Search with Candour What to do when you lose 95% of your website traffic | Jacob Cass
Nov 10, 2025
Jacob Cass, an award-winning brand consultant and designer, shares his journey from losing 95% of site traffic to rebuilding his brand, Just Creative. He discusses the emotional rollercoaster of the traffic crash and the strategies he employed to adapt, including content pruning and focusing on evergreen topics. Jacob emphasizes the importance of personal branding in 2025, providing actionable insights on diversifying channels and maintaining consistent messaging. He also introduces practical brand exercises, urging listeners to start building their personal brand now.
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Affiliate Blog Grew Then Collapsed
- Jacob Cass described scaling an affiliate-driven blog to a million monthly pageviews before traffic collapsed over about a year and a half.
- He recounted the emotional rollercoaster and subsequent team cuts and strategic rethink after losing most search traffic.
Personal Brand As A Search Safety Net
- A strong personal brand and owned channels (newsletter, socials) provided a safety net when search leads fell.
- Jacob shifted lead generation to LinkedIn and Instagram because search became less reliable.
Build Personal And Business Brands
- Build a personal brand alongside your business to increase trust and discoverability across platforms.
- Use social proof and consistent presence to help AI-driven search and recommendation systems trust your brand.
