Did HubSpot lose 80% of its traffic... deliberately?

Yeah, kind of...

Author

David Broderick
April 24, 2025

Wait, did HubSpot lose 80% of its traffic… deliberately?

Okay, maybe not deliberately.

But rumour has it this is how they reacted when they stopped ranking for ‘how to type the shrug emoji’:

¯\(ツ)/¯

Because here’s the thing:

SEO has changed.

And HubSpot’s SEO strategy has changed with it.

Wanna know how?

Let’s take a peek behind the curtain at the OG Titan of TOFU Terms’s new game plan

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🤿 Step 1: Double down on depth

Does the brand you’re creating content for have:

  • Unique data?

  • Unique insights?

  • A unique customer base with a unique perspective?

If that’s a “no”, “no”, and “hell no”, then I’ve got bad news.

Because let’s be real:

How is your content going to be materially different from what an LLM can shit out if you’re not bringing something unique to the table?

Here’s the bet Kipp says HubSpot is making with its content:

❝

“Today, what people need is depth. They need high-quality, expert-backed takes on their questions. As long as that’s something you can deliver consistently, you’ll still have a good shot at sustained success.”

Wanna see this in action?

Check out the ‘What is [target keyword]’ H2 of this article on short-form videos by Erica Santiago 👇

The text I’ve highlighted in green is purely informational. The text I’ve highlighted red is an opinion based on the author’s expertise.

💡 Key takeaway

Is your content bringing new data, deep expertise, or a contrarian take to a topic? You’re gonna struggle to rank if not  ¯\(ツ)/¯

🤖 Step 2: Optimise for LLMs

Whether you’re as sceptical of AI Overviews as me or you stan for them harder than that dude on your LinkedIn feed who was really into NFTs a couple years ago:

AI-powered search is here to stay.

And the brands that figure out how to dominate it are gonna win big.

So the multi-billion dollar question is:

How do you appear in the AI-powered search results?

Here’s Kipp’s take:

❝

“Fortunately, we’ve found that the same strategy that works for humans works for robots, too: It’s all about influence. To succeed in an AI landscape, you need to think about your content not just with respect to the traffic and clicks it can generate in the near-term, but with respect to the influence it can foster over the long haul.”

That’s why Kipp & co have moved their marketing spend away from cranking out informational content and towards:

  • YouTube

  • Podcasts

  • Social

  • The HubSpot Academy

  • Acquiring brands like The Hustle

The point of this isn’t to maximize page views. It’s to “build influence so that when people eventually need a product that we sell, they come to us first,” says Kipp.

💡 Key takeaway

Since 2020, HubSpot has been aiming to become “an ever-present part of [their] target customers’ lives” through plays like The Hustle acquisition. That’s kept them front of their target customers’ minds – and now the LLMs’, too.

🤑 Step 3: Keep on truckin’ with transactional content

HubSpot is receiving less traffic from informational keywords (just like everyone else).

But…

“When it comes to keywords focused on specific products, actions, or problems that users need help with, our search volume has actually grown substantially,” says Kipp.

So, the HubSpot folks are still getting the traffic they care about.

Case in point:

They’re the top organic result for ’CRM’ (and mentioned by name in the PAA box, too).

💡 Key takeaway

Transactional content is still worth going big on (and maybe worth trying to niche into if you’re a freelance content person 👀)

I’m sure HubSpot would’ve rather held on to the 80% of organic traffic it’s lost.

But bottom line:

Five years ago, you could rank at the top of Google for the terms you did care about by cranking out shallow informational content on terms you definitely didn’t care about.

But that doesn’t work anymore.

So Kipp & co aren't trying to claw back their rankings for ‘how to edit a PDF’.

Instead, they’re:

  • Doubling down on depth

  • Optimising for LLMs (by focusing on influence, not information)

  • Keepin’ on truckin’ with transactional content

Is that gonna be the SEO playbook for the age of AI-powered search? 

Let’s find out, I guess 👀

Read more in…

(Heads up: you’ve got to give HubSpot your phone number to access the full article 🙃)

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