The Future of Authority Sites... (Ep. 337)

[@danrykers1938]

An analogy You are a newspaper journalist back in 2001 making 40k a year to write 3 columns a week. One day your boss walks in and says as you know there have been many changes in the industry. We can no longer pay you 40k a year, we have to drop your pay to 500 a month for the time being. But don't worry, we are going to assign you some new tasks so that you can hopefully regain much of your old income. All we need you to do is continue with your 3 columns a week plus do a 3,000 word monthly feature article for the local magazine, start a daily one hour radio talk show, do two weekly segments on the local news, one weekly hour long guest appearance on a national show, and make one new five part documentary series annually. If you do all of that (very well) you will slowly start to regain some of your old income. If you knock them all out of the park you can probably be earning 25k or 30k annually as soon as 1.5 years from now. However it does need to be pointed out that at any time and through no fault of your own any of the above can cut you off, and of course if so that part of your salary would go away. So, are you in!? The truth is, while you guys are doing your best to give us advice on how to make the current situation work to the best of its abilities, that don't mean it is the right place for us to invest our time and resources. With the new plan people have to learn all kinds of new skillsets, do all kinds of things they may not be good at and/or comfortable with, and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that these platforms won't continue to act in the way they have always acted, which means doing their best to monetize for themselves while not caring for the creators.

[@DannyDonchev]

At first your analogy sounds interesting but what is your alternative? For me info products + ads, social, newsletter. And non-English markets for SEO projects. Nobody forces you to learn new skills. You either do it or go work for someone else.

[@danrykers1938]

@@DannyDonchev You are certainly right that there don't seem to be good alternatives at the moment. But that doesn't really make this one any better, a good sh1t sandwich is still a sh1t sandwich at the end of the day.

[@epicgardening]

We get a lot more than half a mil a month to the blog :)

[@lewis99170]

Nice. Can I borrow $20?

[@roxxxxxy]

@@lewis99170 ha ha

[@AuthorityHacker]

Maybe try sharing a bit 👀

[@NotThatOlivia]

@@lewis99170 really? why not $2K

[@kimaslt]

@@AuthorityHacker hmmm, even ubersuggest shows around 5 mil ;)

[@marcmuhammad6283]

The depth of what is being said is something people need to hear...

[@Paul-yk7ds]

I love this pivot you guys are making. Probably it'll make it harder to build a concise and simple beginner course like TASS, because there are so many different content platforms people could start with, depending on their niche and preferred media type (video, audio, image, text). But yeah I'm excited to see your new content that takes this bigger-picture business model into account! Also, a content suggestion for you... Some percentage of your followers may have been drawn to SEO-based content sites due to the potential anonymity compared to being an influencer on KZbin or TikTok, etc. So, you may want to address the question of "Can you still stay 'behind the scenes,' 'anonymous,' 'faceless,' and take advantage of this business model?" I know the answer is yes, but maybe showing examples of how to do that in a signature Authority Hacker style, could be a good angle for at least one video, and probably something you address as a possible objection in sales webinars, too.

[@MarkJohnson-of2sv]

I’m one of those people! Would love to build anonymously

[@AuthorityHacker]

Very good suggestion Paul! It is possible to make "faceless" content and be successful, actually, Easlo.co, the example mentioned in this episode is completely faceless. I think it would be cool to interview someone running a faceless business to talk about the details of how it changes things. I've added it to our list of ideas, thanks for the kind words by the way! Gael

[@verenaj5811]

I run a faceless instagram business:)

[@0deer_0]

Finally some prudent advise, on what's going on and moving forward. Thanks Gael and Mark

[@AuthorityHacker]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@midhunvm5101]

“A problem well-stated is half-solved.” - Charles Kettering, the famed inventor and head of research for GM. Really apt quote for what Gael and Mark have done with this podcast! they may well have found the solution also, but it has to withstand the test of time and generate massive success like TASS and AH PRO have done for the last 10 years.

[@joshcharlottesville]

beautiful.

[@Nina_2288]

Your dialog format is so entertaining and I like the way you transport your information and content in a fast-paced way. Listening to 2 to 3 long videos daily for education and information, it becomes somehow redundant and boring. But your videos are always nice to listen to. 👍👍😃😃

[@Paul-yk7ds]

I came back to watch the Connect and Capture phases again. Pretty useful to have these distinct steps clarified, as I do think each deserves direct attention. I think running giveaways might be a good strategy for my business because I'm positioned more as an entertainment/humor brand (within a specific niche), not information/expertise, and I'm monetizing with ecom (merch). I'm running retargeting ads already, but giving away my product or a gift card for it seems like it would also attract the right people to my email list.

