☠️ SEO As We Know It Is Dead

Hubspot lost 85% of their organic search traffic in recent months.

Read that again.

Hubspot…

• The 10,000 pound gorilla of content marketing and SEO.

• The company that coined the term “inbound marketing”

• The website with over 6.4 MILLION backlinks

… yes that Hubspot, has lost 85% of SEO traffic!

Why? How? Who?

You’ve got questions. Here’s who’s to blame.

Suspect #1 - AI (Artificial Intelligence) is Shaking the Snow Globe of SEO by Changing User Behaviour

Yup, that’s right AI is a major factor.

First let’s look at Google itself.

Since ChatGPT came into the picture, more and more of us are ditching Google and using tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to answer our questions.

Audience search behaviour is changing. And it’s changing fast!

We know this. Google knows this.

So what is Google doing? They’re cannibalizing their own search engine product and experimenting with AI snippets. 👇🏼

AI snippets in Google search results basically answers the users question right within the search result.

What does this mean?

It means less traffic is being driven to your website because users are getting their answers directly from Google, without needing to go to YOUR website to get the answer they’re looking for.

Suspect #2 - Social Media is Actually Informative. Search Engines Are No Longer the Gatekeeper to Getting Information.

In Google’s heyday before social media, search engines were your prime starting point anytime you wanted to find something.

Search engines were the gatekeeper of the internet.

Back then? Not great at Google SEO? Then no traffic for you!

But now we have SO many options where we could start our online journey:

• TikTok

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Reddit

• YouTube

We now have so many starting points for our online discovery. The source of traffic used to be funnelled mainly through Google. Now the discovery starting point is fragmented across multiple social networks.

Now as users of the internet, rather than us having to do all the research and due diligence, we turn to content creators and influencers to distill the facts into their opinion or recommendation with which we form our own opinions.

My SEO Traffic is Tanking - What Do We Do Now?

So the SEO sky is falling. No doubt about that.

If you aren’t feeling it now, you will soon.

Where do we go from here?

#1 Diversify. Search Engine Optimization is Dying or Dead…But Search Everywhere Optimization is Thriving

For many online businesses, we’ve been lazy. Becoming over reliant on a single traffic source, Google.

The reality is, Google is no longer the internet traffic gatekeeper, we need to diversify.

People are still searching. Just not as much on Google.

People are searching for information and your product on the search engines within:

• TikTok

• Instagram

• Facebook

• Reddit

• YouTube

Determine which of those platforms your target personas are frequenting and start creating content there.

#2 Micro-Influencers. Engage Small Content Creators Organically.

Content creators (I believe) are a staple of the internet. They are mini-media moguls in their own right.

Don’t fight it. Lean into them.

Engage with them organically. Your buyers are also mini-content creators.

Create campaigns and opportunities that makes it irresistible to share your message or your product online.

And it some cases, it doesn’t take much.

Restaurants have figured this out by creating fun and immersive decor, food prep and instagrammable backgrounds to entice…well, basically everyone to share a picture of video online.

#3 Professional Influencers - Pay to Play

Find the influencers in your niche who are captivating your target persona.

This could be on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or maybe even LinkedIn.

Find creators who can represent your brand and pay them to amplify your message or review your product.

Use platforms like Creator.co to find the right influencers to partner with.

It’s Not All Doom & Gloom - This is An Opportunity!

For established media websites or affiliate websites, Google SEO dying-off is definitely bad news because their business models are reliant on free traffic that was once plentiful via Google.

But this is an opportunity for everyone else out there.

Get crafty. Get creative. Get gritty.

This is the time to experiment. Have fun with your campaigns.

But most importantly…

Get going!

TTFN!

Stay thirsty my friend!

PS: Are you still on X after Elon’s stunt? 🤔