Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast! You definitely don’t want to miss this one as it’s packed with interesting insights and thoughts about events over the last week in SEO.

After Spencer talks briefly about his positive experience promoting Link Whisper at FinCon, he and Jared dive headfirst into the big news of the week: Spencer’s unexpectedly controversial post on X about how Google is slowly killing blogging. 

Much to his (and everyone’s) surprise, Danny Sullivan, from Google, responded to his post and offered a few helpful tips and takeaways from the HCU. This exchange generated a lot of debate about the topic—over 130 threads on Spencer’s original post. 

Spencer and Jared talk about the general confusion among site owners and content creators over the HCU and their efforts to understand what Google wants, and although Danny references this document to help people, people remain very confused and frustrated.

They also talk about the difference between the HCU and previous updates like Panda and Penguin, and encourage everyone to check out the original post on X.

Moving on, Spencer and Jared talk about the latest news about Reddit, as the platform is threatening to block Google. This decision hinges on Reddit’s ability to reach deals with generative AI companies to pay for its data.

What might happen to Reddit if it goes through with it? What would be the ripple effect? And what about the other 500+ companies that have already blocked their content from being scraped by AI? What would Spencer and Jared do if they ran Reddit? Tune in to hear them discuss the possibilities.

The next big news is that the DALL-E 3 image generator is available in ChatGPT and it’s free. With the right prompts, you can create whatever images you want. 

Spencer shares a few images he created using the tool, Jared talks about using it to successfully create YouTube thumbnails, and they discuss the quality of the images it creates.

As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer starts by talking about his most recent results with the Amazon Influencer Program. He shares that his videos are back in the carousel and his earnings are around $2k for the month. 

Although he’s finally cash flow positive with this side hustle, with 767 videos currently, what will the coming months hold in terms of earnings? Also, who’s making more at the moment, Spencer or Jared? Listen to the podcast to find out which host is in the lead.

Jared then talks about growing his Weekender Growth email list, which is now at 3k subscribers. 

He shares his challenges growing the YouTube channel, which has about 12 videos, +1k subscribers, and 2000 watch hours. He hopes to monetize it in the coming months, so stay tuned to see how that evolves!

As for weird niche sites, Spencer’s find of the week is the very colorful Sound Buttons World, which receives 575k visitors per month from organic search and has tons of sounds that users can download or link to. 

He and Jared look at the site’s exponential growth and discuss why that may be, and they look at the types of keywords the site is ranking for.

Jared shares his weird niche site, Day of the Week, which provides a lot of information about the days of the week, everything from the zodiac, birthstones, historical events, and more. 

This DR26 site ranks for 60k keywords, and Jared and Spencer are very surprised when they take a closer look at those keywords and at the type of ads running on the site. Listen to find out why!

And that brings us to the end of the latest episode of Niche Pursuits News! Hopefully, you’re feeling informed and inspired. Tune in next week when Spencer and Jared take on more SEO, digital marketing, and niche site creation news.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

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Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative 

In this episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast, SEO expert Jesse Cunningham joins us to give us a masterclass in AI content creation (at scale).

Jesse runs a successful SEO agency and shares helpful experiments regarding AI and SEO on his YouTube channel.

In his interview, we're lucky to hear him summarize some of his most important findings.

For one, he's all about topical authority. And shares how AI has helped make this easier than ever.

To do this with AI in a way that ranks, Jesse emphasizes the need for a comprehensive content map and well-organized page structure.

And he gives some pretty interesting insights into what he does for this which may surprise you.

Besides ChatGPT and Claude.ai, he shares two AI tools that he trusts: WordGalaxy.ai and especially SEOWriting.ai, the last of which, he even uses to automate image creation and alt text.

These tools can help streamline the content creation process and make it more efficient and scalable for both agencies and individual website builders.

But of course, Jesse also highlights the importance of editing to publish concise and relevant content, as well as fact-checking, especially in YMYL niches where accuracy is of utmost importance.

He then gets into how to create beautiful, data-based content with AI to attract links.

And how he believes the priority for content creators should be on dominating topical authority and providing valuable content.

By increasing their output through implementing a process that leverages virtual assistants, content creators can scale better and cheaper than ever before.

The talk then winds down with a high-level look at The Helpful Content Update (HCU).

This has changed the landscape of website creation, requiring websites to present themselves as businesses within Google's ecosystem. And Jesse suggests adding services, consultation options, or even emulating real companies in the footer to align with the HCU.

