Beat Google Using These 9 Big Site Tactics [Detailed Report]

Summary

The video script from Authority Hacker's Mark Webster reveals the struggles of both big and small publishers in the competitive Google search landscape. It discusses how top companies adapt and thrive, including diversifying traffic sources, leveraging AI to improve content quality, and exploring new monetization methods like e-commerce and memberships. The script also highlights the importance of following successful industry stories and the impact of AI on search behavior, suggesting that Google may need to address publisher concerns in future updates.

Takeaways

• 📉 Big Authority sites like The Verge or Fast Company are not dominating Google search; they are fighting for survival, similar to small publishers.
• 🔍 Glenn Alsop's report on detail.com reveals strategies big players use to thrive in the competitive search landscape, often after investing heavily in trial and error.
• 📈 Some sites have seen significant search traffic losses, such as Culture Trip, which dropped from over 18 million to less than 2 million in 4 years, despite substantial funding.
• 🌐 Diversification of traffic sources is crucial for survival, with platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn becoming more important than before.
• 📊 Diversification can even boost performance on Google search, as seen with CJ Recipes, which grew from 25,000 to 875,000 monthly visits in a year, likely due to their presence on social media.
• 💡 Large publishers are taking advantage of competitors' misfortunes by acquiring sites hit by Google updates and redirecting them to their stronger domains.
• 🚀 With website values at near record lows, it's an opportune time to buy up relevant websites for cheap, leveraging the strength of established domains.
• 🤖 The rise of AI has led big publishers to improve content quality to increase engagement and reduce reliance on Google traffic, as the ease of producing low-quality content at scale threatens their business model.
• 💰 High-quality content can unlock new monetization methods, such as monthly memberships, paid newsletters, and more lucrative advertising deals.
• 🛍️ E-commerce is becoming a significant revenue stream for publishers, with some leveraging drop shipping or selling their own products to increase profit margins.
• 📝 Publishers are also embracing news content as a way to attract a more engaged audience and generate traffic from various sources beyond just SEO.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Glenn Alsop's report on detail.com?

Glenn Alsop's report focuses on the strategies that top companies use to dominate Google search results and adapt to industry changes, revealing the secret weapons big players use to thrive in the competitive search landscape.

How has the search traffic of Culture Trip changed over the years according to the report?

Culture Trip's monthly search traffic has significantly dropped from over 18 million to less than 2 million in 4 years, despite raising over $175 million from investors.

What is the impact of relying too heavily on one platform for traffic, as seen with Bustle Digital Group and other media conglomerates?

Bustle Digital Group and other media conglomerates have faced major setbacks, with search traffic losses of up to 80% and significant drops in share value, illustrating the risks of depending on a single platform for traffic.

How does diversification of traffic sources impact performance on Google search?

Diversification can actually boost performance on Google search, as seen with CJ recipes, which experienced phenomenal growth in Google search after building a strong presence on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

What strategy are large publishers using to capitalize on their competitors' misfortunes?

Large publishers are acquiring sites that have been hit by Google updates, moving their content to stronger domains, and benefiting from Google's preference for those domains, which often results in the content being ranked higher.

How are big publishers responding to the rise of AI and the threat it poses to their content production model?

Big publishers are trying to level up their content quality to increase engagement and reduce reliance on Google traffic. They are focusing on creating high-quality content that is resistant to being commoditized.

What new monetization methods have big players like Vox and The Verge started offering due to higher audience engagement?

Vox and The Verge have started offering monthly memberships and paid newsletters as new monetization methods, leveraging the higher engagement from their audience due to a focus on quality content.

What is the significance of e-commerce in the current media landscape, and how are publishers like Conde Nast and Hurst leveraging it?

E-commerce is a significant opportunity for publishers of all sizes, allowing them to generate more revenue and unlock new traffic sources. Publishers like Conde Nast and Hurst are embracing e-commerce, with some leveraging drop shipping as an alternative to affiliate marketing.

How are publishers leveraging their content to drive more sales, as mentioned in the script?

Publishers are using a styling element where an article merges into a store as the reader scrolls, allowing them to drive more sales by integrating content with product offerings seamlessly.

What advice does Glenn have for smaller publishers looking to succeed in the current search landscape?

Glenn advises smaller publishers to find an active success story on a similar path and follow their strategy, emphasizing the importance of learning from those who have found success in the same space.

What surprising data did Rand Fishkin's study reveal about the percentage of Google searches that lead to website clicks?

