How can you drive traffic to your website without relying on Google?
The last 12 months haven’t been easy for content creators, especially those hit by Google updates. Some people saw a massive drop in traffic — up to 90-95%!
So is online publishing done for? Is the niche site era over? Not quite.
For those who adapt, new opportunities arise.
Jon Dykstra from Fat Stacks Blog was among those affected but has since turned his attention to other strategies — and here are some of his strategies you can adapt.
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Round 1: Non-SEO Traffic Sources
Email Marketing
Jon found email to be his most effective non-SEO traffic source. He sends 3 emails a day to his 155,000 subscribers using ConvertKit and makes money by driving them to his site, where he earns from Mediavine ads.
“The ad RPMs that I earned with Mediavine are double what Google ever paid,” Jon shares.
He picked up the strategy from Scott DeLong and now reuses his content every 6-12 months. I mean, when you have 15,000 articles, it’s quite difficult to run out of content.
Jon closely monitors complaint rates using Google’s Postmaster, keeping them under 0.3% to maintain a healthy email list.
Facebook is another valuable resource, though a bit unpredictable, so Jon uses both organic posts and paid advertising to drive traffic and get new subscribers.
He aims to keep his cost per subscriber under $0.50 through Facebook ads—and properly tagging new subscribers to track their performance over time.
Then he’s also trying out boosted posts to get more traffic, hoping to at least break even while picking up some new subscribers along the way.
Pinterest has been stable and publisher-friendly for Jon’s other B2C site in the home and garden space, which aligns well with Pinterest’s visual nature. He uses the tool PinClicks—which he calls the “Ahrefs for Pinterest”—to do keyword research, track trending pin designs, and optimize his Pinterest strategy.
While Jon uses Buffer for scheduling some social media posts, he mostly prefers manual posting for Pinterest. He also collaborates with 201 Creative’s Pinterest management service which helps him scale faster by creating and managing pins.
Push Notifications and Analytics
Push notifications have also become part of Jon’s traffic strategy. Using subscribers.com, he sends out push notifications daily, but admits the results are “meh.” Still, it’s a low-cost way to get traffic, so he keeps at it.
(I’ve been using Gravitec for push notifications, when I remember to schedule them.)
He also switched from Google Analytics to Plausible, finding it simpler and more user-friendly for his needs.
Round 2: Donate a Business Idea
Jon’s business idea for you: a faceless YouTube channel focused on business history or general history.
You can create story-based, narrative-driven videos instead of how-to/review content. AI might help with scripts, but adding a touch of your personal expertise can differentiate your content.
Storytelling lets you dig deeper into topics, which could attract viewers who like more in-depth, story-driven content.
Round 3: The Triple Threat
Marketing Tactic: Push Notifications
Although briefly mentioned earlier, Jon recommends push notifications as an underutilized traffic source. While not a grand slam, this tactic is giving a solid return on investment.
This gets him repeat visitors (especially those who haven’t yet subscribed to an email list). According to Jon, “It’s free money” when set up properly, as it can lead to ad revenue that far exceeds the cost of running the notifications.
New Tool: PinClicks
Jon swears by PinClicks for Pinterest keyword research and tracking trending pin designs. It takes much of the guesswork out of the process, which can be tedious. It’s especially useful for anyone switching to Pinterest as an alternative traffic source after recent changes in the SEO landscape.
Favorite Book: “Sooley” by John Grisham
As an avid Grisham reader, Jon found this book particularly engaging because it steps outside Grisham’s typical legal thriller genre. Instead, Sooley focuses on basketball.
Wrapping Up
The online business game has changed big time, but that doesn’t mean it’s game over.
Jon’s shown us there’s still plenty of ways to drive traffic and make money from your website, even if Google’s not playing nice.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your traffic sources, keep testing new strategies, and stay flexible. The internet’s always changing, so we’ve gotta change with it.
Episode Links
Fatstacks Blog
ConvertKit
Mediavine
Scott DeLong
Google’s Postmaster
PinClicks
Buffer
201 Creative’s
subscribers.com
Google Analytics
Plausible
Faceless YouTube channel
SEO landscape
Sooley
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