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  • Is It Time to Buy Distressed Content Sites? - digital surfer wave 193

Is It Time to Buy Distressed Content Sites? - digital surfer wave 193

Google's Tucker Discusses Core Update; Build Brand Moats; Content Distribution; SEO for Travel Sites; OpenAI x Apple; Landing Pages; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
June 15, 2024 • Est. Learning Time: 17 minutes

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FIRST …

Is it time to start looking at content sites that were hit by HCU and/or Core Updates as buying opportunities?

From browsing marketplaces with sites for sale and their regular marketing emails, I’m noticing a few things:

  • Sites are sitting unsold for a long time.

  • Prices are continually getting slashed.

  • Some sellers are still living in 2020 multiples.

  • Majority of people are moving away from content sites.

❝

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and
Greedy When Others Are Fearful”

Warren Buffett

Look at some of the price reductions here on one of the more popular marketplaces. One has been reduced by 56%:

So, is now a good time to buy a content site that’s been impacted? Maybe.

Whether or not buying a distressed site is right for you depends on your business strategy:

  • If your plan is to create websites and hope to monetize through organic Google Search traffic and display ads, just stop and reevaluate everything.

  • But if you have an ecommerce site, a SaaS, a digital product, or already generating traffic and revenue from other channels, acquiring a site with quality content that's suffered from bad luck could be a strategic move.

I wouldn’t just look at a site’s traffic loss the last few months and write it off completely. Evaluate the quality of the content. If the content isn’t bad, it could be worth taking a deeper look at the site and see if it’s worth adding to your existing business.

It’d be cheaper and quicker than hiring and developing new content from scratch. Plus, the site may come with some valuable backlinks.

I’ve heard a few success stories of integrating quality content from content-focused sites into non-content-driven platforms.

The only issue I could see is the price negotiation. Many sellers are listing averages for 6-12 months (which is normal), but recent months show drastically lower earnings. Pennies on the dollar lower.

There will be some back and forth between buyers and sellers because of the drastic differences. Sellers will sell the “it could come back” and buyers will buy the “this is what it is now.”

Negotiations between buyers and sellers are likely to be intense due to the stark contrasts in valuation. Sellers might pitch the potential recovery revenues, while buyers will focus on the current performance.

Consider the long-term potential and immediate benefits from a purchase. A savvy acquisition today might just set you up for incredible returns tomorrow.

Topical Maps Unlocked 2.0 is coming, so I’m going to be closing off sales to the current TMU 1.0 in just under 39 hours from this email -  Tomorrow, Sunday, June 16th at 11:59pm ET.

All current 1.0 students will get the new updates for free.

Prices will be different since 2.0 will be a big leap forward. Some of the lessons I’ll be adding to 2.0:

Branding - Content Strategy - Content Mapping - Content Planning - Content Briefs - Content Creation - Omnichannel Marketing

SEO

Barry Schwartz interviewed Google's Elizabeth Tucker at SMX Advanced, sharing some of the valuable insights into SEO and Google's core updates. Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:

  • Focus on creating helpful, satisfying, and engaging content that serves the user's needs. 🤯 

  • Don't get too caught up in technical details; focus on the big picture of providing valuable content and a great user experience.

  • The March 2024 core update was the largest in Google's history, requiring 45 days and a mini war room to rollout successfully.

  • Google defines “quality” content based on factors like accuracy, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It’s all in their Search Quality Rater Guidelines document.

  • Google doesn’t do “baby” core updates. Fluctuations in Google Search rankings can be caused by changing search trends, constantly updating content, and system refreshes.

  • ‘No Comment’ on any signals from the Google leak.

  • Google spokespeople statements were ‘accurate.’

John and Gary address various SEO queries and provide valuable insights on topics like AI translations, PageSpeed Insights, auto translation effects on ranking, AI-generated content, and broken backlinks. Here’s a transcript that might be easier to browse.

Here are some of the interesting questions and answers (in bold):

  • How can one be transparent in the use of AI translations without being punished for AI heavy content? There is no special markup to label automatic translations, focus on overall content quality.

