Mike Futia
@mikefutia
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Helping bloggers scale their traffic & income with SEO. Over 4,000 happy students. Also building &
Joined February 2018
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@levelsio
A $6,600 per month rental with NO RENT INCREASE over 30 years would cost $2,376,000.
At the end of those 30 years, you would own nothing.
Your tweet is a fantastic argument in favor of home ownership. 🏡
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Excited about my newest project, my first foray into software: NicheFinder .io
Find the perfect niche for your next niche site by quickly searching & filtering through 10,000 AdThrive & Mediavine sites.
Filter on search traffic, Domain Authority, niche, and Ad Provider.
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New niche site: 250 articles published in 3 months, fresh domain.
A visual timeline. ⏰
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@gregisenberg
2:30 into the video and still have no idea what it is, why it exists, or why these folks look so miserable. Horrible video.
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💡Niche Site Idea >>> local travel 📍
Example domain: letsgolouisville .com
🚀Search traffic: 240K+/mo.
💰 Ad revenue: $12K+/mo.
💲Ad network: Mediavine
🔗Authority: DA31
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Google is not able to distinguish low-effort niche sites vs. more helpful content sites that are providing value.
And so they are just lumping them all together as one and destroying them. If you match the “pattern”, you’re done.
The below is a classic case of collateral…
Google destroyed my business
They changed the rules
And they made the decision on behalf of our users that we were no longer what they were looking for
Here's exactly what happened:
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Google Search is fundamentally broken.
And Danny has gone into hiding.
Not even he can defend this madness any longer.
I don’t blame him.
@searchliaison
@dannysullivan
@JohnMu
A few years ago I traveled to Peru and wrote the first guide for Huchuy Picchu, which was a newly opened hike at that time.
My blog post ranked
#1
on Google for years, which makes sense, because I did the hike myself and other Peru websites…
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Forbes is basically a high end Amazon affiliate site masquerading as a serious news & business publication.
They have been abusing SEO for YEARS.
This is obvious to anyone actually in the SERPs.
For a website to have been hit by the Helpful Content Update, the majority of its content needs to have been deemed as "unhelpful."
Why do the "big sites" still rank? Why are you able to point to so many examples of "unhelpful" content from big sites ranking in prominent…
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Best indexing tool I've found: indexmenow .com
Have about 50 articles on a new site (2 months) that just weren't getting indexed, and this tool is doing it in under 24 hours.
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💡Niche Site Idea >>> hair 👩🦰
Example domain: haireveryday .com
🚀Search traffic: 600K+/mo.
💰 Ad revenue: $16K+/mo.
💲Ad network: Mediavine
🔗Authority: DA28 / DR 36
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Google's indexing has been a shitshow for a while now.
I've been using IndexMeNow since I heard
@Charles_SEO
mention it, and they've been able to index literally *every* page I've thrown at it thus far.
Definitely worth a look. 👀
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Can someone in SEO Blue Checkmark Twitter™️ ask
@JohnMu
why huge sites like NYMag, Business Insider, Forbes, etc.—with zero relevancy—can rank for unlimited product review keywords, WITHOUT actually reviewing the product?
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Google's search results are the worst they've EVER been.
And never forget:
They made it this way just to spite small niche site publishers.
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Google's "Helpful Content "Update" in a nutshell.
Query: "cancun food and drink prices"
The
#1
result?
This TripAdvisor thread from NINETEEN YEARS AGO.
Time to roll back the HCU,
@searchliaison
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Honestly, *what* is the purpose of Google SGE at this point?
It is just straight up ripping content from publishers, and pinning it to the top of their crappy search results.
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💡Niche Site Idea >>> aquarium care 🐠
Example domain: aquarium source .com
🚀Search traffic: 600K+/mo.
💰 Ad revenue: $15K+/mo.
💲Ad network: Mediavine
🔗Authority: DA30
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Google is fundamentally broken.
Not until heads start to roll of everyone that was involved with—and continues to push—the “HCU” update, will things begin to improve.
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Jake has one of the best fitness sites on the web. He actually buys & uses the products he reviews.
This is what his traffic looks like since HCU.
He used to rank
#1
for [best gym shoes]. Now, he's nowhere to be found. In his place?
Fitness authorities like GQ, Forbes, NY…
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Can Google detect AI content?
Do they even care?
This test niche site is 100% AI, with *very little* human formatting.
300+ articles.
Fresh domain, no link-building, hasn't been touched in six months.
Should I pick it back up? 😆
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Today, my little SaaS project crossed 500 paying members.
It took 119 days, I ran zero ads, and it's generated $52,243 in side-income.
