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In this week’s episode of the Niche Pursuits podcast, Van and I discuss what it really looks like to survive the fallout from Google’s Helpful Content Update (HCU). Van was earning over $25,000 per month from his content sites when the update wiped out 90% of his traffic and income. He went from operating a profitable, thriving business to making just $3,000 a month almost overnight.
Rather than quit, Van took a hard look at his situation and pivoted. What followed is a story of resilience, innovation, and smart platform diversification. Today, he's back to earning over $10,000 per month by leveraging Facebook and Pinterest, not Google, to drive hundreds of thousands of monthly sessions to his sites. Let’s break down how he did it.
Watch the Full Episode
Pre-HCU: The Golden Days of Google Traffic
Van's online journey began in 2019 when he purchased a starter website for $1,500. That initial investment grew into a portfolio, with his main tech site eventually pulling in over $25,000 per month, all from organic Google traffic.
- The site was monetized with Mediavine and eventually qualified for Mediavine Pro
- Revenue peaked shortly before the HCU hit
- His team included six full-time employees working in a dedicated office
Things were running smoothly until they weren’t.
The Crash: Losing 90% of Traffic Overnight
The Helpful Content Update hit Van’s portfolio hard. Despite investing in original product reviews and high-quality content, his sites were devastated.
- Monthly income dropped from $25,000 to just $3,000
- Van had to lay off half his team and shut down the office
- He cut expenses to under $2,000/month to break even
At that point, many publishers might have walked away. Van, however, chose to rebuild.
Rebuilding with Social Platforms: Facebook and Pinterest
Rather than try to recover Google rankings, Van made the bold decision to pursue traffic from Facebook and Pinterest. Today, he operates two main sites that are entirely social-driven:
- Fandom Site (Facebook Traffic)
- Gets over 300,000 sessions per month
- Monetized with Mediavine
- Supported by multiple high-follower Facebook pages
- Home Decor Site (Pinterest Traffic)
- Generates over 100,000 monthly sessions
- Monetized with Ezoic
- Built on AI-generated images and strategic pin creation
Combined, these sites now earn him over $10,000 per month, and they're growing.
Facebook: Hard Lessons and Massive Growth
Van didn’t find success on Facebook immediately. He failed three separate times before finally getting traction.
Common Mistakes He Made Early On:
- Reposting Google-optimized articles on Facebook instead of creating fresh content
- Posting direct links without any strategy results in poor engagement
- Skipping competitor research and trending topic analysis
What Finally Worked:
- Niche selection: He focused on fandoms like Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.
- Page growth: Built three fan pages with 115K, 45K, and 23K followers.
- Content strategy: Used curiosity-driven content such as hidden easter eggs and unsolved stories.
- The "sandwiching" method: Posts engaging, non-linked content before and after a link post to keep Facebook's algorithm happy.
- Research sources: Pulled ideas from Reddit, YouTube, and competitor pages using engagement filters.
Van’s success didn’t just come from tactics; it came from persistence. He refined his process over time and now has a team that executes his Facebook strategy daily.
Pinterest: A Search Engine in Disguise
Pinterest offered a different kind of opportunity, one more akin to SEO, which was Van’s original strength.
His Pinterest Approach:
- Created pins with single images and text overlays like “10 Porch Ideas”
- Found AI-generated images to outperform real ones in attention-grabbing
- Built keyword clusters using Pinterest’s own search suggestion tool
- Focused on long-tail keywords with 5-10 related suggestions
- Created 200 articles that now drive 100,000+ sessions per month
Van also uses boards strategically, assigning each evergreen article to a relevant board and dripping out 2-5 pins over months to maintain engagement.
Display Ads: Boosting RPMs with the Right Partners
Van monetizes both sites primarily with display ads, Mediavine for his fandom site and Ezoic for the home decor site. His story on increasing RPMs is worth highlighting.
How He Boosted RPM on Ezoic:
- Was temporarily banned from another network (MonetizeMore) due to using AI images
- Switched to Ezoic and built a relationship with his ad manager
- Got approved for a premium ad partner called Teads, which doubled his RPMs
- Saw RPMs jump from $20+ to as high as $80+ per day
The key takeaway: don’t ignore the human element. Talk to your ad rep. Van credits his Ezoic manager for submitting his site for premium ad programs that dramatically boosted earnings.
Diversification Still Has Risks
Even with his success, Van acknowledges that relying on any single platform, whether it’s Google, Facebook, or Pinterest, carries risk.
- Facebook’s algorithm changes, such as shifting how comment relevance is determined, have already affected reach
- Pinterest may change how it ranks or displays pins
- He’s had two failed attempts at starting an email newsletter due to high subscriber acquisition costs
Still, Van feels more secure now than before. His business is no longer tied solely to Google. He’s also building toward owning his audience more directly via email.
Van’s Advice for New Facebook Publishers
Van's story is filled with actionable tips for anyone looking to build traffic from Facebook. If you're trying to grow a Facebook-driven site, here are his three key lessons:
- Don’t repost Google content: Facebook wants content that sparks emotion or curiosity, not SEO-optimized info
- Don’t drop links without warming up the audience: Use non-link content to build engagement before driving clicks
- Do your research: Use platforms like Reddit and YouTube to find viral topics before crafting your own angle
He also recommends investing in a few quality courses and maintaining an emergency fund. His fund gave him the financial runway to keep experimenting after HCU wiped out his previous income.
Final Thoughts
Van’s story is one of grit, strategic thinking, and adaptability. He didn’t get lucky. He tested, failed, and tested again, three times on Facebook and twice on newsletters, before finding traction. And he did it all while navigating the challenges of operating in a second language.
If your business has been hit by an algorithm update, Van’s journey is proof that recovery doesn’t always mean fixing what’s broken. Sometimes, it means building something entirely new. And in today’s changing digital landscape, traffic diversification might be the most powerful tool publishers have.
Links & Resources
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