Creator-First Future: Raffaele DiLallo of Ohio Tropics

The Creator-First Future campaign is about highlighting the work that publishers have done to build the open internet. They form communities and connections and are vital to the future of a free web.

By creating and sharing the content that millions of people read each year, publishers from every niche imaginable help readers every single day by providing valuable education to people around the world.

One of those creators is Raffaele DiLallo, founder of Ohio Tropics, the #1 houseplant blog on the internet. Read on to discover how his focus is shifting in the wake of changes to Google Search.

Tell us about your blogging journey.

I’m a chemical engineer by degree and worked in that field for 20 years before I quit my corporate job to run my blog. I’ve been running my company, Ohio Tropics, full time for 2.5 years now. I write about houseplant and tropical plant care.

My blog traffic grew and grew and grew until the September HCU update and it continued to get hammered by the March update. The vast majority of my Google traffic is gone.

Fortunately, my Pinterest traffic is still keeping me afloat. 

What changes have you made to your content strategy as a result of changes to Search?

The decimation of Google traffic has provided an opportunity to finally launch an online course about orchid care. I’ve placed writing new blog content on hold until I’m finished with the course.

This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for years, so in a way, I view this as a blessing in disguise.

The course will launch in mid-summer for the first time, so I’m very excited about this. After the launch, I will start creating more blog content again, catered to Pinterest. Then I’ll explore other courses and focus on other sources of traffic by continuing to create content that is targeted for Pinterest.

I’ve also been publishing more on YouTube as well as continue to be active in growing my Instagram presence. 

Have you discovered any new traffic sources?

I’ve been using an agency to manage my Pinterest account for quite a while, and it has kept me afloat after my organic search traffic was decimated. Fortunately, Pinterest RPMs for me are much higher than organic traffic from Google, so that is a plus.

I’m mainly using Instagram and my email list to get people excited for my course launch which will be in late July. I’ve created reels on Instagram and it generated a lot of interest, so I’m hoping the launch will be a success!!

The course will be about orchid care.

How have you engaged with your audience during this time?

I’m not doing anything special right now with my blog’s email list, but I have been growing my list for my course. I’m using Kajabi and I’m building everything there for the course, email opt-ins, etc.

I’m also leveraging my Instagram following. I have almost 260K followers and have been creating a lot of orchid-related content and mentioning the course to prime my followers. I’ve gathered several hundred emails pretty quickly that way, and I’m hopeful that a lot of those individuals will purchase the course. 

I played around with Facebook ads, and while it didn’t provide a ton of traffic, I actually came out ahead financially, so I will continue to explore this. 

Do you have any advice for other creators navigating these changes?

Don’t listen to what people are saying doesn’t work. Try it for yourself. What works for one person, may not work for another. You don’t know until you try it.

What is bringing you hope right now?

I’ve had a very enthusiastic response to my online course announcement, so I’m hoping that this will be a game changer for my business. 

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Check out Raffaele’s site, Ohio Tropics, for all your houseplant care needs. Grab a copy of his book, Houseplant Warrior, from your favorite retailer. For more from Raffaele, find him on Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Visit our Creator-First Future campaign page to learn more about how we’re working to protect content creators and the open internet and to share your story about how changes to Search algorithms and generative AI have impacted your business.