The Risk of Relying on Blog Traffic
While my income doesn’t rely on number of views or clicks, I do have an interest. And a recent, dramatic change in views and referrals really highlighted the risk of relying on blog traffic for income.
And, yes, there are many risks. Audience whims, change in trends, and intense competion (to name a few).
The biggest risk, however, is Google.
Yes, you read that right. Google. The search engine that most people use. If your site doesn’t show in a Google search for the appropriate keywords, a lot fewer people are going to see it. Let alone click.
That means that if Google changes how they’re prioritizing search results, your site stats can change drastically overnight.
Google’s most recent update changed my average number of views to between 0 and 11% of the previous views. That’s an 89% drop on a good day. I went from getting decent traffic from search engines to almost none.
For me, that’s frustrating. For someone who relies on their blog for income? That’s scary.
And the even scarier part is that Google generally doesn’t advertise what they’ve changed. You have to figure it out through trial and error. Or find a blog post where someone who already figured it out shares the secret.
Or, if neither one of those pans out, pay for help from a consultant.
And all because one company made a change. It’s like one company having the power to redirect all drivers and walkers so that they cannot get to a physical store unless they…
- Already know they want to go to that store, and
- Know exactly how to get there.
In terms of a physical store, the idea’s ridiculous. In terms of the internet, it’s a fact of life.
A bit terrifying, isn’t it?
