Hello, fellow content peeps!

Well, this is the first newsletter of 2024, and while I’m excited about being here to share the nitty-gritty of what’s working and what’s not from the trenches.

I’m so happy you are all here.

I have much to share this year, and I promise to fully share the ins and outs of what’s working in search and content marketing with you here.

With all the massive changes and shifts we’ve seen in 2023, we’re still here, doing our thing.

But before we get into more tactical or strategic advice this year, I thought I would start this year by looking at the big picture of how I’m thinking about making decisions as we move into a new year.

Usually, the start of a new year in business is one of the most exciting times in business. There’s something about the beginning of a new year, new projects, and new business goals to build that enthusiasm.

After a rocky, tough end to 2023, many of us in the publishing, SEO, and content space are forced to make some serious pivots.

I’m still optimistic and excited about the start of this new year, and yes, we have lots of new things in the works that I’m excited about.

Yet, many of the playbooks and strategies that have taken us years to figure out, implement, and refine may not be the same, repeatable processes we need to do to grow this year.

We’re left questioning everything we’re working on, which can be a debilitating place to be in a business, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here we are; we need to move forward. We need to make decisions, but how do we focus on something new when we don’t know what to do next?

The Current Search and Content Landscape: Our Current Reality

In my end-of-the-year newsletter, I talked a lot about the state of search, what Google is doing, and the mess the search landscape faces.

The current reality is unnerving and frustrating for those who have relied on Google as a traffic driver. I don’t think it’s better for users, either.

Over the Christmas break, just for fun, I started a ‘screenshot bank’ of poorly written articles at the top of the SERPs. For example, articles that didn’t hit search intent, or were obviously written by AI, or ones that were riddled with errors.

I could have kept building quite a collection.

I gave up after a few screenshots and examples. It stopped being fun, even though some results are comical. The SERPs are a mess right now.

So, this is where we’re at.

Do you want the silver lining?

With all the chatter on the SERPs, AI, SGE… I don’t think this new Google reality will stick. I can’t say with 100% certainty that the worst is behind us, but I think we’re going to continue to see things shift, hopefully, for the better.

But there is also a chance that things can get much, much worse for search marketing.

And this, my friends, is what we’re dealing with in SEO and search marketing — uncertainty.

What a way to start a new year!

How Do We Focus When We Don’t Know What to Do Next?

As someone who has to make many decisions, not just in my day job but in my life as a working mom/wife/friend, I have had to come to terms with the discomfort of uncertainty when making decisions.

Every decision we make comes with an inherent amount of risk. Nobody can 100% predict the future of any decision we make.

All we can do is trust that we will be able to handle the results of our choices — that’s the secret to making great decisions.

A few years ago, my family decided to pack up our lives, retire my husband, and move to the East Coast of Canada. We bought our house sight unseen in a town I had never been to nor heard of. We had never even visited the East Coast of Canada.

That decision came with many risks, but it was, ironically, one of the easiest decisions to make in my life once I made the decision.

While I did as much planning and research as possible, there was a point when I just had to make the call.

I wasn’t afraid and focused on everything that could go wrong. I was ready to hedge my bet that even though we were risking a lot of things, our lives could be exponentially better if we moved and lived by the ocean.

And that confidence came because I knew that no matter what happened, our family could handle any of the fallout.

While I don’t recommend this for everyone, the lesson here is that every decision we make in life and or business comes down to assessing risks and embracing that we can never really predict the outcome.

We have to be willing to make the call, take the leap, and invest in a new idea if we are going to grow.

How do you improve your decision-making skills?

By embracing this uncertainty.

The world of SEO and digital business is full of unknowns and things we can't predict. It’s okay to say, “I’m not sure,” and to acknowledge this reality.

These days, it’s a truthful reflection of many of the situations we face.

We don’t know when the next Google hammer will come down. We don’t know if we can grow a new audience as quickly on another platform. We don’t know if the way users will find us will suddenly shift to the next platform.

When we accept that we can’t be sure, we are less likely to fall into the trap of black-and-white thinking. (We see these absolutes a lot in the SEO chatter).

The world is more complex than that.

How Embracing The Shifts Helps Us in SEO and Content Marketing

In the constantly shifting landscape of search marketing, where Google algorithms change frequently, and market trends are unpredictable, it's rare to be absolutely sure about the outcomes of our strategies. By accepting this uncertainty:

• We become more flexible in our approach, adapting our strategies as new information comes in. Isn’t that what great marketers do?

• We figure out more creative solutions to strengthen our businesses (new ways to get traffic and build audiences and partnerships).

• We avoid rigid thinking, such as "this is the only way to do SEO," and instead remain open to exploring various tactics.

• We become more open to new possibilities and can find excitement in the risks of trying something new.

• We're more likely to engage in continuous learning and experimentation, which is essential in a field as dynamic as search marketing.

We learn to trust that we can handle anything that comes our way. That is how you win the game, life, and business.

Great Things Can Happen When You Embrace Uncertainty

One thing I know for sure. We’re going to see more shifts in our industry. This year, we have a few strategic pilot initiatives in place, and I am confident that we’ll figure it out.

Knowing that we cannot predict what’s to come is somewhat freeing. While it’s not as comforting as only focusing on the repeatable processes of the past, it’s a lot of fun to get scrappy and try new things.

This past year, this kind of thinking has allowed us to:

• To create new revenue streams and side projects such as Content Teams.

• To get scrappy and focus on new traffic streams (more email marketing, newsletters).

• Evaluate all our internal processes and operations and make improvements that saved us operational costs.

• Find new and better ways to increase visitor value on our sites (make more per visitor) and build more strategic partnerships.

To name just a few things.

So, here's to a year of learning, evolving, and thriving in the beautiful uncertainty that makes our industry so exciting. I’ll be here to share more of my musings and real-world lessons along the way. We can help each other out!

Things to Read, Watch, and Ponder

▶️ If you’re looking for some seriously good predictions, here are some from Kevin Indig. I love that he mentions that “people follow people.” Read them here: 2024 Growth Memo Predictions. 

▶️ Thinking of starting a newsletter this year? Here’s how Sahil Bloom built a newsletter that makes 70,000 a month and used it to create a multi-million dollar business.

▶️ Feeling overwhelmed as we start this new year? Yeah. Been there. I love this resource, which has some great tips for freelancers handling the overwhelm and some great resources we can all use!

▶️ Speaking of pivoting and finding alternative traffic sources, I can think of nobody better than Kurt Schmidt, whose portfolio of Disney sites also generates huge traffic numbers outside of typical SEO Google search. He was invited back to Niche Pursuits for a follow-up conversation. Check it out here!

Thanks for reading.

I love sharing this journey with all of you and am so thrilled that so many of you have reached out to thank me or recommend this newsletter this week!

If you are new here, I would love to hear from you. Please reply to this email and let me know what you want me to write about here.

Have a great week.

Cheers! Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are a couple of newsletters to subscribe to.