Over the past 24 hours I’ve received at least 20 emails from readers about Google’s recent algorithmic changes, asking me how it might affect my backlinking strategy and approach to building niche sites.

In case you’re not up to date, this is what the latest algorithm changes do, according to the Official Google Blog:

This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites-sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites-sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.

This change apparently has an effect on about 12% of search results, so this is really significant and a lot of people are already feeling the effects of it.

*Note: as I write this, the changes only effect rankings in the US. Google is rolling out changes world-wide over the next couple of weeks.

So how does this effect niche sites? Click to continue…

When I was in Architecture school at Berkeley (Go Bears!), my classmates and I suffered long, hard nights at the studio drawing massive plans, building detailed models and drinking lots and lots of caffeine.

Some of our semester long projects required over 60 hours of work per week, in addition to our actual class time for both Architecture and general education courses. It was nuts, and because we had segments of the semester long project due about every 2 weeks, I often found myself pulling all-nighters, crashing on a nearby couch, or in a sleeping bag under my desk.

Most of my classmates were right there with me, pencils in hand – however there were a few select students who just seemed to never be around until the last couple of days before each deadline.

My studio mates and I always thought, “There’s no way these people are going to finish in time. We’ve been here for almost 2 weeks straight, and they come in with 2 days left before the deadline with nothing.” Click to continue…

This is a short post – yes, but a powerful one. It involves a little bit of participation, so please don’t be shy...

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this little exercise on my Facebook Page.

I asked my followers to share a link to their website and describe it using only three words.

Any words, but only three.

After over 100 responses, I found that this simple sounding task was actually quite hard for some people, and in fact it made some rethink the entire concept of their websites and why it exists.

So today, I invite you to do the same. In the comment section, please only respond with three words that describe your site. Do not include a link in the comment section, because my spam filter might block you. Instead, put the link in the URL field under where your name goes.

3 words only. No URLs. Oh, and no hyphens either…sneaky people!

I won’t leave you with any more instructions, but here’s something to think about:

What three words will you choose that make you stand out from everyone else?

This is your “abridged elevator pitch”, so make it good.

Oh, and there will be something nice in store for the few that stand out to me the most. Be sure to leave your correct email address in the required field so I can contact you.

Lastly, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the launch of The Smart Passive Income Podcast this coming Monday. I’ve been working hard setting everything up, but it’s finally here!

Cheers!