Hello, fellow content peeps!

Buckle up!

After months of criticism on the quality of their search results, Google is trying to send a message with what could be one of the biggest updates we’ve ever seen.

Okay. That’s the sensational message of the day, and we’ll get into that, but first, I have a favor to ask. At the end of this newsletter, I have a short poll. If you have two minutes to help me out, that would be great.

I want to know what you want more of here.

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Massive Google Update, SEOs a Flutter, Content Quality: The SEO News Roundup of the Week

You may have heard that Google launched two updates this week: the March Core Update and the March Spam Update.

This has just started, but with all the PR Google has been doing this week, it will probably be one of the biggest updates we’ve seen.

Google wants the world to know that they are doing their part to improve the search results.

You can learn more about the updates here.

And they have started with some manual spam penalties.

Sites are Being Completely Removed and Deindexed from Google

Google has started handing out some manual spam penalties this week.

Entire sites are being deindexed and manually removed from Google. Wiped completely from Google search.

It’s also a manual penalty, which means a real human is making the final call; this is not a pure algorithmic decision.

While many of these manual removals may indeed be spam or use spam techniques, as outlined in Google’s updated spam policies, I do think some legit sites are once again going to get caught in the crossfire.

While there are murmurs that some have already recovered, we still don’t know what it will take for these sites to get the penalty lifted.

I think Tony Hill encapsulates many of my sentiments on what’s happening here:

If you want to investigate some of the sites that have been given the manual penalty, Ian Nuttall has created a searchable Airtable list. You can view that here. It’s still too early to make any solid conclusions on these actions but I’m sure some insights will come to light soon.

The SEO Community Chatter

Of course, the SEO community is coming out in droves to talk about the latest updates, what that means for search, and what the future of SEO looks like.

But, here are my thoughts since you’re here:

• It’s still early days in this update. Like others in the past, we cannot really evaluate what is actually happening until the dust has settled. That could take months.

• We’re not sure that these manual actions are actually making search results better yet (it is still too early; many of these sites may have already lost visibility in HCU).

• My guess is that Google is using manual penalties because it cannot fully guarantee that the current algorithm will be enough to suppress these sites, AND Google is trying to send a strong message that it is cracking down on spam.

• Google is not done yet.

While there is an air of happy sentiment and ‘I told you so’ in the SEO sphere right now (Google is finally getting rid of spam, they say)…

I think we are once again losing the big picture.

We still don’t know if this update will actually improve search results.

We still haven’t seen where the little guy settles in all of this.

For now, it appears that there will still be some collateral damage while Google does whatever Google decides it wants to do.

And, that may hurt content creators.

How We’re Responding to All of This

It’s business as the new usual for us. This core update is just another reminder that we have to build real businesses that support the content.

Pure content sites that solely focus on SEO (namely Google) for traffic + monetization possibilities are a crumbling infrastructure.

My advice: focus on giving your content some legs outside of a pure SEO play.

I’ve been saying this for a while, and this week just further established our updated playbooks.

If Google does give us some additional traffic this month as these updates roll out, great. I see this as a window of opportunity we can use to grow quicker.

If our Google traffic stays status quo, we keep distributing and finding new traffic opportunities.

I’m excited about the challenges and possibilities that can come from having a more intimate relationship with our audience.

Let’s face it. SEO traffic is a very transactional relationship with readers.

I want to go deeper. I want more real-time interaction with the people we want to serve.

Content Quality — What Does That Even Look Like?

After this week, there will continue to be discussions on content quality. There are many opinions on what makes quality content, but it really depends.

One of the many challenges I’ve had in my role creating content over the past decade is figuring out what content quality looks, feels, and smells like for many different audiences, tastes, and content preferences.

Quality content is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Even one brand needs to serve content in many different ways for different segments of the same audience.

I believe it’s time for us to move away from the overly formulaic, content brief, copycat content anyway.

It does us a disservice to try to systemize and templatize every piece of content we create.

