This isn’t an article I needed to write down… however right here it goes.
Running a blog as a enterprise mannequin isn’t simply dying—it’s already useless.
In latest months, we’ve seen main blogs shut down, course creators abandon ship, and even individuals who made thousands and thousands from search engine optimization declare it recreation over.
However right here’s what nobody is saying…
This isn’t nearly Google updates or AI. The best way individuals 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 value it?” It’s “If running a blog is useless, what really works now?”
Let’s get into it.
Why Even Prime 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 could possibly be monetized by adverts, affiliate internet marketing, and digital merchandise.
However in 2023, that each one modified. A number of the greatest 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 search engine optimization methods stopped working in a single day.
So what occurred?
The Brutal Reality About Why Running a blog Tanked
This isn’t simply one other fluff story just like the 1000’s of different clickbaity articles on the web proper now. I’m not going to inform you running a blog is useless, after which later on this submit say… until you do it the way in which I train in my programs.
No. I’m going to present you my actual, sincere tackle the state of search engine optimization, content material websites, affiliate internet marketing, and running a blog as a enterprise mannequin.
Should you’re at present a blogger and also you’ve been holding on optimistically dreaming of your visitors coming again, or when you’re a model new blogger and also you’ve simply put a ton of labor into your new web site… or when you’ve at all times needed to begin a weblog however now I’m sitting right here and shitting everywhere in 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 people who adapt now are going to win greater than ever earlier than.
Ensure you learn to the top 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 personal 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 . Should you’ve been questioning why blogs are shutting down and search engine optimization methods are failing, listed below 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 unbiased web sites.
Should you seek for one thing like “Greatest 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 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.
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 when you write one of the best 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 assume, “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 hearth.
And right here’s the issue… most bloggers didn’t use AI to enhance their content material, or to assist them analysis their info, or make their websites extra user-friendly—they used it to spam the net.
Because the launch and mainstream adaptation of ChatGPT, analysis exhibits that as many as 7.5 million weblog posts are being revealed 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 bought 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 straight from blogs with out sending any visitors again to them.
Should you 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 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 solely.
If UGC and AI spam had been the storm, Google’s AI-generated solutions had been the ultimate tsunami that worn out the whole lot left standing. It’s like taking part in a recreation the place you do all of the work… and another person takes the trophy.
Right here’s the opposite brutal fact 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 cellphone, or a course—by studying a 3,000-word weblog submit?
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 evaluations 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 observe and interact with.
You would possibly 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 alteration began taking place lengthy earlier than bloggers had instruments like ChatGPT and Claude.
Is search engine optimization Completely Useless?
Not solely—however for many unbiased bloggers, it would as effectively be.
Huge manufacturers with large budgets will nonetheless use search engine optimization. Although ChatGPT just lately grew to become one of many prime 10 web sites on the earth, at present at quantity 7, and is climbing shortly, Google continues to be the god of on-line visitors for now. It’s on the prime of that listing, so huge corporations 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 visitors.
So when you’re nonetheless attempting to develop your online business by search engine optimization running a blog in 2025, you’re not simply competing with Google—you’re competing with how individuals really eat content material now.
Should you’re writing search engine optimization weblog posts and attempting to rank in Google for key phrases…. Cease it.
Should you’re performing some variation of that, like attempting to rank for Bing or ChatGPT… Cease it.
Should you’re engaged on the technical search engine optimization in 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 over time, and constructed up our viewers, which gave us some cushioning as the whole lot 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 search engine optimization, Associates, and Advertisements to pay us our wage. But it surely didn’t take lengthy to appreciate that Advertisements dropped as a lot as 50% seasonally or relying on the political scenario, 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 yr. And that was simply certainly one of MANY instances that occurred to us.
Principally, we had been making unbelievable cash, however we had no management over our visitors sources, or the revenue coming into our financial institution accounts.
That’s why we began specializing in constructing our e mail listing (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 create an superior course, promote a course, create e mail gross sales automations and funnels, and principally 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 an alternative of counting on weblog visitors and search engine optimization to usher in 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 inform you that for one, you’re most likely 40+ like me, and two, that angle will doubtless be the only cause you most likely gained’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. The truth is, 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 driving this large wave of search engine optimization and Running a blog. We made thousands and 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 stunning, and extra sustainable wave was constructing momentum behind our wave.
That wave was Social Media.
In enterprise, you need to know when to get off the wave. As a result of when you trip it too lengthy, it’ll crush you. And in companies that contain know-how, these waves can come extraordinarily shortly.
Within the tech panorama, the search engine optimization 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 Electronic 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 at no cost
- It’s the largest alternative for natural visitors
- And it’s by far the largest alternative to monetize and make thousands and thousands 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 large audiences by short-form video.
2. Promote Your Personal Digital Product
In contrast to running a blog, social media helps you to monetize quick—you probably have the suitable product. As an alternative of incomes $0.002 per customer by adverts, you possibly can promote a $37 digital product and make actual cash immediately.
Folks like Natalie from Boss Babe have revamped $100,000 monthly promoting a easy digital product. And we all know of a girl who revamped one million {dollars} in a yr from her tiny viewers of lower than 3,000 individuals.
This simply wasn’t attainable with running a blog. There would possibly’ve been some off likelihood that you just bought picked up by an enormous 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 monthly 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 Electronic 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
Electronic mail advertising is the place the actual cash occurs. By main social media followers to a freebie, you possibly can construct an e mail listing that nurtures leads and automates gross sales.
After all, you possibly can’t simply generate income on social media by posting humorous cat movies. You create extremely focused content material that speaks to a particular particular person, helps them obtain a particular transformation, and that content material sends them to your e mail listing the place they enter their title and e mail to get your tremendous priceless freebie.
It’s from that freebie, and from the magic of e mail advertising that you just’re in a position to promote your digital product to them and generate income 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 influence 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 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 turn out to be monotonous and boring. Ask any profitable blogger, we had been bored with writing the ten finest issues to do in Bangkok and the 15 finest finances microwaves.
Do I miss the passive revenue from running a blog? Completely, however that very same passive revenue is obtainable with short-form video and nice e 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 priceless product. The long run is having an epic e mail listing that individuals love being subscribed to. The long run is being an actual human being, and actually connecting along with your viewers on-line.
That is the longer term. And the individuals who embrace this shift now are going to win huge.
If you wish to construct a enterprise that really works in 2025, deal with short-form video, digital merchandise, and e mail advertising. That is the way you create an actual, future-proof enterprise.
Should you’re able to cease losing time on outdated methods and begin constructing a worthwhile enterprise, seize our free coaching beneath that exhibits precisely how we—and our purchasers—are doing it.
The most important on-line enterprise alternative we’ve ever seen is going on proper now. The one query is—are you going to take it?