# Blogging Isn't Dead: How Niche Blogs Still Make Money With SEO

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-edward-show-6568456/blogging-isn-t-dead-how-niche-blogs-still-make-money-with-seo
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-edward-show-6568456/blogging-isn-t-dead-how-niche-blogs-still-make-money-with-seo.md
Podcast: [The Edward Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-edward-show-6568456)
Published: 2026-06-13T19:37:00+00:00
Episode link: https://9342edaa-17ad-4315-a037-ec4dfabd63f7.libsyn.com/blogging-isnt-dead-how-niche-blogs-still-make-money-with-seo
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/9342edaa-17ad-4315-a037-ec4dfabd63f7/Blogging_Isnt_Dead_How_Niche_Blogs_Still_Make_Money_With_SEO.mp3?dest-id=4081527
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-edward-show-6568456/episodes/blogging-isn-t-dead-how-niche-blogs-still-make-money-with-seo
Duration seconds: 845

## Resource

E1074: Blogging is not dead. Bad blogging is. I break down how people are still making money from blogs in 2026, why so many "SEO is dead" takes are coming from people who never won with SEO in the first place, and what works now if you want to build a niche site that gets traffic and makes money. I start with a Reddit post from someone who ignored the usual advice that blogging is dead, kept going, and eventually started earning from an affiliate site. From there, I go into the bigger picture of what separates blogs that fail from blogs that keep growing. A lot of sites were hit hard by Google's helpful content update. Some deserved it. Some had thin content, obvious keyword patterns, weak branding, poor user signals, and unnatural backlink profiles. But some sites came back stronger by building more like real brands. I talk about HouseFresh as an example of a site that was crushed by the update, then rebuilt its Google traffic far beyond where it was before. I also cover why AdSense is usually a weak way to monetize a blog, why affiliate SEO can be much better, and why creating your own product for your niche can be even stronger than affiliate income. Topics covered: - Why blogging still works when you treat it seriously - Why many "SEO is dead" takes are not worth listening to - How long it can take to make money from a new affiliate blog - Affiliate income vs. Google AdSense - Why niche selection matters for SEO - Examples of niches that can work for affiliate SEO - What happened to many blogs after Google's helpful content update - Why HouseFresh recovered after losing almost all of its Google traffic - How brand mentions, branded searches, and natural backlinks help - Why templated content and repeated keyword patterns are risky - How to build topical authority…

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