Forbes just lost $7.5M in traffic (and I'm taking notes)

I watched a few site lose $7.5M in traffic last week, and I have thoughts.
Over coffee this morning, I realised something that's been nagging at me about the whole Forbes vs Reddit situation in search...

This is what happens when you build your entire traffic strategy on someone else's playground. While Forbes is dealing with a massive drop in search visibility, Reddit's out here living their best life with 10x more search presence than last year. Even though I am a huge advocate for search traffic, you have to realise it’s still a form of sharecropping.

According to Ahrefs, 94% of SERPs where Forbes ranked, Reddit has replaced them.

The amount of new “actually the best blender on the planet is this one you’ve never heard of” comments on the ranking Reddit threads stinks of brand astroturfing. It’s not the traffic grab, or backlink they thought it was. Reddit users are smart and quick to sniff it out.. r/HailCorporate

The irony? Reddit's "win" might be just as precarious as Forbes' loss. They're both playing the same dangerous game - trusting Google's algorithm as their main traffic source.

And with the rise of AI, we know where this is going.

That all being said, I don’t know anyone who browsed Forbes for fun. Reddit has it’s core userbase to fall back on.

Nevertheless, it’s got me thinking about other traffic sources:

1. Own Your Distribution First up - email. It's not sexy, but it's yours. Build a newsletter that people actually want to read. Not just a "here's our latest blog posts" dump, but something that adds genuine value. Your email list is the only audience you truly own.
   
   Hey, this is number one here for a reason, and a huge part of why I’m now doing these daily “Your friend in content marketing” newsletters.
   

2. Community Building Create spaces where your audience can gather and connect. This could be:

• A dedicated Slack or Discord channel

• An active LinkedIn or X community

• A lot of big sites have forums

3. Direct Traffic Partnerships Form relationships with complementary businesses and content creators in your space. Regular guest posting, podcast appearances, and co-marketing initiatives create diverse traffic streams that don't depend on search rankings. I’ve done nearly 40 podcasts in the last 2 years. Great source of traffic and some of the best backlinks you’ll ever get.
   
   If enough people ask, I’ll drop my “Get on Podcasts, get Backlinks” playbook.
   

4. Platform Diversification Don't just post your content and pray. Repurpose strategically:

• Start with long-form. It’ll give you a bunch to work with. Blogs or Podcasts.

• Turn long-form content into Twitter threads. I refused to call it X. Fight me.

• Transform key insights into LinkedIn carousel posts

• Short form video is now as easy as reading your old posts into your camera and using something like OpusClip or Riverside to auto make clips for you

• Build micro-communities on platforms where your audience already hangs out (The majority of you will have come from LinkedIn, there is a reason for that)

5. Focus on Referral Traffic Create content so good that other sites naturally want to link to it. This means:

• Original research

• Unique data analysis

• We have made “2024 industry stats” posts we made with Penfriend that have picked up 30+ links over the last 6 months. Easiest links I ever earnt.

• Expert interviews

• Comprehensive resources that become go-to references

Remember: The point here isn’t to leave SEO, of what will soon be LLMO behind. But to do more with what you already have. When one channel dips, the others keep delivering.

💡 Try This

Here's a quick hack I stumbled on for optimizing how your content appears in AI responses (like Claude or GPT).

I've been running weekly "WTF does ChatGPT know about me audits" (that’s the official name) - basically asking AI models what they know about my sites. I track which articles show up consistently, then make tweaks to those pieces to test how quickly the models update their knowledge.

Quick steps, it’s very easy.

1. Ask 2-3 major AI models about your site/brand

2. Note which content appears most often

3. Update one key fact in those pieces

4. Check again in a few days to see if the AI's story changed. I’ve seen updates in as little as 2 days ngl.

Takes about 15 mins per audit. Wild thing is, I've managed to correct outdated info about my company that was showing up in AI responses.

Heads up - this window for directly influencing AI knowledge might not last forever, but right now it's gold for reputation management.

✌️Tim
CCO @Penfriend

P.S. This is newsletter #5 in the new format. How's it landing with you? Love it? Hate it?
I’m really enjoying it so far. Want more frameworks and less Forbes drama? Hit reply - I read every response.