The study revealed that for every 1,000 US Google searches, only 360 clicks go to websites, indicating that nearly two-thirds of searches either end the browsing session, make another search, or go to a Google property like YouTube or Maps.

Outlines

00:00

📉 Big Publishers' Struggles with Search Traffic

The script reveals that even major authority sites like The Verge and Fast Company are not immune to the challenges of maintaining search traffic. They are fighting for survival, with some experiencing significant losses. The video discusses Glenn Alsop's report from detail.com, which uncovers the strategies big players use to thrive in the competitive search landscape. These sites have invested heavily in perfecting their strategies through trial and error. The video also presents some surprising data on the number of Google searches that actually lead to websites, suggesting it's less than commonly believed. The report and discussion highlight the importance of traffic diversification and the impact of relying solely on one platform for traffic.

05:00

💼 Strategies for Monetization and Content Quality in Publishing

This paragraph delves into how publishers, both large and small, are focusing on high-quality content that is less likely to be commoditized. The emphasis on quality is not just for the sake of content integrity but also because it opens up new monetization opportunities. Publishers like Vox and The Verge are offering monthly memberships and paid newsletters, while others are increasing ad revenue through dedicated sales teams. E-commerce is also highlighted as a significant revenue stream, with examples given of how publishers are leveraging their content to drive sales, either through their own products or by selling other brands' products. The paragraph also touches on the benefits of selling courses, digital products, physical products, and coaching services as ways to strengthen monetization for small brands.

10:01

🤖 Impact of AI on Search Behavior and Publishers' Adaptations

The final paragraph discusses a study by Rand Fishkin of Spark Toro that provides insights into search behavior in 2024, particularly focusing on the impact of AI tools on search results and user behavior. The study reveals that a significant portion of searches end without a click, with users either making another search, going to a Google property, or ending their session. The data shows a decline in clicks to websites, with a rise in searches conducted on Google properties. Despite concerns about AI alternatives, Google remains strong, with users not seeking out alternatives despite any controversies. The paragraph also mentions Cloudflare's introduction of a feature to block AI bots and scrapers, which is crucial as the demand for content to train AI models has increased. The feature aims to help content creators protect their work from unauthorized use.

Keywords

💡Authority sites

Authority sites are websites that are considered trustworthy and reliable by both users and search engines, often due to their high-quality content, domain age, and strong backlink profile. In the video script, authority sites like The Verge and Fast Company are mentioned as examples of big players in the online publishing world that are still fighting for survival amidst competitive search landscapes.

💡Search traffic

Search traffic refers to the number of visitors directed to a website from search engines like Google. The script discusses how both large and small publishers are experiencing fluctuations in search traffic, emphasizing the importance of adapting strategies to maintain and grow this traffic source.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the process of improving a website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through various techniques, including content creation, backlink building, and technical optimizations. The video's theme revolves around SEO strategies employed by big and small publishers to thrive in competitive search environments.

💡Content diversification

Content diversification involves creating and distributing content across various platforms and formats to reach a wider audience. The script mentions that diversification can boost performance on Google search, as seen with CJ recipes, which grew its search traffic significantly by being active on Instagram and TikTok.

💡Google updates

Google updates refer to changes made by Google to its search algorithm that can affect website rankings. The script discusses how large publishers capitalize on competitors' misfortunes by acquiring sites hit by Google updates and redirecting them to their own domains to regain search rankings.

💡E-commerce

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, as well as the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. The script mentions that publishers are embracing e-commerce as an alternative revenue stream, leveraging their content to drive sales and using drop shipping as an alternative to affiliate marketing.

💡AI (Artificial Intelligence)

AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The script discusses the impact of AI on content creation and the potential threat it poses to publishers who previously relied on mass-producing low-quality content.

💡PR campaign

A PR campaign is a strategic effort by a company or individual to generate public interest and media coverage. The script provides an example of a successful PR campaign by search-intellig.co.uk that resulted in high-quality links and placements, demonstrating the value of innovative digital PR in link building.

💡News content

News content refers to information about recent events or updates in a specific field or industry. The script highlights the potential of news content as a traffic driver, as conglomerates are increasingly building or acquiring news brands to attract a more engaged audience and diversify traffic sources.

💡AI overviews

AI overviews, as mentioned in the script, refer to the summaries or overviews generated by AI algorithms that appear in search results. The script discusses how the introduction of AI overviews has affected user behavior and search patterns, leading to a decrease in mobile searches and a potential impact on Google's strategy.

