Learning that Google both loves and hates my site (mixed signals much?), plus I’ve been too busy with actual work to write more “money posts” that bring in traffic.
June 2025 Site Progress Update 02
Intro post on why or how this all started: Can SEO Alone Build an Audience in the Age of AI? Let’s Find Out.
- May 2025 Update - Update 01 - Can SEO Alone Build an Audience in the Age of AI?
- June 2025 Update - This post!
Quick Summary
- Google indexing, it only genuinely likes one post
- Still haven’t added Google anaytics or any for that matter
- How having a job gets in the way everything haha (I am thankful)
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
- What This Update Covers
- Key Findings
- Traffic & Analytics Deep Dive
- Search Performance:
What This Update Covers
Welcome to month two of documenting my SEO experiment, tracking how Google treats a small, directionless blog while I figure out what the heck I’m actually doing.
Key Findings
Not having a niche is killing me—turns out Google prefers focused content over my random thoughts about helicopters, AI, and dad life, plus balancing work, family, and blogging is like juggling while riding a unicycle. I’m trying to write posts that others would want to read and not just for me. However, Google doens’t want to index them and have them show up in search. (facepalm)
It still hasn’t index the very first post from May. Can SEO Alone Build an Audience in the Age of AI? Let’s Find Out. Not cool Google!
Traffic & Analytics Deep Dive
Update: On a new Analytics platform. I still haven’t taken the time to review and pick one. Let’s just say that I’m lucky I’m getting this post out.
Current list I’m working through:
Fingers crossed I’ll get one going in July.
Overall Site Metrics:
Website Analytics Changes: May to June 2025
Unique Visitors
- June: 176
- May: 133
- Difference: 176 - 133 = +43 visitors
Percentage change: (43 ÷ 133) × 100 = +32.3% increase
Page Views
- June: 296
- May: 473
- Difference: 296 - 473 = -177 page views
Percentage change: (-177 ÷ 473) × 100 = -37.4% decrease
Bounce Rate
- June: 89%
- May: 68%
- Difference: 89% - 68% = +21 percentage points
Percentage change: (21 ÷ 68) × 100 = +30.9% worse
Countries (US Traffic)
- June: 41%
- May: 56%
- Difference: 41% - 56% = -15 percentage points
Percentage change: (-15 ÷ 56) × 100 = -26.8% decrease in US traffic share
Device Type
Desktop
- June: 88% vs May: 65% = +23 percentage points
(+35.4% increase)
Mobile
- June: 12% vs May: 35% = -23 percentage points
(-65.7% decrease)
Operating System
- Windows: 55% vs 31% = +24 percentage points (+77.4% increase)
- Mac: 23% vs 21% = +2 percentage points (+9.5% increase)
- iOS: 6% vs 21% = -15 percentage points (-71.4% decrease)
- Android: 6% vs 14% = -8 percentage points (-57.1% decrease)
- GNU/Linux: 9% (new in June, 0% in May)
Summary
-
Good news: More unique visitors (+32.3%)
-
Concerning trends: Fewer page views (-37.4%), much higher bounce rate (+30.9%)
-
Traffic quality question: Less US traffic (-26.8%), massive shift to desktop (suspicious?)
-
The plot twist: GNU/Linux users appeared (9%) — either I’ve found the developer community or the bots got sophisticated. (thinking face)
Search Performance:
Google Search Console Performance Changes: May to June 2025
-
Clicks: 49 from 4 in May
- Difference: 49 - 4 = +45 clicks. Percentage change: (45 ÷ 4) × 100 =
+1,125% increase
- Difference: 49 - 4 = +45 clicks. Percentage change: (45 ÷ 4) × 100 =
-
Impressions: 14.8k from 2.15k in May
- Difference: 14,800 - 2,150 = +12,650 impressions. Percentage change: (12,650 ÷ 2,150) × 100 =
+588.4% increase
- Difference: 14,800 - 2,150 = +12,650 impressions. Percentage change: (12,650 ÷ 2,150) × 100 =
-
Click Through Rate (CTR): 0.3% from 0.2% in May
- Difference: 0.3% - 0.2% = +0.1 percentage points. Percentage change: (0.1 ÷ 0.2) × 100 =
+50% increase
- Difference: 0.3% - 0.2% = +0.1 percentage points. Percentage change: (0.1 ÷ 0.2) × 100 =
-
Average postion: 19 from 7.1 in May
- Difference: 19 - 7.1 = +11.9 positions. Percentage change: (11.9 ÷ 7.1) × 100 =
+167.6% worse positioning
- Difference: 19 - 7.1 = +11.9 positions. Percentage change: (11.9 ÷ 7.1) × 100 =
Summary
Massive wins: Clicks (+1,125%) and impressions (+588%)
Modest improvement: CTR (+50%)
Trade-off: Average position dropped significantly (+167% worse)
The content is reaching way more people and getting more clicks, but ranking lower on average--classic volume vs. position trade-off.
