Hi there,

You'll see a bunch of news and updates below, but they'll take less time to read.
​Is that better for you?

Here's how you voted on this question in my last newsletter: "Which of these B2B marketing strategies will you focus on in 2025."

• Community: 66.7%
• Audio content: 0%
• Neither: 33.3%

Thanks for being here and I'll see you next time,
Nicole

P.S. Is a lack of brand visibility holding you back? I've helped brands achieve a 400% increase in organic traffic, boost purchases by 30%, and create millions of dollars in extra traffic revenue.
​Reach out to me if you want similar results.​

I want to share your:

Big news, latest resource, or outstanding results.
I'd love to support you by featuring you here. It's FREE!
​
Smash the button and show me what you've got.

Insights

​

Update: The Google March Core Update

It's been a week since the March Core Update finished—and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

I've seen mixed reports on the effects so far.

This update seems to have impacted sites across various sectors, including retail, government, forums, and content publishers.

Reddit surged (are you surprised?).
​

Goog Enough @Goog_Enough If you thought Google’s Reddit problem was bad before, the March 2025 core update is making it much worse. Reddit’s organic page count has gone up by about 26% since the update began on March 13, according to Ahrefs data. Enjoy even more SERP clutter, spam and archived posts! 5:47 PM • Mar 26, 2025 14 Retweets 101 Likes Read 10 replies

​

​
Some forums thrived while others suffered.

The retail sector took a hit, with major brands like Zara (-24.00%), Amazon (-19.29%), and DIY.com (-7.75%) experiencing notable declines (additional data and statistics at Sistrex).

Barry Schwartz observed that he, "….did not see the same level of complaints about this core update that I saw with some of the more recent ones."

He also posted this poll on LinkedIn (still open for a few hours):

Do you have a core update story to share?

Hit reply and tell me all about it. You might see yourself in my next newsletter!

​

Related: Reddit AI translations and their booming rankings​

​

Speaking of Reddit

Brands continue to experiment with Reddit for SEO, but you need to understand the pros and cons.

Stephanie Wallace wrote an excellent primer on leveraging Reddit for SEO and marketing—without breaking the rules.

Google Search Central NYC Wraps

Google Search Central wrapped up in NYC, but there weren't many standout takeaways.

Lily Ray shared her thoughts in a short article, and Barry Schwartz summarized his experience with links to various photos and slides from the event.

But, you probably won't find a better summary of the event than these well-categorized insights from Jonathan Jones.

Quote-worthy

—Patrick Hathaway, Co-founder & CEO at Sitebulb.

The above quote is from an interview Hathaway did with Advanced Web Ranking.
​
​His questions prompted me to write a short article on the pros and cons of optimizing for AI search engines.
​
I'll let you know when it's live!

The Google competitor you've never heard of

Thanks to The Verge, I uncovered a Google competitor that launched nearly 3 years ago!

I hadn't heard of Kagi before, but my research indicates they're like Google was in earlier times.

Kagi promises:

Of course, if ads are removed (and you value your privacy), this comes at a cost—exactly $10 per month for unlimited searches.

One of their selling points is the ability to downrank or even completely remove sites you don’t want to see, which could lead to more focussed search results.

I'm curious to explore Kagi with their free offer—"100 searches to see what you've been missing."

If you've tried this search engine, hit reply and tell me what you discovered.

AI answers are wrong 60% of the time

SEOs know this.

We've seen that AIOs, AI search engines, and chatbots give the wrong answers a disproportionate amount of the time.

I know I'll never trust AI answers again after a painful kitchen incident a few months back.

Now, a recent study published by the Columbia Journalism Review confirms that AI engines are bad at correctly citing news stories.

The researchers chose ten random articles from each of twenty publications and asked the chatbots to identify an article's headline, its publisher, its publication date, and its URL.

You'd think a task like this would be a 'no-brainer' for an LLM.

​Wrong.

The study said, "Collectively, they provided incorrect answers to more than 60 percent of queries."

This is dangerous—for too many reasons to discuss in this newsletter.

If you want to see how often generative search tools were confidently wrong, check out these great visuals.

​

I hope these insights help. For more tips, follow me here​.​

Information

✶ Which AI chatbots collect the most data about you?

If you’re chatting with bots regularly, it’s worth thinking about what you’re giving away. Convenience is great, but privacy isn’t something to ignore.

See what info is gathered and who ranks #1 for data collection.

