This isn’t an article I needed to put in writing… however right here it goes.
Running a blog as a enterprise mannequin isn’t simply dying—it’s already lifeless.
In current months, we’ve seen main blogs shut down, course creators abandon ship, and even individuals who made hundreds of thousands from search engine optimization declare it sport over.
However right here’s what nobody is saying…
This isn’t nearly Google updates or AI. The way in which individuals devour content material has basically modified, and blogs are not a part of the equation.
So the actual query isn’t simply “Is running a blog nonetheless value it?” It’s “If running a blog is lifeless, what really works now?”
Let’s get into it.
Why Even High Bloggers Are Strolling Away
For years, running a blog was an extremely profitable enterprise mannequin. Excessive-ranking weblog posts introduced in regular natural site visitors, which might be monetized by means of adverts, affiliate internet marketing, and digital merchandise.
However in 2023, that every one modified. A few of the greatest names in running a blog began pulling out. Even we had been provided over half 1,000,000 {dollars} for our weblog—however we turned it down. After which, issues took a flip.
Visitors disappeared. Income plummeted. And outdated search engine optimization methods stopped working in a single day.
So what occurred?
The Brutal Fact About Why Running a blog Tanked
This isn’t simply one other fluff story just like the hundreds of different clickbaity articles on the web proper now. I’m not going to inform you running a blog is lifeless, after which later on this publish say… until you do it the way in which I train in my programs.
No. I’m going to offer you my actual, trustworthy tackle the state of search engine optimization, content material websites, affiliate internet marketing, and running a blog as a enterprise mannequin.
If you happen to’re at the moment a blogger and also you’ve been holding on optimistically dreaming of your site visitors coming again, or should you’re a model new blogger and also you’ve simply put a ton of labor into your new web site… or should you’ve at all times needed to begin a weblog however now I’m sitting right here and shitting everywhere in the complete enterprise mannequin… don’t fear.
There IS a silver lining right here. It’s part of this story that nobody is speaking about… a shift that truly opens up the largest on-line enterprise alternative we’ve ever seen.
And those that adapt now are going to win larger than ever earlier than.
Ensure you learn to the tip of this publish as a result of I’m going to speak about precisely what that shift is and how one can leverage it to blow up your individual on-line enterprise.
So how did we get right here? Why has running a blog taken such a drastic downturn in such a short while? It wasn’t only one factor—it was an ideal storm of adjustments that hit suddenly. If you happen to’ve been questioning why blogs are shutting down and search engine optimization methods are failing, listed here are the largest culprits behind the collapse of running a blog as a enterprise mannequin.
1. Google Modified the Guidelines
Google rolled out AI-generated search outcomes, which suggests fewer persons are clicking over to precise blogs. On the identical time, they prioritized boards like Reddit and Quora over impartial web sites.
If you happen to seek for one thing like “Greatest Journey Credit score Playing cards,” you’re extra prone to see a Reddit thread or TripAdvisor publish on the prime of search outcomes than a well-researched weblog article.
And this wasn’t an accident—Google struck a $60 million per yr take care of Reddit to make use of their boards to coach AI fashions. In return, Reddit’s content material will get precedence in search rankings, successfully pushing smaller blogs out of visibility.
This all began with the Useful Content material Replace in 2022, and continued with the Hidden Gems Replace within the fall of 2023. As an alternative of rewarding high-quality weblog content material, Google handed the search outcomes over to boards.
Keep in mind these site visitors graphs of your favourite journey bloggers tanking? Properly, Reddit’s site visitors elevated by over 650%, hitting 1.3 billion in that very same timeframe. This was no mistake.
For small bloggers, that is devastating. Even should you write one of the best publish on the web, you’re preventing an uphill battle simply to get seen.
2. AI Flooded the Web with Junk Content material
When ChatGPT launched, bloggers didn’t assume, “How can I exploit this to make higher content material?” They thought, “What number of AI-written posts can I publish per day?”
Because of this, search outcomes grew to become flooded with generic, AI-generated content material. Google responded by rolling out updates that penalized AI-heavy web sites, however even high-quality blogs obtained caught within the hearth.
And right here’s the issue… most bloggers didn’t use AI to enhance their content material, or to assist them analysis their information, or make their websites extra user-friendly—they used it to spam the net.
For the reason that launch and mainstream adaptation of ChatGPT, analysis reveals that as many as 7.5 million weblog posts are being printed each single day. The search outcomes have changed into a wasteland of soulless, regurgitated AI content material. Google knew this was an issue, so their response? Burn all of it down.
Sadly, that meant even high-quality blogs obtained caught within the hearth.
3. Google’s AI Solutions Took Over Search Outcomes
Google now generates AI solutions proper within the search outcomes—pulling data instantly from blogs with out sending any site visitors again to them.
