Wave Issue 113

First...

ChatGPT - it's been all about this the past week. Every single newsletter has mentioned it (including me right now).

Every other Tweet is about ChatGPT. Every other Twitter thread is written by ChatGPT now (no source, just a guess).

Content sites with ChatGPT-created content are getting spun up (no source). At least the GPT-3.5 content will be easier to read than some of the GPT-2 and GPT-3 content out there. My brain is already hurting less from reading.

Bad and mediocre writers are changing their pants after they soiled themselves when testing ChatGPT (no source).

So what can you do to compete with ChatGPT? Will AI content replace writers and artists?

Well, I did what anyone would do. I went to the source and asked if it will replace creators. Here's what ChatGPT said:

"It's unlikely that AI will completely replace writers and artists. While AI technology has advanced significantly in recent years, it still has a long way to go before it can fully replicate the creativity and individuality of human artists...AI is a tool that can be used by humans, but it doesn't have the ability to completely replace them."

I asked ChatGPT: "Are you sure? I see AI content that's really good. Some writers and artists aren't that good." It replied back:

"While it's true that there is some AI-generated content that is impressive, it's important to remember that the technology is still in its early stages. As a result, AI-generated content is often not as good as content created by human writers and artists."

There you have it. What can you do?

BE ORIGINAL.

Be an authority. Be a brand.

AI won't be an authority on any topic unless you trained it to be. AI can't be a brand, but you and your site can.

Work on topical authority and increase brand awareness. Create content across multiple platforms.

With the ways things are going, it's gotten me to think more about consolidating into fewer projects to have the bandwidth to build them into larger brands.

Are you going to be making any changes?

Niche Creators

Niche Creators - Q&A Interviews

For this week, here are 4 more great Niche Creator interviews:

Learn how they got to where they are with their niche sites and brands, along with their top tips.

Income Reports

Income Reports for November 2022

November 2022 Niche Site Summary I’m forever the optimist, so let’s start this thing off on a few positive notes. Yes, traffic is down this month vs last, but the ... Read more

If you do income reports and want to be listed, just let me know where to go and I'll get it in my feed!

SEO

Google's December 2022 Helpful Content Update

Google released the December 2022 helpful content update, which improves our classifier and works across content globally in all languages. The rollout may take up to two weeks to complete.

Early Traffic Impact Reports from December Helpful Content Update

Some early results from various countries where the Helpful Content Update has made an impact.

Sistrix also has a couple early results too.

Zooming in on an easier way to explore on Search

Google is making it easier to drill down or expand on a search by showing you helpful related topics and filters.

My Take: This is a very helpful tool to get an inside look at Google and how they classify topics. They're giving you relevant topics to your search query and helping guide you on what you need to discuss to build out your topical authority.

Google Index: How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google

Vlado Pavlik at Semrush discusses Google indexing for sites. No black hat stuff here with how to index your site and content. He also goes through different ways to find and fix indexing issues:

Check Your Robots.txt File
Manage Your Noindex and Canonical Tags
Improve Your Internal Linking
Improve the Overall Quality of Your Site

SEO Fight Club - Episode 181 - Helpful Content Theories

The SEO Fight Club team takes a look at new things Google is doing with their NLP questions and answers in the SERPs, fact checks, theories on the Helpful Content update and more.

My Take: There's some interesting stuff in here about how Google is trying to grab information from content to show answers to search queries in the SERPs. They dig how/if Google grabs the information from schema, javascript, lists, etc.

7 SEO Predictions for 2023 (and How to Prepare!)

Matt Diggity makes 7 SEO predictions and what to do to prepare for these changes.

AI Content will become standard practice
Topical Authority moves from "Secret" to "Requirement"
Backlinks will decide who wins
Parasite SEO will continue on
Google Updates - more specific algorithm updates
Google will reward Fast Answers

My Take: If you get take away just one thing from this, it's topical authority. I've been talking about topical authority for quite some time now. Yes, I have my topical map service so I'm biased, but I have felt that everything Google's been doing and with technology advancements, topical authority will be a "requirement," as Matt says in the video.

Tools and Resources

Content ideas may be coming to Google Search Console

What? Google Search Console is testing a "content ideas" feature?