In short, Jesse shows how with the help of AI tools, optimizing content structure, and focusing on topical authority, content creators can not only survive but flourish in today's SEO landscape.

Please enjoy!

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

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Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast!

This week, Jared plays hosts alongside his guest Tony Hill, a niche site expert with about 2 decades of experience. Come along as they dissect and digest the latest news on SEO, digital marketing, Google, niche sites, and beyond.

They kick off the show talking about the October core update, which just completed its 2-week rollout. Tony talks about how many sites got hit by both the HCU and this update, and Jared talks about whether or not the second update was a rollback of sorts by Google. 

What’s the current status of UCG sites? When do sites generally experience volatility during an update? Is Google demoting content that it thinks users don’t need as much when they have access to AI resources like Bard? Is Google taking a different route in interpreting users’ search queries? Tune in to hear their thoughts.

The next topic is Mediavine’s assessment of Google’s Helpful Content Update. The ad company reports that just 5.8% of its sites were negatively affected, but would Mediavine site owners agree with that statistic? How transparent is the company’s analysis? And was ad density one of the characteristics targeted by Google in the update? Find out what Tony and Jared think.

Moving on, they discuss an article on Reuters about Google, AI, and its Search Generative Experience. The news outlet calls the search tool a “red flag” in the lengthy relationship between publishers and Google, and quotes experts who confirm that SGE is going to decrease publishers’ organic traffic. 

Jared and Tony talk about the importance of the situation being reported in the mainstream news to create more awareness. They agree that it’s still the very early days and time will tell how it all plays out. Will the lite version of SGE remain? Will the antitrust lawsuit Google’s facing be a determining factor? Listen to find out what Jared and Tony think.

In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared talks about the Amazon Influencer Program and how it had taken a turn for the worse. His videos weren’t appearing anymore and clicks had plummeted… until a few days ago. Everything seems to have turned around: clicks are up, his videos are back, and his fingers are crossed for 4Q. Stay tuned to find out how it all ends!

Tony talks about Google Discover and how many websites are seeing a boost in traffic, which can happen after updates like the recent ones. He discusses brand new sites getting Google Discover traffic and sites that have been getting traffic for years going down to zero. He also mentions that Google is now considering a desktop version, and talks about his own experience with his sites on Google Discover.

As for weird niches this week, Jared goes first with Halloween Jokes. This seasonal site ranks for just 1300 keywords, some of which are in the top 10. The site is making some ad revenue and would be relatively easy to recreate using AI. They also talk about the possibility of making a series of sites for different holidays as a way to maintain traffic year-round.  

Tony shares a weird site as well, Find a Grave, which is like a Wikipedia with information about people’s graves. This well-done directory contains information that is crowdsourced and contains a lot of relevant pictures and an active forum with more than 47k people. 

They talk about the site’s smart monetization techniques. Aside from ads, users can send flowers to the gravesites in its database, essentially making it very useful. All in all, a weird and clever niche site. 

And that brings us to the end of another information-packed episode. Join us next week when they analyze the very latest in SEO news and bring some inspiration and laughs with their side hustles and weird sites.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Nathan Gotch, founder of Gotch SEO and true thought leader in the space joins the Niche Pursuits podcast to share valuable tips on keyword research and content creation.

He takes us through his entire journey. Starting with learning SEO back in 2011 building his own sites, to how he got clients, diversifying his income, and what he sees working today.

And Nathan's insights are important for any site owner to take note of.

His approach to keyword research is centered around driving revenue and providing valuable content to users.

He recommends starting with transactional, bottom of the funnel topics that have high buyer intent or relevance to your core offer in your niche.

And suggests researching keywords by looking at products being sold on platforms like Amazon to determine which ones generate the most money.

If necessary, he recommends using keyword research tools to identify clustering opportunities and build a database of keywords.

And offers a great criteria for prioritizing keywords based on intent, relevance, and other important and sometimes overlooked factors.

From here he recommends creating high-value pages and supporting content at a granular level.

He also emphasizes the importance of having expertise or enthusiasm in the niche you choose for your website.

Nathan also shares a great 80/20 principle he uses. Meaning outside of the 80% targeting SEO traffic, 20% of content can be experimenting with trending keywords and creating link bait assets to attract attention and gain an authoritative advantage.

For existing sites, Nathan advises starting with existing keywords that are already ranking and optimizing them to improve their positions and increase clicks. He even highlights the value of keywords in positions 50 to 100, as they can still provide opportunities for growth and relevance.

