It’s not just you. Organic is down for (almost) everyone.

Last week my old boss, Pete Caputa (CEO at Databox), called me to catch up and talk shop.

They’re hiring a director-level content role, so that was the basis for the call, but then (as we usually do) we dove into everything else we’ve been thinking about since the last time we talked.

Organic, and SEO, came up.

“What are you seeing with clients? Are a lot of people seeing declines in organic?” Pete asked.

My answer was yes––most companies I’ve worked with over the last year are seeing declines in their organic traffic. Many experiencing varying degrees of panic as they try and figure out what’s next.

Organic growth was always volatile.

I led marketing at Databox for 6 years and we had our share of down months when it came to organic traffic.

But right now feels different. People are seeing declines in their organic traffic that are both material and sustained.

These are my high level observations of organic/SEO right now:

• What’s working: Content targeting high intent keywords. Product pages, service pages, etc.

• What’s not working: Educational “what is”, “how to” content.

The latter is what most of us in B2B have heavily invested in over the last 10-15 years.

Now, more and more, those what/how queries are answered via Google’s AI Overview.

So, it tracks that many are seeing material declines in organic traffic as more and more people are getting their answers more quickly and without clicking.

But that’s not the worst part.

The worst part is the number of execs that are forcing their marketing teams to fix it. To fix a problem that can’t be addressed by doing more or better SEO.

But you can’t fix it, at least not in the way that most think.

How You Content

“Fixing it” requires a change in approach.

A complete shift from commoditized “how to” content to something much more valuable and harder to duplicate, even for AI.

“How you” content.

How you content has personal insights, experiences, and observations at its core.

What have you been seeing?

How have you been managing and solving challenges?

What are the relevant conversations you’ve been having?

How are others solving this challenge?

And you doesn’t always mean YOU.

It also refers to your audience.

This is why podcasts and newsletters are so big –– people are seeking out a new kind of advice for charting their path forward.

It’s easy enough for them to find the tactical “how to” stuff. That’s not that they want.

They want to know what you think.

Why you’re different.

This is how we approach “fixing” declines in organic traffic –– by (largely) letting go and shifting our attention elsewhere.

From a practical standpoint, that means less time publishing listicles and more time investing in mediums like podcasting and email.

Then, taking the insights from those mediums and expanding on them on social, on your blog, etc.

It’s the same activities, but a much different approach.

If we really want to fix it, that’s what’s needed.

Not more of what isn’t working.