How Google Is Destroying Independent Websites & Blogs

How my website went from over 50k visitors a month to just 4,000

I want to start this newsletter by thanking you for subscribing and for supporting my work. It’s been a long time since my last newsletter and there’s good reason for that. I’ll share all those details in the near future.

First, I wanted to share with you something that’s been going on for the past few months. As you know, Google has been rolling out several updates to its Search algorithm, including a devastating core update and an AI update that completely overshadowed the smaller and independent websites.

My website, FreelancingHacks.com, was also affected by these Google core and algorithm updates. Over the past few months, my website’s traffic went from over 50,000 visitors a month to just 4,000 visitors a month.

Google is now prioritizing high-authority corporate websites, such as Forbes and The Guardian, over small, independent websites. They are showing these big websites on the top of search results pages over smaller websites. And it’s actually affecting the balance of information available on the Internet.

For example, The Guardian was once known as a reputable source for news and strong opinion pieces on current events. Now, they are covering everything from video games to even food recipes.

Why? Because it’s easier for them to rank for these search terms with the help of Google. As a result, independent bloggers who are sharing their genuine experiences and knowledge get pushed down to the bottom of search results.

If you look up some search terms related to freelancing on Bing or DuckDuckGo, my website will still come out on top of the page. But not on Google, not anymore.

Google’s monopolization of search engines is now causing many people to lose their livelihoods. Some publications are letting go of their teams of writers. While others are shutting down completely. All thanks to Google.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because I’m also struggling to maintain my website right now. With traffic to my website getting lower by the day, I had to look for other alternatives to keep my website alive.

That’s part of the reason why I decided to bring this newsletter back from the dead. So you can expect to see a more consistent newsletter schedule in the future!

My job as a freelance writer is also at risk because of these Google updates and AI. I will share details about that next week.

Once again, thank you for subscribing and sticking around. If you want to support me, you can check out my book or Become a Member.

If you want to fight what Google is doing right now, consider switching to an alternative search engine like DuckDuckGo or even Bing. They are much better than Google at bringing up relevant information.

See you next week!

-Roshan,
(Freelance Writer, founder of FreelancingHacks.com)