Hello, {{ first name | my friend}}!
I hope you had a great week and that your weekend is off to a good start. 😊
Last week, I shared my January 2026 recap and everything I worked on over the past month.
But I didn’t mention something pretty important: Google’s January algorithm update, the one barely anyone is talking about.
Since around January 20, website owners have been seeing wild ranking volatility, and it’s still happening, according to Semrush Sensor. 📉📈
What’s interesting is that Google hasn’t said a word about it.
The last confirmed core update officially ended in December 2025, yet it’s very clear that something big has been rolling out quietly since then.
Honestly, this feels like one of the more impactful updates we’ve seen in the past year, especially for site owners.
Instead of official statements, the only real discussion I found was from site owners on Reddit.
One of the site owners shared:
Each case is different, but I dealt with something I'd never seen in my four years working with SEO: I had a website drop from 1st to 15th place literally overnight, in a niche where I don't have much competition.
One of the websites where we are the 3rd largest company in the sector and the leading authority in the sector in all of Brazil lost 40% of its traffic from Monday to Tuesday.
Updating some pages worked and helped recover some of the traffic, but not all of them recovered.
Another Reddit user mentioned:
This has never happened in my career. We have one of the highest domain authorities, yet we’re disappearing from the SERPs.
My take on the Google January 2026 update
Unlike many previous updates, my site, Self Made Millennials, was affected this time…
At first glance, it looked like my traffic completely dropped, but that’s not exactly what happened.
Here’s what I noticed: 👇
• Pages that hadn’t been updated in over a year lost rankings.
• Blog posts outside my main niche (SEO) dropped in position.
• Most of my money pages that I regularly update stayed stable
• Some top pages (like my AI SEO tools post) went from position 1 → 100 in days… then jumped back into the top 10. 😬
Seeing traffic dip is never fun, but I was relieved that my most important pages weren’t hit too hard.
One positive takeaway: updating old content and adding more human insight really helped affected pages recover. 💡
What’s interesting is that the effectiveness of the on-page optimization tools is close to zero.
I followed multiple SEO checker recommendations to “improve” my AI SEO tools post, and nothing changed. Zero impact.
Some creators believe that paraphrasing existing content and adding a handful of keywords will fix rankings, but that’s just not how SEO works.
Eventually, I had to step back, look at the top-ranking pages (most of them had nearly identical titles and promises), and write something different and better.
Fresh, high-quality content written from real experience beats any optimizer, and it usually works faster too.
Was your website affected by this update? 👀
January 2026 affiliate report is now live 🚀
My first affiliate report of 2026 is officially out and available to premium members.
Inside, I break down exactly how much my website earned in January from affiliate partnerships, including commissions by partner.
I also share what I’m changing in my monetization strategy for 2026 and what becoming a Semrush Gold Partner actually means for my business.
Interested?
You can become a Premium member for just $7 one-time payment.
The update is still ongoing, but you can already check my most popular editions in the highlights:
For the Premium members: 👋
💰 My website earned $45,455.28 in 2025, to be precise — all from affiliate commissions, with zero brand partnerships.
If you are interested in learning:
How much my site made every month in 2025 (high-level, honest numbers)
How different affiliate partners performed (I have over 10 affiliate partners)
What decisions impact the results
What I’m changing and why
Here’s what’s inside:
November 2025 Affiliate report: $5,868.92 in affiliate commissions.
September 2025 Affiliate report: $8,102.18 in affiliate and sponsorships.
$20k+ from my website in 8 months —here’s how: It’s my 2,000-word case study, where I share everything that helped me grow & monetize my site.
Google hit my site … then I doubled my traffic, where I show the impact of the Google Core Update on various websites (including mine), and highlight common characteristics of the top-performing sites.
$12,000+ from my website in 5 months: I’m sharing my top-performing affiliate programs and landing pages that generate the most revenue.
Optimize like a Pro: Here's what I do: I use these 9 content optimization strategies to rank on page one.
My approach to affiliate marketing: Mistakes, learnings & new strategy
How I ranked #8 on Google in just 6 days: The SEO strategy that got me on Google in a few days.
Want in?
You can become a Premium member for just $7 one-time payment. You’ll get behind-the-scenes tips, real strategies I use to grow my site, and answers to your questions. 🧠
Already a premium member? You can jump straight in and check out affiliate reports.
How did you like today's edition?
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and being part of this journey — your support means the world. 💙
Victoria
Victoria Kurichenko