Here are the 10 steps I took in launching & selling this product:
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Something is desperately wrong with Google.
I’ve never seen it this bad in 10+ years.
It’s simply becoming a middle man to terrible Pinterest, Reddit, YouTube, Quora, and TikTok content.
It’s almost like they forgot how to rank real websites.
Today we released the October 2023 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete:
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Yes, the new online world.
The new online world where:
— Google scrapes, steals & monetizes your original content via SGE without impunity.
— Google promotes Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn spam because they don’t know how to rank real websites anymore.
— Google lets Forbes,…
Google's
@JohnMu
says on fixing a site hit by the helpful content update "it's not relative to previously, it's basically a re-evaluation of the whole site in the new / current online world & users expectations"
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What is going on with this Google Product Review Update?
This result ranks
#4
for the keyword "best smoker grill combo".
It is literally just a LinkedIn profile page that has optimized their URL and H1 for the keyword ...
... with NO content on the actual page.
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Imagine if your Instagram & TikTok & YouTube feeds were completely filled with mega-brands with sterile content and you never got to discover individual creators.
That’s exactly what’s happened to Google.
So, here's the problem I'm seeing with the current theories on the HCU. And anyone can feel free to jump in and correct me -
Every topic has a certain amount of "known" information about it. And for this example, let's just say that up until this point, all sites on the Internet…
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@thesamparr
That means they were spending *checks math* $4,000,000 per year on their card?
And were living off $200K?
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“It's that these things might **indicate a pattern** of doing too much ‘show Google’ things that's taking away of just being a good site.”
So Google basically took a bunch of low-effort, low-quality niche sites that DESERVED to get hit.
Came up with a list of elements/features…
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Helpful Content Update, by Ad Network
In our database, we have these # of sites:
- 7,186 Mediavine
- 3,658 AdThrive/Raptive
- 774 Ezoic
- 331 Freestar
How many were hit by the Helpful Content Update?*
Let's do Mediavine first.
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“Is smoking bad for you?”
Let’s see how badly Google Search can f*ck this one up.
>>> Currently ranking middle of Page 1, by health expert “Jessica Mixon”, M.D., Quora .com:
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@searchliaison
But Google's systems cannot know our INTENT when publishing a TOC or "article reviewed by expert" disclaimer or whatever, on its own.
Unless they have been trained by thousands of "good"/"bad" examples by a team of 10,000+ humans ... which, coincidentally, Google employs.
And…
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With rumors of Microsoft implementing ChatGPT into Bing, and Google still dominating …
… Never forget that Ahrefs blew $60 million on a search engine that nobody asked for, and nobody uses.
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I cannot wait until the SEOs completely overtake Reddit with affiliate spam.
It’s exactly what Google deserves.
Google is now ranking Reddit
#3
for "best vpns".
Which, to no one's surprise — has been completely (and impressively) overrun by cloaked affiliate link spam that Google can't detect.
Or doesn't care to.
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My new niche site in the "BBQ" niche is live & the first couple of posts are up!
Domain revealed below >>> 👀
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Google is definitely manually de-indexing mass AI spam sites right now.
This one was ranking
#1
for "how old is Taylor Swift's daughter"
She doesn't have a daughter. 🤣
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Morning, all. 👋
I'm excited to announce that the BETA version of NicheFinder .io is here.
NicheFinder easily allows you to identify the best niches for your next blog or niche site.
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Officially 1 month into my Jasper-assisted // human-edited niche site.
29 articles, indexed by Google, some of them ranking on Page 3.
Fresh domain.
Doubling down on content by hiring another VA + testing out an agency recommended by
@nichepursuits
.
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@timsoulo
@ahrefs
@backlinko
@semrush
I would focus on instead fixing the myriad issues—pricing, platform, etc—that your customers have been complaining about (and you’ve been ignoring) for months.
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Launched a new niche site on a fresh domain two months ago.
We're at almost 50 articles published and starting to see a little love from Google.
Going to add 100 more articles then let it sit until month 8 or 9 and then reassess from there.
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Google is now ranking Reddit
#3
for "best vpns".
Which, to no one's surprise — has been completely (and impressively) overrun by cloaked affiliate link spam that Google can't detect.
Or doesn't care to.
I shared this last year. This site was hit hard by the HCU last year and has since received a pure spam manual action this time around.
Despite having decent quality, human-written content, nearly every article was really just a way to push users to click VPN affiliate links.
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Topical authority might be the MOST important aspect of scaling a niche blog with SEO.
Focused niche + high volume content + time = success.
Learned this lesson the hard way when I built a site in the overly-broad “home” niche.
Broad niches require a LOT more links + time.