Nicolas Ockier noticed his GSC dashboard had an experimental Content Ideas feature and posted a screenshot about it on Mastodon.

Link Building

Link Building for SEO: The Beginner’s Guide

Ahrefs shares a beginner's guide - Link Building for SEO. This guide will teach you how to get quality links that move the needle without risking a Google penalty. We created it with absolute beginners in mind and made sure to pack it with plenty of actionable advice that you can start implementing right away.

Link building basics
How to build links
What makes a good link?
Best link building strategies
Link building tools

While you may not like the direction they're moving with their pricing plans, they still put out great beginners guides.

Education

2022 YouTube and Video SERP Result Changes

Dr. Peter Meyers goes through YouTube and Video SERP changes from the last couple months. Video results are now split into at least three distinct types (depending on how you count).

Video packs (simple & complex)
Branded video carousels
Single/thumbnail video results
Bonus: Mega-videos
Bonus: TikTok results

More and more people are creating videos and it's good to know what's showing up in the SERPs.

How To Stay Safe With SEO

Andrew Hardgrove covers different types of Google penalties and a few steps you can take to avoid a Google penalty:

Remove any backlinks you have that are in violation of Google’s guidelines.
Remove any duplicate content that is of low quality.
Remove backlinks from websites that are irrelevant to your topic niche.
Remove unwanted or spammy comments or forum profiles.
Consider updating old, outdated posts and replacing them with fresh content.

Upwork Scams: 7 Tips To Help Avoid Them & Protect Yourself in 2022

Upwork scams are just part of the gig when you're working or hiring on their platform. Brady Cook covers how to spot scams both ways so you can steer clear of trouble.

As a freelancer, here are 4 things to check for to avoid getting scammed:

Verified Payment
Hire Rate
Reviews
Budget

As the client, here's how to protect yourself when hiring freelancers:

Keep All Communication on Upwork
Always Accept Payment Through Upwork’s Escrow Service
Be Wary of Third-Party Links

Case Study

The Ultimate 90-Day SEO Plan For New Sites

Let's say you've got money to spend and want to kickstart a new project. That's great and all, but how exactly do you spend that money, and what do you do to start your new project off the right way?

Mark and Gael from Authority Hacker go through their step-by-step guide for nailing the first 90 days of a site as-if they purchased it.

It's good insight into some of the things you can do to increase traffic and revenue after you purchase sites.

SEO Split Test Result: Title Tags for the Holiday Season

SplitSignal tests changing title tags on by adding "Best" and whether it would increase organic clicks or not:

BEFORE: 60+ Christmas Gifts
AFTER: Best Christmas Gift Ideas

The majority of their Twitter followers guessed correctly that organic clicks would increase. Clicks increased 38.4%! Big improvement.

Project Charity Revealed! Help me Pick the Niche for My Most Impactful Blog Ever

Income School is creating a new niche site that will be earning money for charity. You can follow along with them on the steps to creating a site.

This first video shows them getting to a short list of niches that they put out to the community to vote on. The Final Four of niches they're putting out to votes are:

Baking
Dancing
Off Roading
Pianos

Business Ideas

25 Best Small Business Ideas You Could Launch in 2023

Lots of different online and offline business ideas here. The majority of these are things that AI won't be able to compete with because they require you to brand the business and create original content.

One idea that you don't hear too often is to "become an online tourist guide." The example they give is TheSmokies.com that focuses on East Tennessee - not in any Top 20 US attractions list that I've seen.

This local travel blog is projected to earn $500k in 2022. Crazy numbers from a site that covers local closures, openings, and travel opportunities, posting them on their website and social media.

Semrush did a feature on them and learn more about how the site grew.

News

Google’s Year in Search 2022: Top trending searches of the year

Google takes a look back at the moments and trends that defined 2022 with Year in Search.

My Take: This is a lagging indicator of trends, but it's important to take a look at the trends for your niches. Get ideas of what you may be missing on your sites for your users. For example, if you have a recipe site, you'd know that the top 5 recipes this year are:

Paneer pasanda
Bolo caseiro (Homemade cake)
Tuzlu kurabiye (Salt cookie)
Overnight oats
zimtschnecken (Cinnamon rolls)

Do you have those on your recipe sites?

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Have a great week taking your niche sites to another level!