5 Reasons Why Your (Expensive) SEO Strategy Is Not Giving You Results
Learn to plug the leaks and get more out of SEO
15 years in this industry, I have come across many (too many, in fact) Founders/Senior Management guys who have confided in me that something is wrong with their SEO strategies and that they have no clue what.
And they go on to say that maybe SEO is NOT worth its hype.
It really hurts me, I must admit because I have made millions by it and wouldn’t stand its rejection. If the plans fail, it is not because of anything lacking in SEO but because something needs to be fixed at the application end.
So, why is your SEO plan not giving you the results you want? Time to check some realities and fix the loose nuts & bolts. I can guarantee the results will be remarkable.1. Underestimating the ROI.
Failure to see instant the return on the investment (ROI) is a dominant reason why decision-makers hesitate to invest in SEO.
SEO has always been the less favorite one when it came to budget allocation. In comparison to other marketing strategies that bring in quick and noticeable results, SEO is a slow-paced game that takes time to bring about change.
Below is a typical case of SEO vs. ad spending. The data shows that the results drastically differ with the same spending.
At the onset, investing in an ad budget seems prudent, and people tend towards it because of the quick results.
I also agree. But the wonders of SEO are in staying invested for the long run. While ads have an organic growth proportionate to spending, SEO grows exponentially with time, drastically bringing down the overall lead cost.
In the fifth year, the SEO lead cost is a mere 240, while it is 2400 in ad spending.
[This is a generic representation of how things usually happen. Factors like the type of industry and competition level also have a role to play.]
It’s just about being patient enough to remain invested in the process.
2. Getting the wrong mentoring
I often joke about it that the share market does not change its track as much as the SEO gets updated.
But it’s a fact. The digital market is a constantly changing and evolving place. In such a case, staying ahead in the game demands that one remains updated because there is a risk. Your competitors are keeping up with the times. You don’t want to be left behind, do you?
Unlike other marketing tactics, SEO doesn’t have a standard guidebook or manual to follow. So, for many, SEO is a black box that doesn’t follow any rule and is impossible to understand. And upon that lies its ever-changing nature.
Investing in something that is unpredictable and unstable surely looks risky.
Unfortunately, most companies still believe in outdated SEO methods. And no wonder they do not bear any result, with the business owners blaming SEO, saying that it is ineffective.
The problem does not lie with SEO; the problem is not having the right person who keeps track of things and decides on the right strategy while leveraging the new developments in the market.
Keeping in view the latest updates/changes, the person has to test and experiment to understand what works and hence, arrive at the right strategy.
Therefore, it is extremely crucial for decision-makers to be mentored by the right people who have proper and updated SEO knowledge.
3. Conflicting interests between the SEO team & CEO team
I have an example to cite that will make this point crystal clear.
Back in 2010, I was working for an SEO company. We had a client, a cardiologist, who had hired the company for SEO services at $600 per month. I was handling that account.
Initially, I failed to deliver significant results by using usual methods like optimizing webpages with the right headings and meta descriptions. In those days, there wasn’t any published data about SEO, guidelines, or expert advice like today. A lot of it depended on testing and experimenting.
So, I tested a lot of things and then suggested my CEO go for a new strategy by creating new pages with relevant and in-depth content.
“Whatever client pays is not sufficient to hire another content resource. And we cannot ask for more budget from the client as competitors are charging much less than that”, were his exact words.
Eventually, we lost the client because there was no growth.
For an SEO strategy to work properly, coordination between the relevant team(s) and the decision-makers must be coordinated. Sometimes, things don’t work because maybe the idea was not sold properly, or the managing body could not perceive the real idea.
4. Failing to master other skill sets
Some founders/business owners will say that SEO is a one-time job of keeping tags and adding keywords. Some may say that publishing good content with the right keywords does the job. According to them, if you keep repeating this process, you should rank on top in Google within some time.
I sincerely pity them.
While the ignorants have blindfolded themselves, Google has gone way past them by implementing much more sophisticated algorithms such as Rank Brain & BERT.
Today SEO is not confined to stuffing keywords. It has moved ahead to much finer things like User experience, In-depth content, and Quick Loading time.
For example, if you type ‘emi calculator’ in Google, emicalculator.net still ranks at the top. Why? It thought out of the box and used UX as a differentiator from its competitor. Result: it still stands undefeated.
And look how rtings.com has monopolized the review market. Two words — In-depth content. It covers every aspect of the product being reviewed, almost to the point of being exhaustive. No wonder, whenever users think ‘review’, they think ‘rtings’ — the go-to destination of reviews.
So, look beyond keywords and content. Embrace the process as a whole by mastering all aspects that make it a wholesome experience for the user.
5. Keeping up with Google Algorithm updates
Every year Google gets the algorithm updated. In fact, every day.
Panda update for content, Penguin update for links, Product reviews update for affiliate articles, Core updates, and many more.
One cannot be in SEO and not be abreast with the latest update. It’s an SEO crime. Being updated in this field is a battle half won.
The question that also comes to mind is why there is so much updating.
Well, Google has always placed the user experience ahead of everything else — genuine, engaging, and informative content is always a win for Google.
The updates ensure just that — discouraging auto-generated and flat content developed for the sake of traffic.
Hence, I always recommend putting users on a higher pedestal than traffic. Because when you target that, you are in sync with Google algorithms and can never go wrong.
Conclusion
I know it can be frustrating to hear so much about SEO and see things happening around you, but everything falls flat for you.
It is natural to doubt whether everything you hear is right. Is it hyped? Does this really work, or is just money down the drain?
Let me tell you this straight — SEO works. And works wonder.
The problem is much closer at hand. And a little inspection can sort things out.