He also highlights the significance of external signals, such as high-quality backlinks, in determining the helpfulness of content.

Nathan emphasizes the need for a long-term vision and building a brand rather than just a niche site.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast, where Jared and Spencer break down the latest SEO news into bite-size pieces. Buckle up people, because they cover many, many topics on today’s episode!

It’s been one week since Google announced its core update for October, plus the spam update was rolled out, so Jared and Spencer first talk about how to know which may be affecting your site.

For those affected by the HCU, they look at a very exhaustive, data-heavy resource and highlight some of the conclusions, including what type of content performed better, how new sites fared in the update, how article length importance has shifted, and conclusions about AI content. They also share their opinions on some of the author’s theories and touch on the future of updates.

Moving on, Spencer and Jared address Google’s antitrust lawsuit and the recent news reveals that Apple was in talks to buy Bing or DuckDuckGo. They talk about the money that was exchanged between Apple and Google and how Apple negotiated the deal.

The next topic is how a recent op-ed on Wired claiming Google alters users’ search queries was recently pulled from their website for “not meeting their editorial standards,” and Jared and Spencer discuss why it might have disappeared.

In the latest SGE news, they talk about how Google appears to be testing a lite version, where the results are taking up less space at the top of the page. They share a few theories about why this is, how the experience has changed over recent months, and what this means for website owners.

In other SGE news, the conversation shifts to Google’s AI-powered search and its ability to generate images and drafts. They also talk about how AI images are something we should be paying attention to.

The next topic is how Google is using clicks to rank websites, contrary to what the search engine has said for years. They talk about the implications for privacy data and how this information may change the way we operate. 

In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about a website in the news niche he created with his kids, the goal of which is to get traffic from Facebook. He built up a Facebook page to 30k followers and the website has traffic of 27k over the last month. His goal is to get into Mediavine in the coming months, and he’ll report back as he and his writer make progress.

Jared then talks about a spreadsheet he created to help website owners, SEOs, and content creators with prompts relating to the HCU. It’s free over the weekend and then he may start charging for it, so grab it now!

When it comes to weird niche sites, Spencer shares Cake Wrecks, which documents cake fails and adds some funny titles to the cakes. The DR59 site, which has been around for many years, is making money through ads and the author also has a book. 

As for Jared, his site is History Colored, which adds color to traditionally black-and-white photos. What probably started as a personal project to add color to photos eventually expanded into a bigger website that targets informational topics and gets more traffic. They talk about how some pages might go viral. With 515k followers on Facebook and 355k subscribers on YouTube, this is a topic that does well on social media.

And that brings us to the end of another jam-packed episode of the podcast. See you next week!

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Brock McGoff joins us today on the Niche Pursuits to share his experience selling his menswear websites, The Modest Man and The Slender Wrist.

Throughout the talk, he highlights key points that helped him grow to an average of $30k per month and offers valuable pointers for others looking to sell their sites such as:

• Frequently asked buyer questions
• Keys to his site's growth
• Branding tips
• And more...

Plus Brock's story includes growing a site he started and one he bought.

The Modest Man was a menswear site Brock started around 10 years ago, while The Slender Wrist is one he bought in a private sale a couple of years back.

And to ensure the success of his websites, Brock focused on hands-on reviews and buying guides.

He emphasizes the importance of quality content and building genuine relationships in the industry for backlinks. It's these factors that he believes played a significant role in attracting advertisers and generating revenue.

Speaking of revenue, he found that individual product affiliate networks often converted well and offered higher commission rates. He also actively negotiated with brands for better rates and terms by forming strong relationships with them.

But in the end, he decided to sell the sites because he no longer enjoyed the day-to-day operations and wanted to pursue other opportunities.

So, in preparation for selling his sites, Brock took steps to remove himself from the business and diversify revenue streams. Again, he recommends the importance of reaching out to brands and forming relationships instead of relying solely on Amazon or other standard affiliate platforms. As this approach helped him create a more sustainable and attractive business for potential buyers.

He initially tried to sell it privately, jumping on loads of sales calls which led to great insights:

Buyers were particularly interested in the content's quality, the business's stability, the presence of a team, and standard operating procedures.

And Brock shares many of these frequently asked questions.

But he ended up using a broker to facilitate the sale process and found their guidance and support to be worth the fee. The listing process was relatively quick, and he immediately received multiple offers.

He also decided to keep his YouTube channel separate from the sale and managed to facilitate a true win-win site exit.

