We’ve seen a pretty dramatic shift in how search engines reward content lately. And, it’s not just a blip.
It’s part of a broader trend that I believe will reshape how businesses and publishers approach SEO for years to come.
If you’ve been paying attention to your analytics over the past 12 months, you may have noticed something strange. Pages that were performing well have suddenly dropped. Impressions are down. Clicks are unpredictable. And, content that used to drive traffic (solid, well-written, useful stuff) is no longer being picked up like it once was. This isn’t a random quirk. It’s the result of a growing pattern that Google has been rolling out across multiple updates, especially in the last few core updates.
One of the clearest things we’re seeing is that Google is de-prioritising content that strays outside of the authors core expertise. In other words, generalist content is on the chopping block. Even if the writing is great.
If your site doesn’t “stay in its lane” then your reach is likely being limited. And it’s not just you. We've seen examples of large publishers like HubSpot, see major traffic declines after pushing into broader, catch-all content. What worked five years ago is no longer safe.
Now combine that with generative AI appearing directly in the search results, and you’ve got a pretty tough landscape. Zero-click searches are increasing. AI is answering questions before people even see your site.
So the only way to stay relevant and visible, is to go deeper into what makes you unique. Not broader. Not noisier. Not more generic. But sharper. More focused. More you.
What Google is rewarding now is topical authority. Not just E-E-A-T in a vague sense, but depth of experience, consistency of coverage, and signals that prove you know what you're talking about. So my recommendation is simple: stay in your lane. Write about what you know. Don’t try to compete with the entire internet. Instead, build strength in your niche.
Build content clusters around your specialism. Create resources that demonstrate mastery, not just knowledge. The best-performing content now is the kind that shows you understand the nuances, the pitfalls, the trade-offs, the real human context. That kind of depth is hard to fake, and even harder for AI to replicate. It’s also exactly what search engines and your customers are looking for.
There’s a lot of concern about the future of search right now. I get it. There are a lot of headwinds.
But I’d argue this is also an opportunity. Because the playing field is being levelled. Big brands that used to dominate by sheer volume are now vulnerable if they drift too far off-topic. And that opens the door for smaller, focused publishers to outrun them (providing they double down on what they’re best at).
So don’t try to out-write the internet. Instead, write the one thing that only you can say. Build your niche. Stick to your expertise. Differentiate your content from competitors.
And trust that by staying in your lane, you’ll go further.