[@GreenTeaViewer]

I just found your content, it's weird that around 2014 I also started a website with "authority" in the domain name, it even rhymes with your domain. Similar concept which was going around at the time I guess. But you guys followed through! We are living in a new era and SEO is basically dead at this point, compared to how it was. There's always ways to adapt and evolve but the space is so different now.

[@tobis2265]

Hi guys, I've been following your content for years and have always found a few good tips and appreciate your honesty. The fact that you offer the option to refund is great. I bought Koray's Semantics course and like many other users we felt pretty scammed. Of course there is no refund and the users who complained were quickly kicked out of the course and the private group. Reddit speaks for it self. One thing you might be able to do for your KZbin channel, more shorter videos with tips that we can implement right away.

[@MarkWebster1]

I can't comment on his course as I haven't taken it. But we definitely get a small percentage of people buying, downloading our whole course and then refunding. It's annoying but IMO it's a cost of doing business to ensure that more people feel comfortable enough to join. We have plans this year for shorter tutorial based YT videos, things are in the works :). We also have a new AH News channel with weekly industry news and analysis here: www.youtube.com/@AuthorityHackerNews

[@AuthorityHacker]

Thanks for the kind words Tobi! We are planning to start proper KZbin format videos this year.

[@katiecaftravel]

Great video! I want to mention a small issue I had with the updates success stories portion. "Example #2: CJ Eats recipes, established Nov 2021 (2.5 years old)". Only started growing with SEO in Oct 2023. There's a very clear pattern by this point that sites that have just started, or started within the past year, experiencing "Hockeystick" growth with SEO haven't had qualifiers applied yet. They grow grow grow just to be slapped down in the next update. It's a huge problem with SEO blogging course gurus right now because they're showcasing the growth of new students while their own sites have been slapped down to nothing with the same tactics.

[@AugustDavinDeepson]

This.

[@AuthorityHacker]

I'm all good with being called out when I'm wrong, but let's do some fact-checking and go through every example shared in this video to see if your maths add up with this one. Example #1: Epic Gardening, established in 2015 (9 years old) Example #2: CJ Eats recipes, established Nov 2021 (2.5 years old) Example #3: Naplab, established in Oct 2021 (2.5 years old) Example #4: Easlo, they don't even do SEO but established in Oct 2021 (2.5 years old) Example #5: Built with science, established Mar 2018 (6 years old) Example #6: Guitar Tricks, Established Nov 1998 (26.5 years old) Average site age: 8.1 years old (4.5 if you remove Guitar Tricks) I understand that CJ Eats recipes and Naplab were pretty small until about 1.5 years ago, but Epic, Built with Science, and Guitar Tricks have been playing the SEO game for a long time, and your argument does not hold there. If you dig into Guitar Tricks, they're a really cool recovery story, as they got smashed hard in 2020 and are coming back strong now. It's interesting to see the different approaches they're taking paying off. Anyway, if you listen to the episode, we say that SEO can't be relied on right now, and blogging is clearly fading away for many reasons. We are not selling a course; we're actually doing some damage to some products we sell because we value truth and integrity. In addition, we've added warnings on the relevant sales pages as we're reworking our offering. We're not the enemy here; Google is, and we've been highlighting it weekly through our news channel to try and raise awareness of what Google is doing to businesses like yours. Gael

[@katiecaftravel]

​@@AuthorityHackerI like your content, I actually shared this video on relevant blogging FB groups, but this is a trying time and a triggering topic. I'll edit the original comment to clarify. I should have specified - It's the "Example #2: CJ Eats recipes, established Nov 2021 (2.5 years old)". They clearly started *growing with SEO* in Oct 2023 - which is the metric for these clapdowns, not when the domain started. You also said in the video that they looked like every other Mediavine site, which is why it's very odd to see a site that just started growing with SEO showcased as an update success. I can't even count how many below-average sites I've seen on blogging course FB pages talk about "not getting hit by the updates", meanwhile they just started utilizing SEO, and thus experiencing hockey-stick growth with SEO, in 2023/2024. I'm aware this is not Authority Hacker's MO - But lots of bad-faith SEO Gurus, which I'm tempted to call out here but I won't, are showcasing sites that just started growing with SEO as "success stories" and it's a sentiment by this point that puts a bad taste in my mouth. My comment was mostly to raise awareness but I do get quite triggered when I see it, since there is an interim period between when a site starts growing and when it's clapped down has given rise to a lot of scams - Newbie bloggers think they're doing everything "right", they quit their jobs, and then their business is killed. *Final note* If you guys can get a hold of some of the new admissions (post-HCU) to Mediavine, it could be an interesting topic. Most of the content for these newly admitted sites that have experienced exponential growth post-HCU are of far worse quality than the established sites that were slapped down. Clearly, the qualifier is not "continuously running in the background". I can give you 20 examples off the top of my head.

