215: Practical Tips From A Founder Who Got Slapped By Google...And Recovered

What would you do if your organic traffic dropped by 90% overnight?

That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest earlier this year.

Mike Colavita, founder of Fat Buddha Glass, joins us today to talk about his experience being on the receiving end of a big Google slap and how he's recovering from an organic search drop. He shares why his site was dinged in the first place and the changes they’ve implemented since then to make nearly a full recovery five months later.

What at first seemed like the worst possible situation turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to Mike’s business.

I know you're going to enjoy this episode!

Episode Highlights

• 5:00 Introducing Mike Colavita and his entrepreneurial journey. 
• 6:45 The birth of Fat Buddha Glass.
• 9:20 How to raise brand awareness when you’re banned from practically every channel.
• 12:10 The turning point from part-time business to full-time endeavor.
• 15:19 Finding new marketing channels through content partnerships and placements.
• 16:41 The dire effect of the Google algorithm update on Fat Buddha Glass.
• 18:55 Why Google dinged Fat Buddha Glass and why Mike says it was actually one of the best things that’s ever happened to his business.
• 21:09 What mistakes Fat Buddha Glass was making with their SEO strategy and how they’ve fixed them.
• 24:45 Content is more than just your blog.
• 25:59 The strategies Fat Buddha Glass implemented to recover from its Google slap.
• 30:40 Google reveals what they’re looking for when evaluating web content.
• 32:06 The role blog posts played in improving Fat Buddha Glass’ rankings and why they prioritized product descriptions first.
• 34:57 Tools Mike recommends that helped him on his road to SEO recovery.
• 40:36 The value of having a phone number on your website and how it builds trust.

Links And Resources

• Fat Buddha Glass
• Klaviyo
• Google's SEO Guidelines
• Ahrefs
• Google Docs
• Wunderlist
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• The Ecommerce Coalition
• Grasshopper
• [e-mail]
• @FatBuddhaGlass on Instagram
• Episode 179: Making A Comeback After The Google Medic Update
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes