This isn’t an article I wished to jot down… however right here it goes.
Running a blog as a enterprise mannequin isn’t simply dying—it’s already useless.
In current months, we’ve seen main blogs shut down, course creators abandon ship, and even individuals who made tens of millions from website positioning declare it sport over.
However right here’s what nobody is saying…
This isn’t nearly Google updates or AI. The best way folks eat content material has essentially modified, and blogs are now not a part of the equation.
So the actual query isn’t simply “Is running a blog nonetheless price it?” It’s “If running a blog is useless, 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 visitors, which might be monetized by advertisements, online marketing, and digital merchandise.
However in 2023, that each one modified. A number of the largest names in running a blog began pulling out. Even we had been provided over half one million {dollars} for our weblog—however we turned it down. After which, issues took a flip.
Visitors disappeared. Income plummeted. And previous website positioning 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 let you know running a blog is useless, after which later on this submit say… except you do it the way in which I train in my programs.
No. I’m going to present you my actual, trustworthy tackle the state of website positioning, content material websites, online marketing, and running a blog as a enterprise mannequin.
For those who’re at the moment a blogger and also you’ve been holding on optimistically dreaming of your visitors coming again, or should you’re a model new blogger and also you’ve simply put a ton of labor into your new website… or should you’ve all the time wished to begin a weblog however now I’m sitting right here and shitting all around the whole 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 really opens up the largest on-line enterprise alternative we’ve ever seen.
And those that adapt now are going to win greater than ever earlier than.
Be sure to learn to the tip of this submit 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 modifications that hit abruptly. For those who’ve been questioning why blogs are shutting down and website positioning 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 individuals are clicking over to precise blogs. On the identical time, they prioritized boards like Reddit and Quora over impartial web sites.
For those who seek for one thing like “Finest Journey Credit score Playing cards,” you’re extra prone to see a Reddit thread or TripAdvisor submit on the prime of search outcomes than a well-researched weblog article.
And this wasn’t an accident—Google struck a $60 million per 12 months cope with 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.
Bear in mind these visitors graphs of your favourite journey bloggers tanking? Effectively, Reddit’s 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 the most effective submit 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 suppose, “How can I take advantage of this to make higher content material?” They thought, “What number of AI-written posts can I publish per day?”
Consequently, 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 bought caught within the fireplace.
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.
Because the launch and mainstream adaptation of ChatGPT, analysis reveals that as many as 7.5 million weblog posts are being revealed each single day. The search outcomes have become 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 bought caught within the fireplace.
3. Google’s AI Solutions Took Over Search Outcomes
Google now generates AI solutions proper within the search outcomes—pulling data straight from blogs with out sending any visitors again to them.
For those who search “Finest Locations to Go to in Thailand,” Google’s AI summarizes the most effective choices on the prime of the web page. Customers get the knowledge 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 totally.
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 resolution—whether or not it was for a visit, a brand new telephone, or a course—by studying a 3,000-word weblog submit?
You didn’t.
As an alternative, you in all probability:
- Watched a YouTube evaluate
- 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 opinions and checked testimonials on social media
That is simply how folks purchase now—we would like fast, visible, and trusted data from folks we really observe and interact with.
You would possibly suppose that this can be a direct results of folks 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 variation began occurring lengthy earlier than bloggers had instruments like ChatGPT and Claude.
Is website positioning Completely Useless?
Not totally—however for many impartial bloggers, it’d as properly be.
Large manufacturers with huge budgets will nonetheless use website positioning. Regardless that ChatGPT just lately grew to become one of many prime 10 web sites on this planet, at the moment at quantity 7, and is climbing rapidly, Google continues to be the god of on-line visitors for now. It’s on the prime of that checklist, so massive corporations with some huge cash will nonetheless combat for these prime spots.
However the days of recent bloggers rating with nice content material alone are gone. The combat for search engine visibility is just too aggressive, and Google’s fixed algorithm modifications make it unimaginable to depend on natural visitors.
So should you’re nonetheless attempting to develop your enterprise by website positioning running a blog in 2025, you’re not simply competing with Google—you’re competing with how folks really eat content material now.
For those who’re writing website positioning weblog posts and attempting to rank in Google for key phrases…. Cease it.
For those who’re performing some variation of that, like attempting to rank for Bing or ChatGPT… Cease it.
For those who’re engaged on the technical website positioning in your web site and attempting to optimize it. Cease it.
It’s an entire waste of time.
There are different issues you ought 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 earnings 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 12 months from advertisements and associates.
We’ve invested in website positioning and hyperlink constructing through the years, and constructed up our viewers, which gave us some cushioning as every part collapsed.
However we knew we wanted 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 website positioning, Associates, and Adverts to pay us our wage. Nevertheless 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 submit on how Airbnb cancelled their associates program with out warning, costing us $100,000 per 12 months. And that was simply considered one of MANY occasions that occurred to us.