[@AuthorityHacker]

I agree with you on everything. I think CJ might make it because he has an incredible amount of social engagement and brand traffic that most of the clapped sites didn't have. It's a good site to monitor to see if this could be a factor in stability. In our episodes, we always try to showcase various examples of sites at different stages / ages/sizes. Not all examples are perfect, but we do spend a lot of time trying to show a "range" of possibilities, and we're not shy about showing sites that fail as well. We're aware of the model's limits right now; this is why we made this episode, even if it wasn't in our best commercial interest. I dare say we went further into the issues than many will here by pointing out that just swapping your traffic sources won't be enough to "make it." With Google's recent comments I'm hoping things might get better but it wouldn't be the first time they promise to improve things and it actually gets worse in the end.

[@katiecaftravel]

@@AuthorityHacker And I appreciate the honesty - As a blogger, what you see most right now is people showcasing these wild success stories on Flipboard, Pinterest, and FB ads ... and then following it up by trying to sell a service. Hopefully CJ Eats can last the long-haul.

[@ZenithMotivation.Official]

Thank you for this video and for being transparent. Ya'll are awesome!! This has been so stressful. I signed up in for TASS in February after much research because it was a HUGE investment for me. I was finally ready to commit so I took the leap. Here I am following the course and building my site and boom! All these changes. I purchased the course SOLEY to build an affiliate site. I am so bummed. Anytime I get started with a new project, it's no longer a possiblity. It's official... the universe hates me😕

[@patrycjasmietana]

Ok, not a negative question or anything. But what about bloggers? People for who written content is a pilar of their business. Does it mean I need to now become a KZbinr or a TikTok, er? What will happen with fresh travel content when all bloggers stop providing it. Do you think that, indeed, blogging is slowly dying?

[@AuthorityHacker]

You can make it work but it’s a loooot harder than it used to be. The question you have to ask is are you so in love with the blogging format that you’re willing to deal with the steeper hill to climb? If yes, more power to you, if not, it’s probably time to adapt.

[@lauradiaz6170]

Amazing video! Thanks a lot!

[@AuthorityHacker]

You are welcome!

[@groundbreakingdig]

I'm sure you guys have a video of the latest Google leak regarding rankings... are you almost there?

[@AuthorityHacker]

Check our Authority Hacker News KZbin channel, it’s all there :)

[@roycohen.]

Thanks for the honesty. It didn't make sense for me either to pivot to another platform that's just going to burn you again. I'm looking into doing lead gen over SEO for now, as it doesn't make sense too much to spend too much time in this environment where it's clear that there isn't much of a future in it. Thanks for the content, guys!

[@AuthorityHacker]

No problem. I know we took a while to react but we really wanted to see what’s on the other side of Google IO. Now that we know we are comforted in our idea that to do well going forward you will have to run a “real business” as this opens up all traffic sources and allows you to make great money when you make it work. Any “hack” around will get plugged eventually and people will be back to square one when it happens.

[@roycohen.]

@@AuthorityHacker Regardless of this all, the skills I learned are super valuable and can be transferred to like any other make money online type business. I really appreciate all the help over the years, even if I got into this stuff at a bad time. Marketing will always be marketing.

[@AuthorityHacker]

Yep. It’s not the end of the road and you’re not “starting over”. Many site building and content creation skills are very transferable to the new models and that’s a lot of the content we have coming up.

[@adametes]

Always great, guys, thanks a lot.

[@AuthorityHacker]

Our pleasure!

[@thingstoknowinus]

Hi My Friend...Do you think it's time to start talking about the new google blogging traffic era. Though it's left 3 to 4 months for things to settle down completely but i think we can start suggesting how and what successful blogging will be like in this post era. For me I'm really looking at blogging behind Application site not just pure information site, since google is clearing the way for the new generative search experience which can give answers to information query. Anyways still looking at keywords and topics that won't trigger GSE....Blogging is not dead but the old blogging is dead, that's why it seems dead. Be new, let's stop cry over the old one and think new. That's my advice

[@marianSEO563]

Maybe a video on Rank and Rent aka Local SEO whether or not it is still viable business model in the coming era of Generative search

[@bikepacking.adventures]

Good advice. Will implement some of your new strategies to build a more legit business.

[@matthewbanks1102]

Great video, I watched it twice, thank you!

[@CorinneSegura]

I hope you do make a course about all this soon I would be interested.

[@radearsic2167]

Little bit off topic, but do you have any predictions how will all these Google changes affect ecomm SEO?

[@AuthorityHacker]

Hard to tell. I think Google will probably try to get ecoms to spend more on ads at some point so I wouldn't be surprised to see an organic squeeze at some point as well.