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💡Niche Site Idea >>> car repairs & maintenance 🏎️
Example domain: thecarcolony .com
🚀 Search traffic: 130K+/mo.
💰 Ad revenue: $6K+/mo.
💲Ad network: AdThrive
🔗 Authority: DA 24
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How does Google defend from mass ChatGPT content flooding the SERPs at scale?
My guesses:
1) Increased focus on authorship/expertise—*who* is actually writing the content? (E-A-T)
2) Demonstrated proof of actually using the product / doing the "thing"
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This Koala-written article of mine is ranking on Page 1.
Keyword: "hamburger temp(erature) guide".
Loads of high-DR sites ranking at the top.
I let Koala write the first draft. Then I went in and edited it in my own voice.
Becoming more and more impressed with this tool.
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Not gonna lie:
It’s tough seeing your idea blatantly ripped off and then promoted to the same community ahead of your launch.
Lesson learned about “building in public”.
Best revenge: build a significantly superior product with superior marketing behind it.
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It’s now been six full months and there has not been a single documented recovery from the Google Helpful Content Update.
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Surfer AI is out.
$29 per article. 😮
Will be taking it for a spin tomorrow and comparing it against Koala.
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@searchliaison
@lilyraynyc
This is a more appropriate way for Google to cite their sources. Link attribution in the actual "AI answer".
With quotation marks. That's a direct quote you're using.
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Proof that amazing links won't save you from questionable content.
(Everyone knows the domain).
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The more pertinent question is:
Why is Google even ranking Forbes & BuzzFeed for “best air purifier for pets” in the first place?
@ichbinGisele
Thank you. I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the post, and the concerns and the detail in it. I've passed it along to our Search team along with my thoughts that I'd like to see us do more to ensure we're showing a better diversity of results that does include both small and…
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Is Google seriously claiming they will not penalize any website because—and only because—they are using AI content?
Does anyone believe that? 🤔
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Testing these “quick answer” boxes at the top of some informational posts.
Google now pulling this one in the top spot on a post published a week or so ago.
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This is a common refrain in the “professional SEO”circles but it’s misguided.
It’s not just low-effort niche sites getting buried.
It’s legit bloggers putting out solid content in the travel, recipe, parenting, beauty niches, etc., who aren’t trying to game the system.
The current Google Updates plus manual penalties are working.
Niche site hustlers and AI blog bros are in shambles.
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Denied by AdThrive (Raptive) because my new site hit 100K pageviews per month *too quickly*. 🤣
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Update:
This TripAdvisor forum thread from NINETEEN YEARS AGO still ranks
#1
*helpful content*
Google's "Helpful Content "Update" in a nutshell.
Query: "cancun food and drink prices"
The
#1
result?
This TripAdvisor thread from NINETEEN YEARS AGO.
Time to roll back the HCU,
@searchliaison
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Ezoic is like the Bluehost of ad networks.
They only get promoted due to the affiliate program.
Good riddance.
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Bankrate has been producing AI content since May! About 150 articles.
I spot checked some of them, and of those, they were all ranking on Page 1.
Someone with more tech skills than me should auto-check all 150 URLs for their target keyword and report back on the results 👀
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Brand new site on pace for AdThrive/Raptive already.
100% Pinterest traffic.
100% AI content.
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But all the agency SEOs tell me Forbes is a trusted brand with decades of trust built up, publishing helpful content for people, not search engines.
How could this be?
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The golf equipment market is projected to reach $15 BILLION by 2030.
But is the "golf niche" a good niche for your next niche site?
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The Modern Proper is one of the best recipe blogs on the web.
They are now seeing their traffic plummet, being outranked by Reddit for keywords like [ground beef recipes]
Here is the super-duper helpful, not-spammy Reddit thread outranking them.
@TheModernProper
@dannysullivan
I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make. There might not be any to do at all.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You're in the carousel and…
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The old way of doing niche research:
1) Type a "seed" keyword into Ahrefs
2) >> Matching Terms
3) >> Questions
4) >> Max DR filter
5) Manually open the SERP filter to look for low-DR sites
6) Manually check traffic
7) Manually check ad network
8) Manually check competing domains
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Can Jarvis/Jasper content rank?
49 articles have been posted on this site in a month.
10 are already ranking in the Top 30, 6 ranking in the Top 20 👀
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It’s not at Forbes per se, it’s at Google for allowing a business & news magazine to be a supposed authority in everything from women’s probiotics to diaper bags.
@AndyBeard
@OriZilbershtein
@OritSiMu
This. I don’t understand the animosity towards Forbes. They hired the best people (Orit, Jonny etc) and put in a lot of effort. (They’re not perfect but who is perfect anyways) plus the authority that was built for years.
