11 April 2024

SEO Is Dead… 5 Ways To Save Your Business In 2024

0Frameworks

5Insights

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Hot Take· 2

Hot Take

Google Search Traffic Is in Decline

Kieran Flanagan opens with the question driving the episode: whether Google search traffic is declining. The hosts frame recent traffic losses as a serious threat for businesses that rely on search to acquire customers.

Recent Google changes have hurt search-dependent sites
Falling organic traffic threatens customer acquisition
Businesses need alternatives to a single dominant channel

“Is Google search traffic in decline? That is the topic of today's show.”
Kieran Flanagan

“This is everyone's life right now that has a bunch of search traffic.”
Kipp Bodnar

#seo#google#organic traffic

Hot Take

Google Is Disrupting Its Own Core Business

Kipp Bodnar says the hosts had expected AI to disrupt Google and SEO. Instead, he argues that Google's own changes are creating the immediate challenge for search practitioners.

AI was expected to reshape Google's search business
Google's own updates are already disrupting SEO
Search practitioners face changes outside their control

“And we've long said that AI was really gonna disrupt Google's core business, was gonna disrupt SEO as we knew it.”
Kipp Bodnar

“But it turns out Google is disrupting Google's core business, making some changes that are really challenging if you're an SEO.”
Kipp Bodnar

#google#seo#ai

Story· 2

Story

Why SEO Traffic Losses Feel So Brutal

The hosts react to posts from people whose traffic fell after a Google update. Kipp compares the experience to being haunted because every new signal becomes another reminder of the decline.

Traffic charts make the impact of updates visible
Search losses affect people who built businesses around organic discovery
Repeated declines create a bleak mood across the SEO community

“We go through some of the saddest posts on the internet from search people who have been affected by Google's latest update.”
Kieran Flanagan

“It's like when you're haunted by something, everything you see is just a reminder of how bad that thing is.”
Kipp Bodnar

#seo#google updates#traffic loss

Story

Kieran's Penguin Update Flashback

Kieran looks back to Google's Penguin update as an earlier moment when SEO sites were wiped out. The hosts use his experience with penalized sites to show that disruptive Google updates are not new, even if the current environment feels broader.

Penguin targeted manipulative link-building tactics
Kieran recalls losing several sites around the update
Past SEO shocks provide context for the current decline

“Maybe the equivalent of this was like there was this uh pretty big update called, I think it was Penguin.”
Kieran Flanagan

“Basically, they could have just said those relying on sketchy link building tactics, uh, e.g. Kieran Flanagan.”
Kipp Bodnar

#penguin update#link building#seo history

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway

Start Replacing Google-Dependent Acquisition

The episode turns from documenting traffic losses to considering what could replace Google search. Its practical focus is on actions businesses can begin taking when customer acquisition depends too heavily on organic search.

Treat search dependence as a customer-acquisition risk
Look for replacement sources of discovery and demand
Begin changing the channel mix before traffic falls further

“We go through what we think might be a replacement for Google search and the things that you can start doing today if you rely…”
Kieran Flanagan

#customer acquisition#channel diversification#search traffic