  • Does auto translation of a website for other regions affect ranking negatively? If it’s bad, ‘maybe.’ Or block the crawling of the content.

  • Is it "against" webmaster guidelines if we use AI tools to generate initial content drafts but have hired editors to humanize and review them, and to implement brand and SEO guidelines? We care about overall quality. It’s better to get input from 3rd-party folks, not us. And check out our guides.

  • Does Google penalize duplicate content for localized websites? No.

  • I canonicalized part time course pages to full time course pages on a university website as the content was 93% same. Is this a good strategy? From Google’s perspective, it doesn’t matter. You do you. 😅 

  • Why would Google consider LinkedIn Pulse articles as an original publisher even though it was published on our website first? Google search results don’t indicate the original source. But it may consider LinkedIn Pulse over your website if they prioritize the platform for visibility or if you syndicated the content across platforms.

Chris Haines discusses the six biggest SEO challenges to look out for, including:

  • Google's updates pose a constant threat, with algorithm changes impacting site performance.

  • Competitors are also fierce, using SEO strategies and AI tools to steal rankings.

  • AI overviews and zero-click results are reducing organic traffic.

James Brockbank breaks down the strategies needed to compete in the competitive world of travel SERPs. He highlights the unique challenges and opportunities in the industry. From outranking industry giants to navigating Google's features like the hotel pack. He provides actionable insights and tactics to help your travel website succeed.

SEO Ripples

  • Barry Schwartz discusses Google's reassurance that websites impacted by HCU and Core Updates can recover with the next core update. While there's no timeline for this update, changes made to your site could lead to recovery. Danny Sullivan continues to emphasize focusing on creating quality content for readers, rather than solely catering to Google's algorithm.

  • Google is experimenting with multiple featured snippets under the "from sources across the web" section. It showcases new perspectives within search results. It’s not clear if this is a deliberate test or an unintentional error.

  • Google added markup support to allow businesses to specify a general return policy for their organization, making it easier to manage display across various Google search results. This addition streamlines the process and increases the visibility of return policies on knowledge panels, brand profiles, and product search results. To test the validity of your markup, you can use the Rich Results Test tool provided by Google.

  • In the travel industry or planning a trip? Google has a post on 5 AI-powered tools to help plan your summer travel. Use Gemini to help plan your destination and logistics, Google Lens to turn inspiration into info, Google Maps highlights to find places to go, and get a realistic feel for your destination with Immersive View. Yay…who needs travel experts now? 

AI

OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. This means users can seamlessly access ChatGPT's powerful capabilities within Siri and Apple's systemwide Writing Tools without juggling different apps. It's packed with privacy protections, ensuring user data isn't stored by OpenAI. Plus, it’s free to use, or you can connect your ChatGPT account for extra features.

And if you’re an Apple user, they announced Apple Intelligence this week too. I may actually get use out of Siri now.

Elizabeth Lopatto reports that if you ask Google how much glue to add to your pizza, it references a previous story about glue pizza and suggests adding an eighth of a cup. But other AI models like Perplexity.AI and ChatGPT strongly advise against putting glue on pizza, highlighting the potential health risks. This article shows the challenges of training AI models and the importance of verifying information for accuracy.

There’s also the comparison to “Google bombing” from the early 2000s. Just like how repeated use of certain keywords could manipulate search results back then, reporting on Google AI errors may unintentionally train the AI to make more mistakes.

source: theverge.com

AI Ripples

  • Tesla shareholders are suing CEO Elon Musk over his decision to start xAI. They say it’s a competing AI company. The lawsuit alleges that Musk diverted talent and resources from Tesla to the new startup. The plaintiffs are asking the court to force Musk to disgorge his stake in xAI and hand it over to Tesla. But I’m sure Tesla shareholders approving $56 BILLION for him helps soften the blow.

  • "AI Steve" is an AI candidate running for Parliament in the U.K. The AI aims to humanize politics by engaging with constituents on policy questions and concerns. Represented by Sussex businessman Steve Endacott, AI Steve will appear on the ballot for the Brighton Pavilion area. Endacott's company, Neural Voice, created this AI avatar to provide personalized responses based on information about his party’s policies.