💡Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a web infrastructure and security company that provides a suite of services to websites. The script mentions a new feature introduced by Cloudflare that allows users to block AI bots and scrapers, which is significant in protecting content creators from unauthorized use of their work.

Highlights

Big Authority sites like The Verge or Fast Company are fighting for survival, not just small publishers.

Investments in trial and error strategies by big players are revealed in Glenn Alsop's report on detail.com.

Surprisingly, diversification on other platforms can boost performance on Google search.

Large Publishers capitalize on competitors' misfortunes by acquiring sites hit by Google updates.

Sites that did well post-Google updates are buying traffic-lost sites with good content, moving content to stronger domains.

With website values at record lows, it's an opportune time to buy relevant websites at low costs.

Big Publishers are threatened by AI and are improving content quality to increase engagement and reduce reliance on Google traffic.

High-quality content can unlock new monetization methods, such as monthly memberships and paid newsletters.

E-commerce is being embraced by media conglomerates and small publishers alike as a lucrative revenue stream.

Content is increasingly being used to drive sales with articles merging into stores.

Small Publishers can strengthen monetization by selling courses, digital products, physical products, coaching services, and sponsorships.

PR campaigns can result in high-quality links and placements, as demonstrated by Search Intelligence's campaign.

Big Publishers are streamlining portfolios by shutting down or selling smaller sites to focus on higher authority sites.

News content is becoming a potential gold mine due to its sharability across multiple platforms.

AI overviews have significantly impacted mobile searches, leading to a reduction in their usage by Google.

Cloudflare introduces a feature to block AI bots and scrapers, helping content creators protect their work.

Only a small percentage of websites actively block AI bots, despite high bot activity.

Glenn's advice for smaller Publishers is to find and follow active success stories in similar paths or niches.

A study by Rand Fishkin reveals that only 36% of Google searches result in clicks to websites.

Google is not losing out to AI alternatives; users still prefer the platform despite controversies.

Transcripts

you might think that big Authority sites

like The Verge or Fast Company dominate

Google search but the reality is they're

fighting for survival just like many

small Publishers are many have even lost

a significant amount of search traffic

recently we've taken a deep dive into

Glenn alsop's new report on detail.com

to reveal the secret weapons big players

use to thrive in today's competitive

search landscape these sites have

invested millions in trial and error to

perfect these strategies and we're

breaking everything down and sharing

them with you right here right now plus

stick around for some eye openening data

on how many Google searches actually

lead to websites hint it's less than you

think welcome to another edition of our

search marketing news Roundup I'm Mark

Webster co-founder of authority hacker

and strategic advisor at marketing Pros

today's video is brought to you by

search intelligence more on them a

little later if you want all of the most

important SEO and marketing news

analyzed by industry veterans weekly in

your feed hit that subscribe button and

the bell icon so you don't miss out on

our next episodes now let's dive into

the big site secrets revealed in Glenn's

[Music]

