In 2020, when more people started working from home, I became a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find enough writing jobs to stay afloat. It didn’t take long for me to realize that fear was unfounded. There was plenty for everybody.
Finding writing jobs never seemed to be an issue.
Until recently.
Work Is Drying Up
Around the middle of July was when I first noticed that writing jobs were getting a bit scarce. When speaking to a client, I was told that they had just examined their analytics, and their page visitation was down, which led to marketing budget cuts. They weren’t sure if or when they’d have work again, but it could be several months down the road.
This wasn’t the last client to be slow when it came to sending me work.
I also noticed that on a lot of platforms that work was dwindling.
I was curious to know why, so I did some research.
I found out that Google had done a core update at the end of May.
What Is a Core Update?
I don’t have the exact definition of what a core update is, but—essentially—it’s an update that Google does to ensure that it’s providing relevant information to searchers.
Core updates ensure that information can be found quickly and that the latest trends are taken into consideration. The core update in May isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last.
One thing that became apparent is that when Google does these updates, it has an impact on how websites are found. In some cases, that means that sites that have enjoyed being at the top of the list suddenly drop off. Those that were at the bottom now find themselves at the top.
Google’s intention isn’t to punish any particular business for doing what they do (as far as I know), but things change over time, including what people are looking for and how they are looking for it. Google wants to remain relevant, so they update to be useful to their audience.
Technically, businesses should be doing the same.
Is the Core Update to Blame?
One of the things that seems to be incredibly frustrating when Google does a core update is that they don’t release how their will impact websites—only that there will more than likely be an impact. This makes sense because I’m sure Google doesn’t really know what those impacts will be.
This means that if you’re a company that sees a significant drop in page views, you may not know why. Sure, it may be because of the core update, but you’re not given any guidance or advice on how to fix the issue.
You can find general information from Google, such as to make sure you’re providing relevant information on your site, using SEO to your advantage, and making sure your content is well-written.
For some, this isn’t exactly beneficial—especially if they feel like they’ve been abiding by these guidelines since they’ve been offering content.
In some cases, I would say that the core update is absolutely to blame for the drop in demand for content. Staying relevant means continuously offering people a reason to come to your site, but if the content you have isn’t drawing them in, then you aren’t making sales to add funds to your marketing budget.
If the budget is getting smaller, then you have to make sure you’re spending your money wisely, which means finding out exactly what Google is prioritizing and how its bots are conducting searches.
The Dry Spell Shouldn’t Last Forever
With the core update happening in May, it makes sense that by the middle of July, companies were seeing how it had impacted their page views. It takes time for the changes to take place and for the data to be analyzed.
I can only imagine that for those businesses that saw a drop in visitation, that had to have been quite the shock. I have no doubts that the knee-jerk reaction to those lower numbers was to pull money and redirect efforts to campaigns they knew would be successful.
But like everything in life, nothing lasts forever, and this won’t either.
As soon as people find out what the Google bots are looking for, they can adjust their content to once again be found online. The internet is constantly changing, so this is nothing new, and those businesses that know how to weather the storm will find a way.
In the meantime, it sucks for those of us who make money creating content. I’m sure the dry spell won’t last long for us either, but until then, we have to find a way to struggle through without money coming in.
Keeping My Hopes Up
Thankfully, content creation was supplemental for me at this point. If it had been my main source of funds, there would have been quite a bit more panic in this post.
Still, I have to say that it’s kind of weird not writing on a daily basis. Like I said, it’s something I’ve done for years and years. I enjoy creating online content for companies. The income may have been supplemental, but it was still nice to have money coming in.
I’m sure if I looked hard enough, I would be able to find some writing jobs. There are certain industries that always have content needs, so I could always write for them. I don’t because I burned out on that type of content a while ago.
I could also take jobs that don’t pay very well. But if given the option of taking really low paying jobs or not working and hanging out with my kids before school starts, I choose the latter.
I have the luxury of being picky when it comes to the content creation jobs I take, but I know not everyone does.
It’s scary and weird right now with the lack of content creation jobs available, but I’m holding out hope that it won’t last forever. As soon as the industries figure out what they need to do to be found online again, they’ll need content to help them achieve their goals.