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ChatGPT is insanely impressive, but (as one would hope), the AI-checking tools like Originality .ai are flagging it as AI-content.
New service:
An agency that re-writes AI content with a "human touch" to make it pass the AI-checking tools!
I'd pay $.02 per word for that!
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Google is targeting individual SEOs and influencers now for sure. Wild times.
Oh great, now it's FOUR sites. Lovely to see this happening in real-time. 🙄
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Legitimately good site in my niche just getting pummeled, update after update.
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Testing these "quick answer" boxes at the top of some info articles to see if they help with rankings.
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Simple niche site operators win.
1% go from idea to published in a day or two.
The other 99% get stuck:
-Agonizing over their theme
-Optimizing site speed
-Playing around w/ fonts & colors
-Designing their home page
Pick a niche. Then publish.
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Real users enjoy Reddit comment spam and general rude unpleasantness.
It’s not going anywhere 🤷♂️
@lilyraynyc
That unit appears automatically if the systems think it might be relevant and useful. I's not like someone said "put it first for that particular query" -- which I know you understand, but others reading this might not. That said, I can appreciate the concern and issue, and I've…
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Google hates affiliate links. And they hate ads too. They want you to create content for free, so their “AI” can steal it.
Yeah, as soon as I looked at dozens of sites hit by this HCU, the pattern was abundantly clear.
Read Glenn’s article and insights; they’re on the money.
Also this idea of “well this other site that’s ranking gets away with it” is not how it works (1/2)…
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These recent Google updates are absolutely obliterating some of the biggest niche sites out there.
Wow.
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The biggest issue with The SEO Heist™ was never the strategy itself, but the risk of embarrassing Google publicly.
Makes you weary of sharing successful AI case studies publicly on this platform.
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Niche Idea💡 >>> 3D Printers 🖨️
Normally, I'm not a huge fan of building an entire site around a product category.
But the data shows this niche has:
✅Medium-competition
✅100K+/mo. traffic opportunity
✅Plenty of affiliate offers
✅Even balance of info/affiliate content
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SEO Twitter has hilariously turned into Virtue Signaling Twitter.
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This is exactly why I built NicheFinder. 👀
This weekend is the last chance to grab the lifetime deal for just $97. 🔥
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I've noticed a theme developing amongst the agency crowd that small blogs deserved to get hit b/c they run ads & affiliate links.
As if the big guys don't do the EXACT same thing.
How else do they think DotDash, Wirecutter, BI & NerdWallet monetize?
This is not about ads.
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Google: What constitutes "helpful" content is for you to decide.
You: I think my content is helpful
Google: *reduces your traffic by 50%*
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@lilyraynyc
The example they gave—“some say”, “others say”—is embarrassing.
Google has gone from penalizing sites that simply regurgitate information without offering a unique perspective…
…to doing exactly that? 🤡
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Bring back the 10 blue links.
1/ I’m thrilled to share that this week I’m starting a new chapter leading products for Google Search. I’ll be focused on reimagining the core search experience given everything now possible with AI and creating more personal and enriching connections to the web.
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I really believe Danny means well.
But it’s clear (from the SERPs) that whatever feedback he’s sharing with his team is obviously ignored.
@Jake_Boly
@dannysullivan
When the update is finished, as we shared in our blog post, we'll open up a feedback form specifically so creators can share examples that we can explore further. Our ranking systems aren't perfect (nothing is), but we specifically preannounced having this form so we can get…
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Who is the absolute BEST content writing agency you have used, REGARDLESS of the price?
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AI-content niche idea:
how many __ in ___
Example: "how many calories in a croissant"
Example domain: howmanypedia. com
DR11.
304K visits per month.
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@searchliaison
@StevePBarnes
@lilyraynyc
@Harvard
@Matic_Broz
Why is Harvard ranking for VPN terms to begin with? The issue isn't 3rd party content, it's your algorithm that weighs domain strength 100000x more than relevance.
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My public case study niche site in the "bad credit" niche has been ravaged by Core Updates. I assumed it was YMYL-related, so I moved on to other projects.
But starting next month, I'm working on getting it back to previous levels: 30K+ pageviews & $10,000+/ mo.
Here's my plan:
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@levelsio
And with a measly 3% increase per year, you’ll be paying over $16,000 per month on rent by year 30 😂
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NicheFinder v1.0 will be here soon.
Our data is:
* Updated monthly, so you'll always have the most accurate info
* Compliant with 3rd-party providers (we're at no risk of being shut down for violating API terms of service 😛)
* Pulling in new domains every month
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