  • Microsoft will be removing the Copilot GPT Builder feature from Copilot Pro subscriptions on July 10. This feature allowed subscribers to create custom chatbots with their own AI assistant. If you've made any custom GPTs, make sure to save them before July 10 by copying the instructions in edit mode.

MARKETING

In a blog post by Morgan Taylor, you'll learn how to build a strong brand moat with SEO. By integrating brand-focused strategies into your SEO efforts, you can make your brand distinct and well-regarded, standing out from competitors and boosting conversion rates and customer loyalty. By dominating search engine results pages (SERPs) and building topical authority with high-value content, you can accelerate organic growth and establish a protective moat around your brand. Learn how to build topical authority with six practical tactics, including covering the depth and breadth of a topic and creating content to satisfy searchers' intent.

Tyler Hakes shares insights on building an effective content distribution strategy. He emphasizes the importance of creating shareable, emotional content tailored to your audience, utilizing a variety of distribution channels, and optimizing content for different platforms. He also discusses repurposing existing content and iterating based on performance metrics.

Sydney Go covers 20 types of marketing strategies you can use to grow your business in 2024. From search engine marketing to social media marketing, she describes various approaches that can help you reach your target audience and drive sales. Some of the types:

  • Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with influencers to reach their followers and enhance brand awareness.

  • Word of Mouth Marketing: Encourage customers to spread positive recommendations about your brand.

  • Relationship Marketing: Build strong relationships with customers to foster loyalty and repeat business.

  • Product Marketing: Focus on promoting and selling specific products to target audiences.

  • Brand Marketing: Develop a strong brand identity to differentiate yourself in the market and build brand loyalty.

My Take: With many people looking for alternative traffic channels, this can help kick off some ideas.

Jeff Bullas offers up a good guide on LinkedIn Ads to help you reach decision-makers and potential clients. Learn about the different ad formats, how to create effective ads, and best practices for managing optimizing campaigns.

CONTENT

Dana Nicole breaks down the importance of having a dedicated landing page to drive specific actions from your visitors. Landing pages, unlike homepages, focus on a single call to action to increase conversions and drive results. She explains the types of landing pages, when to use them, and how to build one that maximizes conversions. She also offers practical tips to create effective landing pages,

source: semrush.com

LINK BUILDING

Vince Nero explains how to leverage digital PR to support SEO goals by acquiring high-authority links to boost rankings and brand awareness. The leaked Google documentation suggests that high-authority, relevant links can impact rankings significantly. By providing unique information and data, brands can increase their chances of ranking and gaining exposure over time.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

I got a couple tools this past week during Appsumo’s Sumo Day. The extra 10% off is over, but the tools are still available and can be helpful for what you need.

  • Afforai - Upload a whole bunch of documents and use this AI research assistant to search, summarize, and translate your research. If you’re creating technical content, upload whatever you want and create your own RAG. Much easier than coding it yourself. It’s also better than the chatbots where you can upload docs too (I’ve tried a few of those).

  • Press Ranger - An AI-powered PR tool that makes building media lists and pitching journalists easy. You’re basically paying for the database of media contacts along with email address, focus, role, and social profiles. I tried searching some less popular topics and the database seems pretty good. I’m not sure how good their CRM/mailing is because I haven’t tried it yet.

They both have good free trials, so you can try them both out before purchasing.

CASE STUDY

Jandira Neto discusses four surprising SEO test results that SearchPilot recently ran. A/B testing can give you an edge over competitors and prevent costly mistakes. Here are some key takeaways from the article:

  • A 12% uplift was seen when taking content out of an accordion.

  • Capitalizing title tags resulted in an 8.5% increase in organic traffic.

  • Removing brand names from title tags led to a surprising 16% uplift.

  • Adding article Schema showed no impact on organic traffic.

My Take: Great tests and results, but just remember that what works for one site may not work for others. It’s rare to know the full specifics of sites on case studies, so be sure to do tests on your site before making sweeping changes.

source: moz.com

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