report Glenn alsop of detail.com has

released his latest quarterly report

sharing insights on how top companies

dominate Google search results and adapt

to Industry changes we Dove deep into

the report to learn what the big guys

are doing right now to Survive and

Thrive and what strategies us small

Publishers can steal first off it's not

just the small Publishers feeling in the

Heat Big Publishers are also struggling

take the culture trip for instance their

monthly search traffic has plummeted

from over 18 million to less than 2

million in 4 years despite raising over

$175 million from investors those

investors probably aren't too happy

right now bustle digital group is

another big name facing major setbacks

they've reported search traffic losses

of up to 80% across most of their

websites and their Facebook traffic has

also dropped by 50% since last year

publicly traded media conglomerates are

also taking a hit the arena group has

lost a staggering

99.8% of its Share value since its peak

and gfinity is down 99% over the past 5

years following heavy search traffic

losses these numbers make shitcoins look

like stable long-term Investments but

this is what happens when you're

completely riing on one platform for

traffic we interviewed Glenn to get

deeper insights on his report and he

shared his thoughts on traffic

diversification I think search traffic

is always going to be important it's

always going to be incredible traffic

Source because of the intent behind it

but there's definitely lots of you know

other platforms that people are starting

to take a bit more seriously Pinterest

Instagram LinkedIn and so on than they

were before surprisingly diversification

can even boost performance on Google

search CJ recipes has seen phenomenal

growth in Google search going from

25,000 monthly visits to over 875,000 in

just 12 months his success on Instagram

and Tik Tok where he has over a million

followers each is probably behind the

growth many people search for his brand

or click on his site when they see it

helping the site rank higher thanks to

the navbo system by Google another big

finding is that large Publishers are

capitalizing on their competitors

misfortunes by buying up sites that have

been hit by Google updates for instance

pangola Acquired excitedc cats.com and

conscious cat.net two sites had been

slammed by Google and redirected them to

cater after moving some of their content

over US News acquired the culture trip

probably for much less than the7 $75

million that investors put into it and

guiding Tech media recently announced

the acquisition of Microsoft XL resource

XL Demi which lost over 98% of its

search traffic and statistics blog staty

which lost 60% of its search traffic

What's Happening Here is that sites that

did well with the recent Google updates

are buying up sites that lost a lot of

traffic but had good content then they

simply moved the content over to the

stronger domain and most of the time

Google will instantly rank that content

again just because it's on a domain that

they love and with website values at

near record lows there's never been a

better time to buy up relevant websites

for pennies on the dollar as allop

explains the multiple revenues that

websites are going for is probably far

less than it was you know a couple years

ago and the revenue that those websites

are making is probably less as well with

the rise of AI it's also clear that big

Publishers are feeling threatened

everyone was making fun of them for

mass-- producing low quality content and

that business model is now in Jeopardy

given how easy it's become for anyone to

pump out sub par content at high volume

these Publishers are now trying to level

up their content quality to increase

engagement and reduce Reliance on Google

traffic for example Planet sport has

elevated their game on their racing site

Planet F1 by building close

relationships with F1 teams and getting

a journalist into the padic at races

gaining high-profile exclusive stories

and interviews and if you check out the

kitchen product review methodology page

on Business Insider they make it pretty

clear that their product reviews are

conducted with more hands-on experience

than they ever have been Ed ha at the

Wall Street journal's director of

Newsroom SEO suggested Publishers double

down on high quality content that's

resistant to being commoditized and

these Publishers aren't just creating

better quality for the fun of it

focusing on high quality content unlock

some great new monetization methods due

to a higher engagement from the audience

big players like Vox and the cut started

offering monthly memberships to read

their full lineup of content Vox and The

Verge are offering paid newsletters and

Puck news acquired a substack newsletter

with 32,000 subscribers The Cut and the

Atlantic are increasing ad Revenue by

attracting more lucrative advertising

deals through their dedicated sales team

and many brands are leveraging Apple

news to generate additional Revenue with

some even earning seven figures per year

this way media conglomerates like Condon

Nast and Hurst as well as small

Publishers like pangola are also

embracing e-commerce condinas e-commerce

revenu is of 39% and Hurst which owns

Publications like Popular Mechanics and

Men's Health have leveraged Drop

Shipping as a lucrative alternative to

affiliate marketing for instance a Digi

Day Report revealed that Men's Health

makes $250 in revenue on $800 dumbbells

via Drop Shipping rather than the $80

they would typically get as part of an

affiliate commission pangola is also

expanding their product lineup with

their new Pango vet tele Health Service

which is heavily advertised on Catster

and dogster this Builds on the e-com

success they've already seen with pet

furniture brand Hepper selling products

whether they be other brands products or

your own creation is a big opportunity

for sites of all sizes not only can it

generate more Revenue but it's a

defensive move that lets you increase

profit per visitor and unlock new

traffic sources like retargeting ads and

social media alsop's also found a unique

way Publishers are leveraging their

content to drive more sales a styling

element I'm seeing a lot more often now

is almost an article that kind of starts

like an article looks like an article

the featured image the headline and then

as you scroll it kind of merges into a

store while these methods are effective

not all of them are easily replicable

for small Publishers if you have a small

brand you can strengthen your

monetization by selling courses like

guitartricks.com guitar course digital

products such as eo's notion templates

