At the start of every year, I do the same thing.

I set up a handful of test sites — not to build a brand or chase revenue, but to monitor signals.

Each year these sites are structured around a clear premise.

Sometimes it’s about site architecture.

Sometimes internal linking.

Sometimes content structure, structured data, or even link building approach.

They don’t need to target the same keywords.

They don’t even need to be in the same niche.

The only real objective is simple:

Let’s test a hypothesis and see what actually happens.

As the year goes on, patterns start to emerge.

You can see which approaches compound quietly, which plateau, and which introduce friction you wouldn’t notice on a single site.

Then the following year, I do it again.

New hypotheses.

Refinements based on what I’ve learned.

Sometimes revisiting old ideas just to see how they behave in a different environment.

Over time, you don’t just learn from testing — you end up with a small portfolio of sites that act as signal monitors.

That becomes especially useful when core updates roll out.

If one group of sites improves while another declines, you can usually rule out a lot of noise:

• It’s probably not links

• Probably not content quality

• Probably not performance issues

And so on...

That kind of contrast makes it much easier to form useful assumptions — and react quickly, instead of guessing wildly.

I’m doing that setup again right now as we head into the new year properly.

If you’re experimenting in a similar way — or curious about how to set up your own “signal monitoring” projects — let me know.

Happy to share what I’m testing, what I’ve learned so far, or just compare notes.

And a Happy New Year!

More soon.

- Daniel