[@radearsic2167]

@@AuthorityHacker Sounds very logical when you look at all that's going on 😂 Thanks for the answer!

[@mjgumayagay2041]

Will TASS be updated to reflect all these changes?

[@AuthorityHacker]

We have made a post in the Tass community addressing it specifically

[@jennytb3428]

@@AuthorityHacker Hi, is this post found in Circle or by logging in to the Authority Hacker website? Can't seem to find it. Thanks!

[@NotThatOlivia]

40:28 - how about to incorporate visual (animated even) CTA inside short form vids - to invite viewers to click the link-in-bio (without triggering the algorithmic shadowban of this particular content because of that CTA) ???

[@AuthorityHacker]

I'd put it in the last few seconds and just have a short one liner like "check the link in bio for more". You can't really do more than that in short video formats.

[@orisin1]

Always great information. Thank you

[@AuthorityHacker]

You’re welcome!

[@JesseKohl]

I'm much more likely to watch your video after seeing the details in your emails than clicking the thumbnail on KZbin. I wouldn't be on your email list if I hadn't signed up via your site. I'd probably have skipped watching if all I'd seen was the title in KZbin Subscriptions.

[@AuthorityHacker]

We don’t disagree with this. We are just saying that the opt-ins don’t need to just come from Google traffic.

[@grapesodabanked]

But how did you find their site? And would you still find it in the same way you did back then?

[@marvintucker8752]

I'm a coach who help people with marijuana addiction, due to the nature of the business I'm not allowed to advertise on any social media platform. What would be your suggestions in my situation?

[@AuthorityHacker]

It's always challenging to promote these kinds of businesses. We had a mastermind with a business who sells sex education and has the same issues. The way you go around this is by making your email list the center of your business and making "soft" related organic content to lure people into it. For example, you could make organic content related to weight gain and marijuana consumption. Another thing you can do is Joint Ventures where other businesses and creators promote you to their audiences and get paid for it. This can be through their newsletters, communities or even shoutout in their organic social content. Additionally, there are some ad platforms that will probably let you advertise, just not the main ones.

[@AugustDavinDeepson]

Lies. I see ads all the time. Start advertising the “softer” more legal stuff and then upsell the other goods later. Now give me my 10% for life 🥷

[@kogniscent]

make shareable content without making it an ad

[@TheWaqasCheema]

It seems like affiliate marketing is not as effective anymore, possibly due to the recent Google update impacting niche sites.

[@AuthorityHacker]

Affiliate marketing is fine. It’s the traffic to affiliate sites that has been hit. You can still make heaps of money with affiliate through email or even social media.

[@healthyplacestoeat229]

@@AuthorityHacker Sure but.... neither is remotely comparable to what we had on Google for the last 20 years

[@viro22]

Is there any AI tool that can convert my short content KZbin videos into format for Instagram and Tik Tok? thanks!

[@AuthorityHacker]

Opus pro is quite good at that.

[@viro22]

@@AuthorityHacker thanks!

[@benno8699]

Let's not forget you are the ones who a year ago in one of your other SGE podcasts said that: oh this probably will reduce traffic by x%, but you'll be fine, this just means higher conversions because you're getting more warm leads (which you're now saying this is not the case, PS if you have this data now, no way you didn't have it then too), now buy our course, blah, blah, blah. And now you are singing an entirely different tune. I'm so sick of content marketers being dishonest with their audience. That said, I do think you are (overall) some of the more genuine guys out there, but it still makes me mad.

[@PromovareUTOPIAN]

Manf, please use the descypt any other tool to remove the tech accent and use Captions

[@lewis99170]

What's a tech accent? LOL

[@netsolutionsvpn]

lol

[@AuthorityHacker]

It's the voice of Scarlet Johanson.

[@ChrisKalf]

So basically yes we do have to start dancing for TikTok 😓

[@Walikhanzada1]

When will Authority Hacker Pro open for new members?

[@AuthorityHacker]

Not sure as we are going to be revamping a lot of things.

[@klaus8982]

@@AuthorityHacker So the old methods don't work anymore?

[@benno8699]

@@klaus8982 yes, they don't

[@dorstox]

Love your stuff, but please work on your pronunciation.

[@healthyplacestoeat229]

Without watching I can summarize this video: Work way harder, do a lot of different skills you never had to do in the past, and then make a small fraction of what you used to make while waking up every morning fearing that small fraction hasn't been taken from you as well I guess if you have no better options you might as well try all that..... but this is a clearly dying industry that doesn't seem worth it anymore At least these guys are willing to openly talk about the problems in the industry, but....

[@marianSEO563]

Yeah pure SEO is dying industry. It is not anymore free traffic and passive income type of business as it used to be for decades.