If you happen to search “Greatest Locations to Go to in Thailand,” Google’s AI summarizes one of the best choices on the prime of the web page. Customers get the data they want with out ever visiting a weblog.
For bloggers, this implies they’re not simply getting buried in search rankings—they’re getting erased from the equation fully.
If UGC and AI spam had been the storm, Google’s AI-generated solutions had been the ultimate tsunami that worn out every part left standing. It’s like taking part in a sport the place you do all of the work… and another person takes the trophy.
Right here’s the opposite brutal reality nobody is speaking about—even when Google wasn’t killing blogs, shoppers already moved on.
Give it some thought. When was the final time you made a purchase order choice—whether or not it was for a visit, a brand new telephone, or a course—by studying a 3,000-word weblog publish?
You didn’t.
As an alternative, you most likely:
- Watched a YouTube overview
- Checked TikTok for fast execs & cons
- Checked out Instagram reels for real-world examples
- Requested in a Fb or Reddit group for suggestions
- Learn Amazon critiques and checked testimonials on social media
That is simply how individuals purchase now—we would like fast, visible, and trusted data from individuals we really comply with and have interaction with.
You may assume that it is a direct results of individuals dropping belief in blogs as a result of so many are simply written with AI, however that’s not the case. The reality is, this transformation began occurring lengthy earlier than bloggers had instruments like ChatGPT and Claude.
Is search engine optimization Completely Lifeless?
Not fully—however for many impartial bloggers, it’d as properly be.
Huge manufacturers with huge budgets will nonetheless use search engine optimization. Although ChatGPT not too long ago grew to become one of many prime 10 web sites on this planet, at the moment at quantity 7, and is climbing shortly, Google remains to be the god of on-line site visitors for now. It’s on the prime of that record, so large firms with some huge cash will nonetheless struggle for these prime spots.
However the days of latest bloggers rating with nice content material alone are gone. The struggle for search engine visibility is simply too aggressive, and Google’s fixed algorithm adjustments make it unimaginable to depend on natural site visitors.
So should you’re nonetheless attempting to develop your enterprise by means of search engine optimization running a blog in 2025, you’re not simply competing with Google—you’re competing with how individuals really devour content material now.
If you happen to’re writing search engine optimization weblog posts and attempting to rank in Google for key phrases…. Cease it.
If you happen to’re doing a little variation of that, like attempting to rank for Bing or ChatGPT… Cease it.
If you happen to’re engaged on the technical search engine optimization on your web site and attempting to optimize it. Cease it.
It’s a whole waste of time.
There are different issues try to be engaged on if you wish to construct a sustainable, future-proof enterprise, and we’ll get to {that a} bit later.
What Really Occurred to Our Running a blog Companies (And How We Pivoted)
We nonetheless make passive revenue from our web sites, however solely as a result of we’ve been round for a few years. We’ve 4 of them, and (fortunately) they’re nonetheless bringing in over six-figures a yr from adverts and associates.
We’ve invested in search engine optimization and hyperlink constructing through the years, and constructed up our viewers, which gave us some cushioning as every part collapsed.
However we knew we would have liked to pivot years in the past. Greater than 7 years in the past, we realized that we had been placing WAY too many eggs within the running a blog basket.
We relied utterly on Google search engine optimization, Associates, and Adverts to pay us our wage. However it didn’t take lengthy to appreciate that Adverts dropped as a lot as 50% seasonally or relying on the political state of affairs, and associates? Don’t even get me began…
I already wrote a publish on how Airbnb cancelled their associates program with out warning, costing us $100,000 per yr. And that was simply one among MANY instances that occurred to us.
Principally, we had been making unbelievable cash, however we had no management over our site visitors sources, or the revenue coming into our financial institution accounts.
That’s why we began specializing in constructing our electronic mail record (a site visitors supply that we OWN) and selling our own products—one thing we had management over. This took me down a rabbit gap and years of analysis into studying how you can create an superior course, how you can promote a course, how you can create electronic mail gross sales automations and funnels, and principally how you can earn cash selling our own products by means of emails.
That a part of our enterprise was actually profitable and it obtained us to the place we are actually. However now, for the previous 2 years, as a substitute of counting on weblog site visitors and search engine optimization to usher in leads, we’re doing it through social media.
Now earlier than you say what I used to say again then and be like “I hate social media”, let me inform you that for one, you’re most likely 40+ like me, and two, that perspective will seemingly be the one purpose you most likely gained’t have a successful online business in 5 years.
What This Means for the Way forward for On-line Enterprise
Running a blog is not a viable enterprise mannequin, however that doesn’t imply on-line enterprise is lifeless. In truth, there has by no means been a greater time to construct a worthwhile enterprise.
One of the simplest ways I can clarify that is by means of a browsing analogy. No, I’m not a surfer, however simply bear with me for a minute…
We had been driving this huge wave of search engine optimization and Running a blog. We made hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on that wave and on the time, we thought it was one of the best wave within the sea.
