Don't be a faker

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The easy answer is… DO NOT TRUST ANY SERVICE THAT CLAIMS THEY CAN FIX YOUR SITE FROM THE HCU.

Was that clear enough?

I have sooooo many people complaining saying they got duped by this service or that service and nothing on their site has been fixed.

There is not fix. There are best practices that we will get into in a moment, but you would do better getting fixes and hiring a freelancer to make the changes rather than a “service” that claims they can do it.

I can almost guarantee you they have no real evidence that they are helping sites.

Ironically, I had just sold a couple sites right before the Update hit, so I was able to cash in, thank goodness.

But if anything, please keep in mind that your site needs to be sold in order to cash in on a big portion of the revenue.

Holding a site for too long is too risky. So as long as it’s not a personal brand site, get rid of it by re-evaluating it every few months and having a plan for the asset.

What can be done to help reverse the HCU?

In a lot of ways, things will not “right” themselves for your site until another update hits. A core update.

There are classifiers that get added to sites, and from what I can see, they are hard to shake until another update comes along and re-categorizes your site.

So here are a few things you can do to your site to make sure it is primed for the next update.

Clean up unhelpful content

This is very subjective, but perform a massive content audit and nix any content that exist only for the purpose of getting traffic.

That content must fit into your “topical map” to help your authority on the subject. If it doesn’t, and it gets no traffic and has no links, delete it.

Trust me, I know it hurts; just do it.

Get to the Point

Do not bury the lede.

Meaning putting the intention of your keywords above the fold.

One way I like to do that is to have a very specific and definitive statement at the beginning of the article, answering the question directly.

Why do ants get in my house?

Typically, ants can get in your house when food is left out.

Notice how succinct this is?

I mentioned it in a previous post, but it’s true. Part of the “good” experience a user can have is how fast they were satisfied.

Interlink content

Create “map” of your site connecting articles to each other.

But you can’t do this haphazardly. Find articles that have massive commercial value and link supporting pages to that content to build some authority.

This doesn’t have to be a ton of articles. I have built out topic clusters with just 5 to 7 articles. But they can go as much as 100+.

I’ve been using a program called MindNode to create maps, and it looks great. But you can also do this in Google Sheets.

Treat your site like it’s brand new

The sad reality is that if your site was demolished, I firmly believe Google is trying to filter out the fakers.

Don’t be a faker.

Continue to update content, create new content, provide a better experience, and enjoy the process.

I know it is hard to work on something that is not giving you a return, which is why I wouldn’t blame you for diversifying your traffic sources.

No longer depending on Google for ALL your traffic is wise. Facebook and Pinterest, and my favorite, YouTube, are the places to go right now.

But also think about email newsletters and podcasts… something outside of the "Google” eco-system.

Hope this helps