Principally, we had been making unimaginable cash, however we had no management over our visitors sources, or the earnings coming into our financial institution accounts.
That’s why we began specializing in constructing our electronic mail checklist (a visitors supply that we OWN) and promoting our personal merchandise—one thing we had management over. This took me down a rabbit gap and years of analysis into studying the best way to create an superior course, the best way to promote a course, the best way to create electronic mail gross sales automations and funnels, and principally the best way to earn cash promoting our personal merchandise by emails.
That a part of our enterprise was actually profitable and it bought us to the place we are actually. However now, for the previous 2 years, as a substitute of counting on weblog visitors and website positioning to herald leads, we’re doing it by social media.
Now earlier than you say what I used to say again then and be like “I hate social media”, let me let you know that for one, you’re in all probability 40+ like me, and two, that perspective will possible be the one motive you in all probability received’t have a profitable on-line enterprise in 5 years.
What This Means for the Way forward for On-line Enterprise
Running a blog is now not a viable enterprise mannequin, however that doesn’t imply on-line enterprise is useless. Actually, there has by no means been a greater time to construct a worthwhile enterprise.
The easiest way I can clarify that is by a browsing analogy. No, I’m not a surfer, however simply bear with me for a minute…
We had been using this huge wave of website positioning and Running a blog. We made tens of millions of {dollars} on that wave and on the time, we thought it was the most effective wave within the sea.
However whereas we had been cruising on that wave… a much bigger, extra lovely, and extra sustainable wave was constructing momentum behind our wave.
That wave was Social Media.
In enterprise, it’s important to know when to get off the wave. As a result of should you experience it too lengthy, it’ll crush you. And in companies that contain expertise, these waves can come extraordinarily rapidly.
Within the tech panorama, the website positioning wave was like an enormous 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 previous wave, social media is the brand new one. And it’s the largest alternative for natural 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 an enormous viewers totally free
- It’s the largest alternative for natural visitors
- And it’s by far the largest alternative to monetize and make tens of millions of {dollars} from promoting digital merchandise
1. Construct an Viewers with Quick-Type Video
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts are the place individuals are consuming content material now. As an alternative of writing 3,000-word weblog posts, creators are constructing huge audiences by short-form video.
2. Promote Your Personal Digital Product
In contrast to running a blog, social media helps you to monetize quick—when you have the proper product. As an alternative of incomes $0.002 per customer by advertisements, you’ll be able to promote a $37 digital product and make actual cash immediately.
Folks like Natalie from Boss Babe have remodeled $100,000 per 30 days promoting a easy digital product. And we all know of a girl who remodeled one million {dollars} in a 12 months from her tiny viewers of lower than 3,000 folks.
This simply wasn’t attainable with running a blog. There would possibly’ve been some off probability that you simply bought 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 website positioning, it might take months, typically years, earlier than they’d see any earnings.
Even me. I constructed a fly fishing web site from $0 to $8,400 per 30 days in a single 12 months. 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 must be an internet site—not a content material hub. It ought to:
- Construct authority
- Seize emails
- Promote your product
E-mail advertising and marketing is the place the actual cash occurs. By main social media followers to a freebie, you’ll be able to construct an electronic mail checklist that nurtures leads and automates gross sales.
After all, you’ll be able to’t simply generate profits on social media by posting humorous cat movies. You create extremely focused content material that speaks to a selected individual, helps them obtain a selected transformation, and that content material sends them to your electronic mail checklist the place they enter their title and electronic mail to get your tremendous beneficial freebie.
It’s from that freebie, and from the magic of electronic mail advertising and marketing that you simply’re capable of promote your digital product to them and generate profits 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 folks, and it’s the primary steps in constructing an actual, loyal neighborhood.
The Future is Right here—And It’s Not Running a blog
Running a blog was an unimaginable enterprise mannequin, however occasions have modified. Google and AI have made it practically 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 website positioning blogs had turn out to be monotonous and boring. Ask any profitable blogger, we had been uninterested in writing the ten finest issues to do in Bangkok and the 15 finest finances microwaves.
Do I miss the passive earnings from running a blog? Completely, however that very same passive earnings is out there with short-form video and nice electronic mail advertising and marketing.
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 price it.
The longer term is short-form video. The longer term is making a beneficial product. The longer term is having an epic electronic mail checklist that folks love being subscribed to. The longer term 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 massive.
If you wish to construct a enterprise that really works in 2025, concentrate on short-form video, digital merchandise, and electronic mail advertising and marketing. That is the way you create an actual, future-proof enterprise.
For those who’re able to cease losing time on outdated methods and begin constructing a worthwhile enterprise, seize our free coaching beneath that reveals precisely how we—and our shoppers—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?