However whereas we had been cruising on that wave… an even bigger, extra lovely, and extra sustainable wave was constructing momentum behind our wave.
That wave was Social Media.
In enterprise, you must know when to get off the wave. As a result of should you trip it too lengthy, it’ll crush you. And in companies that contain expertise, these waves can come extraordinarily shortly.
Within the tech panorama, the search engine optimization wave was like a large tidal wave. It lasted SO lengthy, and we’re extremely grateful for that.
However now, the brand new wave is right here, and it’s been right here for a very long time, us older technology simply didn’t see it.
The Way forward for On-line Enterprise: Social Media, Digital Merchandise, and E mail Advertising
If running a blog was the outdated wave, social media is the brand new one. And it’s the largest alternative for natural site visitors and monetization we’ve ever seen.
This wave is the largest alternative we’ve ever seen within the on-line world:
- It’s the largest alternative to construct a large viewers at no cost
- It’s the largest alternative for natural site visitors
- And it’s by far the largest alternative to monetize and make hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from promoting digital merchandise
1. Construct an Viewers with Brief-Type Video
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts are the place persons are consuming content material now. As an alternative of writing 3,000-word weblog posts, creators are constructing huge audiences by means of short-form video.
2. Promote Your Personal Digital Product
In contrast to running a blog, social media helps you to monetize quick—if in case you have the proper product. As an alternative of incomes $0.002 per customer by means of adverts, you possibly can promote a $37 digital product and make actual cash immediately.
Individuals like Natalie from Boss Babe have revamped $100,000 per thirty days promoting a easy digital product. And we all know of a lady who revamped 1,000,000 {dollars} in a yr from her tiny viewers of lower than 3,000 individuals.
This simply wasn’t doable with running a blog. There may’ve been some off probability that you just obtained picked up by a giant TV community or one thing and also you went viral in a single day, however for 99.9% of bloggers who had been simply writing weblog posts for search engine optimization, it will take months, usually years, earlier than they’d see any revenue.
Even me. I constructed a fly fishing web site from $0 to $8,400 per thirty days in a single yr. However for the primary 6 months, it earned subsequent to nothing. And I knew what I used to be doing!
3. Use E mail Advertising to Automate Gross sales
Your weblog ought to be an internet site—not a content material hub. It ought to:
- Construct authority
- Seize emails
- Promote your product
E mail advertising is the place the actual cash occurs. By main social media followers to a freebie, you possibly can construct an electronic mail record that nurtures leads and automates gross sales.
In fact, you possibly can’t simply earn cash on social media by posting humorous cat movies. You create extremely focused content material that speaks to a particular individual, helps them obtain a particular transformation, and that content material sends them to your electronic mail record the place they enter their identify and electronic mail to get your tremendous precious freebie.
It’s from that freebie, and from the magic of electronic mail advertising that you just’re in a position to promote your digital product to them and earn cash on autopilot.
Look, making $17 on a $500 Airbnb reserving was nice, and incomes 0.002 cents per customer on our weblog was additionally cool, however there’s nothing like the sensation of waking up and seeing that somebody bought your $500 course or your $4,000 teaching program. It’s validation, it’s thrilling to have the ability to have a actual impression and assist individuals, and it’s the primary steps in constructing an actual, loyal group.
The Future is Right here—And It’s Not Running a blog
Running a blog was an unbelievable enterprise mannequin, however instances have modified. Google and AI have made it almost unimaginable for brand spanking new bloggers to succeed the way in which we did years in the past.
However that doesn’t imply the chance is gone. It’s simply moved.
Writing search engine optimization blogs had develop into monotonous and boring. Ask any profitable blogger, we had been uninterested in writing the ten greatest issues to do in Bangkok and the 15 greatest price range microwaves.
Do I miss the passive revenue from running a blog? Completely, however that very same passive revenue is accessible with short-form video and nice electronic mail advertising.
Blogs take a TON of labor. So to do all that work simply to have a Google Algorithm replace or AI utterly wipe you out in a single day? That’s simply not value it.
The long run is short-form video. The long run is making a precious product. The long run is having an epic electronic mail record that folks love being subscribed to. The long run is being an actual human being, and actually connecting together with your viewers on-line.
That is the longer term. And the individuals who embrace this shift now are going to win large.
If you wish to construct a enterprise that truly works in 2025, give attention to short-form video, digital merchandise, and electronic mail advertising. That is the way you create an actual, future-proof enterprise.
If you happen to’re able to cease losing time on outdated methods and begin constructing a worthwhile enterprise, seize our free training beneath that reveals precisely how we—and our purchasers—are doing it.
The most important on-line enterprise alternative we’ve ever seen is occurring proper now. The one query is—are you going to take it?
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