physical products like epic gardening's

gardening store coaching services like

nerd fitnesses Fitness coaching and

sponsorships like this one we're about

to show you from our sponsor search

intelligence they recently ran a

groundbreaking PR campaign that landed

over 60 highquality links and placements

here's how they did it they began by

diving into similar web discovering the

opening eyes website has skyrocketed to

44th in the global traffic rankings

thanks to chat gpt's popular it using

the stat they crafted a detailed press

release about their findings and sent

out to journalists the result their

story was featured on some of the

world's most reputable websites

including Yahoo news d92 the rap d84 and

Time Magazine d92 this campaign shows

that pring building doesn't always

require massive data sets sometimes even

simple statistics presented clearly to

the Press can result in a bounty of

links so if you're looking to enhance

your link building with an Innovative

digital PR campaign head over to search-

intellig .co.uk another surprising move

by big Publishers is the streamlining of

their portfolios by shutting down or

selling smaller sites the arena group

for instance didn't just stop working on

smaller sites like smarty sense spry

living and American profile they

completely deleted them overnight

another example is Pangia who redirected

their General pet site pet Keen to their

Pango vet tele Health Service it seems

focusing on fewer higher authority sites

is more effective than spreading

resources thin across a larger portfolio

creating blog content is still viable

but industry shifts have made news

content a potential gold mine in any

Niche conglomerates are increasingly

building or acquiring news Brands

because the widespread interest in news

makes it sharable across many platforms

including Facebook pages Instagram

stories Google News Google discover

newsletters X and even SEO through all

those links that the stories acquire in

addition to unlocking these traffic

sources covering news in your industry

attracts a more engaged higher quality

audience who are more likely to purchase

things that you sell take grv media for

example they recently acquired MMA News

site bloodyelbow.com which reached a

record 9.3 million monthly page views

with only 400,000 of that from organic

search showing a healthy lack of

Reliance on SEO similarly stock trading

app Robin Hood launched a financial news

site Sherwood news which is off to a

great start with over 750,000 monthly

visits from direct traffic email and

social if you want a taste of what's

possible on Google discover SEO expert

Lily Ray recently shared one of her

client success stories with over 2

million daily clicks from Google

discover alone and we are seeing some

great early successes in the news format

with this very YouTube channel we'll

finish with some advice from Glenn for

smaller Publishers the best advice I can

give anyone is find a success story

active success story on a similar path

to you or at least where you want to be

find that and follow them I couldn't

agree more now have you ever wondered

how many searches actually result in

clicks to websites well a new study from

Rand fishkin of spark Toro has some

surprising data using the multi-million

device clickstream panel from datos a

semrush company Fishin was able to

answer some core questions like what

percent of searches in 2024 end without

a click is Google losing to AI tools

like chat GPT perplexity or Microsoft

Bing and how much has the roll out of AI

overviews changed how Searchers behave

let's start with the clicks for every

1,000 us Google searches only 360 clicks

go to websites the rest either end the

browsing session make another search go

to one of Google's properties like

YouTube or Maps or go to a paid ad this

means that nearly 2third of searches

either leave completely or stay inside

of Google's ecosystem the data is pretty

similar in the EU with 374 out of every

1,000 searches resulting in a click to

the open web the overall trend isn't

great for site owners both the US and EU

are at historic lows on clicks to

websites while clicks to Google

properties are on the rise look I don't

have to tell you that there's sand at

the beach but it doesn't seem like

Google is losing out to chat GPT or any

other AI Alternatives either in fact

they've been even stronger with record

highs and searches per Searcher the data

suggest that despite the media Firestorm

attacking Google's credibility users

aren't seeking out Alternatives despite

Google telling people to eat glue and

rocks users still prefer the platform

over other options and how are AI

overviews affecting things well the

biggest shift was that mobile searches

fell considerably from around 240

searches per Searcher in April to around

180 searches per searcher in May that is

significant Fishin says this is probably

why Google rolled AI overviews back to

appearing on just 12.7% of us search

results Mobile accounts for almost

2third of Google's queries which means a

25% drop in search could prove

cataclysmic for their share price hence

the reduction in AI overviews usage

overall let's move on to a significant

development from cloudflare that aims to

help content creators protect their work

from unauthorized AI Bots and scrapers

cloudflare just introduced a new feature

that allows users to block AI AI Bots

scrapers and crawlers with just a single

click this new feature is available to

all cloudflare customers including those

in the free tier with the rise of

generative AI the demand for content to

train models has skyrocketed leading to

concerns about AI providers illegally

scraping content the AI blocker will be

updated over time to include new

offending Bots as they're identified

interestingly despite the high volume of

AI bot activity only a small percentage

of websites actively block these Bots

for instance in June 2024 AI Bots

accessed around 39% of the top 1 million

internet properties using Clyde Flair

but only 2.98% of these properties took

measures to block or challenge these

requests maybe this feature will make a

dent in those numbers but I'm not sure

small site owners are as informed as you

are thanks to this channel of course so

don't forget to subscribe and hit the

Bell icon if you enjoyed this video it's

time for our debate of the week with big

site struggling to make ends me as well

now do you think Google is going to have

to start paying more attention to

Publishers and rectify the situation in

the next core update we'd love to know

what you think in the comments below and

if you enjoyed this video you really

should watch this video

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