But, how can you tell your content ‘hits?

Get it in front of real people, real readers, real users.

That’s who really matters.

Want to Hit? Build Content for Your Superfans

I keep thinking of companies like The Dyrt, which built a camping app to help fellow campers find the best campsites with real-person reviews and pictures. In the early days of building out their community, their site, and their app, they really focused on giving immense value to their super-user.

I got to chat with Sarah and Kevin a few years ago (in my previous media company), and they shared some of the things they did to grow their business:

• Had many one-on-one phone calls with users to get real-time, real feedback on their site + app

• Created closed private groups to chat with real users

• Created webinars, live events and talked to real campers

• Sarah would go into the most active members’ homes and watch them when they were searching for a campground online to see how real people would search

They built their entire app and business model around these discussions with real people, and real users who were frustrated about finding campgrounds online. Once they cracked that code and built a community, campers would recommend their app to other campers.

But it all started with the community, which helped them create a better product + content that gave their most die-hard fans more of what they wanted.

Search is Changing Naturally, So We Should Too

Google may be the juggernaut for search right now, but will this always be true?

I don’t think so.

And I think there are already pockets of people and entire market segments that don’t use Google as the first or only place for finding information.

This is really exciting to me.

Where we find information will naturally evolve, and it already is. This slide from Mic King’s Pubcon talk really got me thinking about how the next generation searches for information:

So, I asked my 13-year-old what do you say when you want to find out some information on something, say, like what is the capital of Peru?

He said that he and his friends say, ‘search it up’; yes, they do.

Then, I asked where he looks for information like this.

Do they go to Google?

Sure. They still use Google.

But then he also uses YouTube, TikTok, Reddit…depending on what he wants to find. Sometimes, he’s on YouTube on his laptop, TikTok on his phone, and then chatting with friends on PlayStation all at the same time.

The next generation is really flexible when it comes to how they find information and how they connect.

Even with his VR. I thought it was going to be a passing Christmas gift fad that he quickly abandoned. Nope. He uses it every day and hangs out with his friends there, too, on PlayStation, and on Snapchat.

The next generation isn’t as committed to one platform.

Yes. Google still dwarfs everything from a search perspective, but more people are using more channels to find info and to connect.

That’s where a great distribution strategy comes in.

I love the idea of creating content and making that content work for you on many different channels. That’s where my creative energy is going these days.

While yes, I will still pay attention to what’s happening in SEO, I can no longer justify spending so much of my time and energy just on pleasing a fickle G.

Great content + finding great audiences — that’s where I’m spending my time these days.

🤔 Content Musings of the Week

🌳 Take time to get away from the computer this week. There is an entire world outside the digital as well.

🤷‍♂️There are actually many people alive on this planet who do not know what SEO is.

🔄 Sometimes, “it is what it is” is the most suitable response to a situation outside of one’s control. We cannot afford to deeply care about every little nook, cranny, or issue we uncover in our work or our lives.

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ It’s not just you. It’s harder to make a living as a creator. My friend Lexi from They Got Acquired shares her real-deal insights on what it really takes to make a living as a creator in today’s landscape. Check it out here!

▶️ Want a closer look at how one Google-featured snippet is killing commercial list-based content? Spend a few minutes with Lazarina Stoy and find out here!

▶️ It’s International Women’s Day today, and Ahrefs is celebrating 26 women and nonbinary SEO pros. See who made the list here!

▶️ Ever wonder exactly what Content Marketing Managers do and how they differ from Content Managers? Cari O'Brien breaks down this role here! 

Tonight, I’m off to a women’s day event in the city. It’s always great to get outside from behind my computer and meet real people!

Have a great week, my friends. Thanks for spending some time with me here.

Cheers! Amy

P.S.) I really want this newsletter to serve you, so I’m adding a short poll here. If you could spend a minute or two and tell me what you want more of here, I’ll do my best to deliver each week.

Please Take This Poll!

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are some newsletters that I read regularly that I think you’ll enjoy: