On 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 making over $25,000 a month from his content sites when the update wiped out 90% of his traffic and revenue. He went from running a profitable, thriving business to making just $3,000 a month, almost overnight.
Instead of giving up, Van took a good look at his situation and turned around. What followed is a story about resilience, innovation and smart platform diversification. Today, he’s back to making more than $10,000 a month by using Facebook and Pinterest, not Google, to drive hundreds of thousands of monthly sessions to his sites. Let’s see 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 technology site eventually bringing in more than $25,000 per month, all from organic Google traffic.
- The site monetized Mediavine and eventually qualified for Mediavine Pro
- Sales peaked shortly before the HCU hit
- His team consisted of six full-time employees who worked in a dedicated office
Things were going smoothly until they weren’t.
The crash: 90% of traffic lost overnight
The helpful content update has 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 close the office
- He cut costs to less than $2,000 a month to break even
At that point, many publishers might have walked away. However, Van chose to rebuild.
Rebuilding with social platforms: Facebook and Pinterest
Instead of trying to rebuild Google rankings, Van made the bold decision to pursue traffic through Facebook and Pinterest. Today he operates two major sites that are completely socially driven:
- Fandom site (Facebook traffic)
- Gets over 300,000 sessions per month
- Monetize Mediavine
- Supported by several Facebook pages with many followers
- Home decoration site (Pinterest traffic)
- Generates more than 100,000 monthly sessions
- Monetize Ezoic
- Built on AI-generated images and strategic pin creation
Combined, these sites now earn him more than $10,000 a month, and growing.
Facebook: hard lessons and enormous growth
Van did not immediately find success on Facebook. He failed three times before finally gaining traction.
Common mistakes he made early on:
- Reposting Google optimized articles to Facebook instead of creating new content
- Placing direct links without any strategy results in poor engagement
- Skip 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 115,000, 45,000 and 23,000 followers.
- Content strategy: Used curiosity-based 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: Ideas pulled 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 on a daily basis.
Pinterest: a search engine in disguise
Pinterest offered a different kind of opportunity, one that was more like SEO, which was Van’s original strength.
His Pinterest approach:
- Pins created with individual images and text overlays such as ’10 Porch Ideas’
- I’ve found AI-generated images to outperform real images at attracting attention
- Build keyword clusters using Pinterest’s proprietary search suggestion tool
- Target long-tail keywords with 5-10 related suggestions
- Created 200 articles that now generate over 100,000 sessions per month
Van also uses boards strategically, assigning each evergreen article to a relevant board and trickling out 2-5 pins over months to maintain engagement.
Display advertising: Increase RPMs with the right partners
Van generates revenue from both sites primarily through display advertising, Mediavine for its fandom site and Ezoic for the home decor site. His story about increasing the revs is worth highlighting.
How he increased the RPM on Ezoic:
- Was temporarily banned from another network (MonetizeMore) due to its use of AI images
- Switched to Ezoic and built a relationship with his advertising manager
- Was approved for a premium advertising partner called Teads, which doubled its RPMs
- Saw RPMs increase from $20+ to as much as $80+ per day
The most important takeaway: don’t ignore the human element. Talk to your advertising representative. Van credits his Ezoic manager for signing up his site for premium advertising programs that dramatically increased revenue.
Diversification still carries risks
Despite his success, Van recognizes that relying on a single platform, be it Google, Facebook or Pinterest, comes with risks.
- Facebook’s algorithm changes, such as changing the way comment relevance is determined, have already impacted reach
- Pinterest may change the way it arranges or displays pins
- He has had two failed attempts to start an email newsletter due to the high cost of acquiring subscribers
Yet Van now feels safer than before. His company is no longer tied solely to Google. He is also working to reach his audience more directly via email.
Van’s advice for new Facebook publishers
Van’s story is full of practical tips for anyone who wants to generate more traffic through Facebook. If you’re trying to grow a Facebook-driven site, here are his three most important lessons:
- Don’t repost Google content: Facebook wants content that sparks emotion or curiosity, not SEO-optimized information
- Don’t post links without warming up the audience: Use linkless content to build engagement before generating clicks
- Do your research: Use platforms like Reddit and YouTube to find viral topics before coming up with your own angle
He also recommends investing in some quality courses and keeping an emergency fund. His fund gave him the financial runway to continue experimenting after HCU wiped out his previous earnings.
Final thoughts
Van’s story is one of courage, strategic thinking and adaptability. He had no luck. He tested, failed and tested again, three times on Facebook and twice on newsletters, before finding traction. And he did it all while overcoming the challenges of working 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 completely new. And in today’s evolving digital landscape, traffic diversification is perhaps the most powerful tool at publishers’ disposal.
Links and sources
To follow Van’s journey on X
#Van #Tran #Facebook #Pinterest #Month