✶ What content works well in LLMs?

Kevin Indig decided there wasn't enough information on what drives citations and mentions in AI Chatbots.

So, he analyzed over 7,000 citations across 1,600 URLs to content-heavy sites in a bunch of AI Chatbots.

TL;DR: His analysis shows that none of the classic SEO metrics have strong relationships with citations.

Content depth (word and sentence count) and readability (Flesch Score) have the biggest impact on citations in AI Chatbots.

This is important to understand: Longer content isn’t better because it’s longer, but because it has a higher chance of answering a specific question prompted in an AI Chatbot.

His newsletter gives you the rest of the details.

✶ Inconvenient truths about human behavior

You'll pick up some solid tips in this video presented by Nancy Harhut, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at HBT Marketing.

Inspiration

An argument for gating your best content

Google is selfish.

They take all our content, feed their AI, use it to answer questions, and then monetize it.

There's an argument for gating our unique and original content so that Google is deprived of its value, i.e. they can't use it for their business purposes.

What if we switch things around and keep that value safe?

I’ve found that selectively gating my best content pays off. Here’s why:
​

Protect your property and improve your brand authority

One of a kind resources—original insights, proprietary research, or industry-leading analysis—are a huge asset for your brand.

When you gate your best content, you’re making a statement: your insights are so valuable that they deserve protection.

This reinforces your brand’s authority and reputation within your industry.

Potential clients start seeing you as a thought leader whose exclusive resources are worth the effort.

In the long run, this helps preserve your competitive edge and can prevent your ideas from becoming diluted across a sea of similar, recycled information.
​

Build relationships and revenue streams

Gated content works like a quality filter.

When visitors are willing to share their contact info in exchange for something valuable, it indicates a level of interest.

This helps with lead generation as well as in segmenting your audience.

When you know who’s willing to “pay” (with their details), you can nurture these high-intent leads through more personalized, targeted marketing efforts.
​

My tips for SEOs and marketers

Assess content value

Evaluate each piece of content and decide if it’s a “lead magnet” that could drive significant revenue or build long-term customer relationships. Not every article needs to be gated.
​

Use a hybrid approach

Keep your top-of-funnel (TOFU) content ungated to maximize brand visibility and organic reach.

Then, as your audience moves further down the funnel, you can selectively gate content to capture detailed lead information without sacrificing SEO for your broader content library.
​

Optimize for users

Always minimize friction. Don't overwhelm visitors by asking them 10 questions before they can download your resource. Use short, clear forms and explain exactly what value they get in return.
​

Keep SEO in mind

Balance your gatekeeping strategy with SEO best practices.

For example, you might publish a keyword-rich summary or teaser that is fully accessible and indexed, which then directs readers to the full, gated full version.

By testing and fine-tuning my approach, I balance protecting my work with driving growth and engagement.

This way, I ensure that only the people who really value what I create end up in my lead funnel.

​

I'll see you again on April 17.

In the meantime, feel free to ask me a question, send an interesting link, or tell me what's on your mind. Just hit reply—I read all your emails!

Dates to watch

May Monthly Observances

• ALS Awareness
• Asthma Awareness Month
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
• Jewish American Heritage Month
• National Celiac Disease Awareness Month
• National Clean Air Month
• Better Sleep Month
• Lupus Awareness Month

Weekly Observances

• May 4-10: National Pet Week
• May 4-10: National Travel & Tourism Week
• May 4-10: Drinking Water Week
• May 6-12: National Nurses Week
• May 11-17: Food Allergy Awareness Week

Days

• May 1 – May Day
• May 1 – Law Day
• May 3 – Kentucky Derby
• May 4 – Star Wars Day
• May 4 – International Firefighters Day
• May 5 – Cinco De Mayo
• May 6 – National Nurses Day
• May 8 – World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
• May 10 – World Lupus Day
• May 10 – World Fair Trade Day
• May 11 – Mother’s Day
• May 15-18 – PGA Championship
• May 15 – International Day of Families
• May 16 – Malcolm X Day
• May 17 – Internet Day
• May 18 – National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
• May 19 – Victoria Day (Canada)
• May 20 – World Bee Day
• May 21 – World Meditation Day
• May 25 – Geek Pride Day
• May 25-June 8 – French Open
• May 25 – Indianapolis 500
• May 26 – Memorial Day
• May 28 – World Hunger Day
• May 31 – Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Keep in touch