SEMrush Performance Changes: May to June 2025
AI Overview
June: 32
May: 18
Difference: 32 - 18 = +14 AI overviews
Percentage change: (14 ÷ 18) × 100 = +77.8% increase
AI overviews are killing my clicks—Google just steals my bullet points for their fancy summaries, so nobody bothers visiting my actual site.123
People Also Asked
June: 2
May: 14
Difference: 2 - 14 = -12 people also asked features
Percentage change: (-12 ÷ 14) × 100 = -85.7% decrease
Google finally stopped tossing my content around like a confused toddler—hopefully this isn't where it settles.
Ranking Keywords
June: 41
May: 84
Difference: 41 - 84 = -43 ranking keywords
Percentage change: (-43 ÷ 84) × 100 = -51.2% decrease
The site fell hard. Oh boy!
Keyword Analysis
May top keywords were longer/more specific
“how do you become cool” (5 words)
“what makes people cool” (4 words)
“how to become cooler” (4 words)
June keywords are shorter/more direct
“being cool” (2 words)
“how be cool” (3 words)
“how to be cool man” (5 words, but more casual)
Summary
AI dominance: The content is appearing in 77.8% more AI overviews
Traditional SERP decline: 85.7% fewer “People Also Asked” features
Keyword consolidation: Lost 51.2% of ranking keywords, but they’re more focused I think or is that what I tell myself to feel better about it.
Search intent shift: Users are searching with shorter, more direct queries
The irony: The site is ranking for “how to be cool” while I question if I’m accidentally giving advice to struggling teenagers.
The data suggests Google’s AI is finding my content more relevant for direct answers, but I’m losing broader keyword coverage. Classic quality vs. quantity trade-off in this new AI era.
Content Performance:
Top performing pages by traffic:
- How to Be Cool: A Dad’s Guide
- Still reigning supreme, proving that desperate people googling “how to be cool” will always find their way to a middle-aged dad’s questionable advice. I’m either helping or traumatizing an entire generation.
- How To Use htaccess to Password Protect Your Website Or Any Directory
- 404 page - this sucks
- Post’s homepage
- Learning To Fly A Helicopter- The Beginning Of The Adventure
- Why Does the Trailing-Slash Matter? A (Very) Short History
- About
- Update 01 - Can SEO Alone Build an Audience in the Age of AI?
- My SEO experiment posts are climbing the charts, which is either validation that people care about my journey or proof that SEO cannibalism is real, my posts about SEO are ranking for SEO terms. Meta.
- Search Posts
- Tags homepage
- Can SEO Alone Build an Audience in the Age of AI? Let’s Find Out.
- Seeing Through My Little One’s Eyes
- Tags Advice
- Don’t Bench Your Idea
- Make Google Products Work With Your Work Email
The data reveals a harsh truth: people would rather read about broken pages and helicopter dreams than my profound insights about artificial intelligence. At least I’m consistently inconsistent.
The Tragic Casualties
May’s intellectual heavyweights got bumped: “Your Brain on AI” and “Why AI Tools Are Making Engineers Less Capable” disappeared from the top 10, replaced by my 404 page and helicopter fantasies. Apparently, deep thoughts about AI’s impact on humanity can’t compete with this sucks and flight training (flight school is super expensive. So this blog better take off haha).
Link Building Progress
Right now all the site has is spam backlinks. Still nothing to report here.
See May link building progress—it’s all spam!
Content Development
New Content Published:
This is another sad chapter in my SEO experiment. Google probably took one look at my pathetic June output and said “nah, we’re not ranking someone who barely wrote anything,” but honestly I didn’t realize June would be this insanely busy, so I’m crossing my fingers that July will be better.
Goals for Next Month
Write a few more posts and maybe, just maybe, start posting on LinkedIn. I know, I know—I literally said I wasn’t going to use social media for this experiment. But here’s my defense: is LinkedIn actually social media, or is it just a professional networking site where people humble-brag about their morning routines?
LinkedIn doesn’t suck me into a doom-scroll vortex like TikTok does. I can post about SEO experiments without getting distracted by 16-year-olds explaining cryptocurrency or dance videos that somehow make me question my life choices. Plus, I’m writing this content for people to actually find me, and betting everything on Google’s SEO algorithms might be like putting all my money on a horse that’s already collapsed at the starting gate. How many of you use ChatGTP now vs Google?
I’m telling myself LinkedIn still counts as “organic” reach since SEO experts call it “social signals”. Apparently it helps Google figure out I’m not just a bot writing about sourdough.
If you’re one of the brave souls who found this blog through my SEO experiment (or you stumbled here by accident while googling “how to be cool”), reach out on LinkedIn and let me know your thoughts. Did I just break my own rules, or am I evolving my strategy like a startup that “pivots” every time their original plan doesn’t work?
Either way, I promise not to post inspirational quotes or sunset photos. I should have some standards, right?