Overall, it's another great, insightful interview you don't want to miss!

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News podcast. This week Josh Blackburn fills in for Spencer, and he and Jared sit down to discuss the most relevant news in SEO, digital marketing, website creation, and beyond.

The first order of business is the 2 additional updates Google recently launched following the Helpful Content Update that essentially left the niche website community battered. Jared and Josh weigh in on what they think will happen. Is this Google’s way of “tweaking” the results of the HCU? What should website owners do with their sites during these updates? Tune in to hear what they think.

They talk about a series of things website owners can do to improve their rankings in the wake of the HCU, touching on topics like ad density, usability, pop-ups, and article word count. They also share their observations about the update’s winners and losers and the importance of looking at your website as a business and emulating the features that Google looks for in a business.

Jared and Josh move on to talk about Google’s antitrust lawsuit and the revelation that it might be altering search results to get better ad results. They talk about some shady emails that were leaked that give an inside look at how Google operates, but the truth is that there are a lot of changes going on now in search and it remains to see how everything will play out.

The next topic is how more and more publishers are blocking GPTBot, with news outlets following suit. Jared asks, “Why would you not block it?” Will partnerships be the way forward? What does the future look like for content creators in the world of AI? Jared and Josh share their thoughts and concerns.

In the Side Hustle Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Jared reports on his Amazon Influencer side project. September earnings exceeded his expectations in the first half of the month only to drop off a cliff in the second half.

Although he still earned over $2k, it’s unclear how profitable this “experiment” will actually be. What’s Amazon doing? What does the future of the program look like? Is it worth starting to make videos if you haven’t already? Tune in to find out what happens in the months to come. 

Josh then talks about a DR32 site of his which saw a massive drop in clicks over time. He recently added 4000 unedited AI articles to it as an experiment and he started to see an improvement; however, with the HCU, it got crushed. He’s going to wait and see if it bounces back or not and how future updates affect it.

They move on to talk about their weird niche sites. Jared’s is Cuddle Comfort, which was first created in 2011. This DR32 site ranks for just 2k keywords but may be getting up to 1 million visits per month. He and Josh talk about how it creates trust and they talk about its monetization techniques.

Then it’s Josh’s turn, and he shares Sunglasses ID, which identifies all the different sunglasses worn by celebrities and in the movies and includes an affiliate link for users to buy them. 

This DR31 site with just over 1000 pages is 14 years and 260 days old and gets 70k visits per month. They talk about how the publisher might get all the data for all of the sunglasses. Then Josh reveals a second site, WatchID, which follows the same concept. This site was created about 17 days after the first site and has a lot of scope for improvement. Are there similar ID sites out there? Maybe!

That brings us to the end of another great podcast on the current SEO landscape. Come back next week to hear the latest news and get plenty of inspiration!

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

We have a special treat today on the Niche Pursuits podcast.

CopyBlogger owner and Sober Nation founder, Tim Stoddart joins us to share some awesome tips and insights from his success in building multiple income streams online.

You do not want to miss this one as Tim's story is sure to inspire.

He learned about content marketing and SEO by reading the site Copyblogger. He then applied these strategies to his own site, Sober Nation.

He initially used these strategies to gain traction through Facebook by sharing user stories. But, he soon realized that traffic doesn't always translate to revenue.

So, Tim decided to transition Sober Nation to a directory model to generate revenue, listing treatment facilities and generating revenue through exposure.

This allowed him to monetize the website in a creative and effective way. And also sparked the idea to start an agency to help related facilities with their marketing needs.

Tim explains how he used Sober Nation as a branding tool to build his agency, Stodzy. And by leveraging the success of Sober Nation, Tim was able to establish his agency and attract clients.

He did a similar thing after acquiring CopyBlogger. Again, instead of taking the traditional ad and affiliate route, Tim takes a different approach.

He uses Copyblogger as a lead generation site for his agency, Digital Commerce.

Tim also highlights the importance of having a core group of trusted employees and a systematic workflow. This ensures that the business runs smoothly and efficiently. He discusses the different revenue models he uses, including free media, front-end products, and high-end services. By diversifying his income streams, Tim has created a stable and sustainable business model.

In conclusion, Tim Stoddart's journey and projects demonstrate the significance of building a business with multiple income streams. By leveraging the success of Sober Nation, Tim was able to establish his agency and attract clients.

He emphasizes the importance of measuring success based on client goals and delivering results. Tim's specialization and finding unique angles in the marketplace have been key to his success.

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative