnight and regaining the next morning. So, if you are into web publishing and running sites, prepare for major ups and downs. In fact, my own pages almost returned to their previous positions while I was editing this video. I don't have high hopes, though, as I've seen this behavior in the past; it doesn't end well.
I am afraid this is most probably temporary. The lesson I have learned from the latest 2024 updates is that we should NOT depend entirely on google and SEO by having all of our eggs in one basket. We need to diversify our content in other platforms/social media.
@@artemike Agree, that was a wake-up call for many small publishers, me included.
Hang in there Jim, You will come back! From what I've seen you're not a quiter. Persevere my man, I feel for you. You will come out of this stronger than you've ever been.
A true supporter right here! Thanks again for believing in me, Richard 🙏
Keep it up Jim! I don’t have the answers either and the digital world can be a strange one.
While my situation is different from yours (younger and without children), I do connect with your struggle and the silence that being an entrepreneur can entail.
Thanks David! I hope younger people avoid the mistakes I've made 🤷
Google actually said this update was about addressing the concerns over the wipeout of niche, independent blogs. Yet my 16 year old niche, independent blog has been hit again by it. It's a bit early though to give up hope.
Well, at this point, I doubt how many publishers trust whatever Google says 🤷
A bit different, but I had a webshop which got hit in the latest June update. I changed a lot of the things which likely caused my decline, but my site has been stable like a rock for a month now after a heavy decline for a month straight. Some days it can go down a bit, but it never really goes up. I made the decision to start working on a new webshop while I wait to see if this penalized state of my old website ever recovers. It might be worth it to start working on a new website for you too, because if your site never recovers, what will you do then? For me it'd be starting a new site anyways, this is all I know. Might as well already do it, and if my other one recovers that'd be even greater.
PS: I now see at the end of the video that you already sort of realized this 😅 Putting a lot of time into a site that is penalized is likely a waste of resources indeed. Better to keep it up and alive to see if it recovers at most.
Yeah it's tough times for many web publishers. You sound like you're on the right path. Are you doing this full time or as a side hustle?
@@JimMakosCom I want to do it full time, but currently as a side hustle. The webshop I had was exploding in growth, so I was expecting to go full time soon. It was a webshop selling bucket hats in the Netherlands. But then the June update wrecked the site so I'm back to side hustle 😆Looking forward to my new site though, as it's an exact match domain for a commercial keyword with high volume, will be a new webshop.
A new project also brings an excitement and new motivation for me. I won't give up on my old site, but I see how anything I do to it just has no effect because in the eyes of Google I betrayed their policies. I can wait and see if they forgive me sometime in the future so I regain their trust, but I might as well largely move on in the meantime.