So you’re trying to do it yourself or perhaps you hired an SEO agency or consultant because your marketing efforts aren’t paying off.
The last 3 months of your business have not increased in any way, so what’s going on?
It’ll make sense to ask yourself if the search engine optimisation doesn’t work or if your website doesn’t function properly.
As frustration increases, the question becomes a lot more pressing, “how do I start using SEO effectively?”
Identify why your SEO strategy isn’t working and why you’re not showing up in the search engines
If you’re trying to do SEO on your own there can be various reasons why it’s failing.
You could be using outdated SEO tactics that just don’t work anymore, building spammy links, using the wrong keywords in the title tag or a thousand other reasons.
SEO results don’t just come out of nowhere.
To increase your organic traffic you need to be proactive, accruing natural-looking links from authoritative websites.
It’s all about great content and building links to that content to help get your website found more in the organic search results.
SEO is simple but it’s not easy
The most common grievance with website owners is that they don’t get enough clicks from search engines.
For too many small businesses, organic search results are a mystery, however, any decent online marketing strategy has to include SEO in 2023.
How should SEO projects be backed up by implementing new strategies for achieving better results and ensuring that they are working smoothly?
An SEO strategy should provide optimal results for any website. The team responsible for the web-based site has to use these guidelines.
It is a collaborative effort where SEO experts solve issues and advises clients/staff. They then learn and execute the recommendations.
Points to address
SEO can take time to kick in. For brand-new sites, it takes at least three to six months to get out of Google’s sandbox, known for placing a type of restriction on your website until it gains some trust.
Even if you’ve had a website for years, you may have paid for SEO and got four to six months down the line but nothing has happened
The fact you’ve not been proactive on your SEO for the last years will make it harder to make more of an impact, especially if you’ve got a website domain with low authority.
There are two primary reasons SEOers create pages:
One is for topical authority
Topical relevance is a huge part of Google’s algorithms.
Topical pages might not get the most traffic, however, they’ll signal relevance to Google which in the long run will see your website have more authority in your niche
One is for pure traffic
For high-volume keywords, there’s usually a lot of competition.
So what are the likely reasons my SEO campaign has failed?
Lack of clear objectives or goals
Without clear objectives and goals, it’s difficult to measure the success of your SEO efforts.
To avoid this problem, identify specific, measurable goals that align with your overall business objectives.
For example, you might aim to increase organic traffic by a certain percentage or improve your website’s search engine rankings for specific keywords.
Setting clear objectives will help you focus your SEO efforts and measure their effectiveness.
Poor keyword research and targeting
Keyword research is essential for optimising your content and targeting the right audience.
If your keyword research is poor or nonexistent, you risk targeting the wrong keywords or missing out on valuable opportunities.
To fix this issue, invest time and resources into researching the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business.
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush to identify keywords with high search volumes and low competition.
Once you have a list of target keywords, incorporate them strategically into your website content and metadata.
Low-quality or thin content
Content is a critical factor in SEO, and low-quality or thin content can negatively impact your rankings.
To address this issue, focus on creating high-quality, valuable content that aligns with your target audience’s interests and needs.
Ensure that your content is well-written, informative, and engaging, with proper formatting and visual aids.
Aim to produce long-form content that provides comprehensive answers to users’ queries, and avoid publishing content that is thin or duplicates existing content on the web.
Consider incorporating multimedia elements like images, videos, and infographics to enhance your content and make it more shareable.
Ignoring on-page optimisation:
On-page optimisation refers to optimising your website’s pages and content for search engines. Ignoring on-page optimisation can result in poor search engine rankings and low visibility.
To address this issue, focus on optimising your website’s metadata, including titles, descriptions, and header tags, for your target keywords.
Incorporate relevant keywords strategically into your content, and ensure that your website’s structure and navigation are user-friendly and optimised for search engines.
Make sure that your website’s pages load quickly and are mobile-friendly, as both of these factors can impact your search engine rankings.
Not prioritising user experience:
User experience is an important factor in SEO, and neglecting it can lead to high bounce rates and low engagement.
To prioritise user experience, focus on creating a website that is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and informative.
Ensure that your website’s pages load quickly and are mobile-friendly, and aim to provide a seamless user experience across all devices.
Incorporate multimedia elements like images and videos to enhance your content, and make sure that your website’s layout and design are optimised for readability and accessibility.
Inadequate internal linking structure:
Internal linking refers to linking to other pages on your website within your content.
Inadequate internal linking can result in poor website structure and navigation, as well as low visibility for important pages.
To address this issue, focus on creating a clear, hierarchical website structure that emphasises your most important pages.
Incorporate internal links strategically throughout your content to guide users to relevant pages and improve your website’s navigation.
Ensure that your internal links are descriptive and relevant to the content they are linking to, and use tools like Google Analytics to track your internal linking effectiveness.
Insufficient backlinks or low-quality backlinks
Backlinks are an important factor in SEO, as they signal to search engines that other websites consider your content valuable and authoritative. Insufficient or low-quality backlinks can result in poor search engine rankings and low visibility.
To address this issue, focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your industry or niche. Use tactics like guest blogging, broken link building, and social media promotion to earn backlinks to your website.
Ensure that your backlinks are relevant to your content and come from trustworthy sources, as low-quality backlinks can harm your website’s reputation.
Monitor your backlink profile using tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs, and disavow any low-quality or spammy backlinks that may be harming your website’s search engine rankings.
Over-optimisation or keyword stuffing:
Over-optimisation or keyword stuffing refers to the practice of excessively using keywords in website content, metadata, or links.
This can result in a poor user experience and harm your website’s search engine rankings. To avoid this issue, focus on using keywords strategically and naturally throughout your content and metadata.
Use synonyms and related phrases to vary your keyword usage and avoid repetition.
Prioritise the user experience by creating content that is informative and valuable, rather than focusing solely on keyword optimisation.
Slow website speed and poor website performance:
Slow website speed and poor website performance can result in a poor user experience and harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on optimising your website’s performance by minimising page load times, optimising images and videos, and reducing the number of HTTP requests.
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to identify performance issues and prioritise improvements.
Not optimising for mobile devices:
Mobile devices account for a significant portion of website traffic, and neglecting mobile optimisation can result in a poor user experience and harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on creating a mobile-responsive website that adapts to different screen sizes and devices.
Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check your website’s mobile optimisation, and prioritise improvements to ensure a seamless user experience on mobile devices.
Not optimising for local search:
Local search optimisation is essential for businesses with physical locations or those targeting specific geographic areas.
Neglecting local search optimisation can result in low visibility for local searches and harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on optimising your website’s local search presence by creating location-specific pages, claiming your Google My Business listing, and building local citations and backlinks.
Ignoring technical SEO issues:
Technical SEO issues can harm your website’s search engine rankings and visibility. Ignoring technical SEO issues can result in poor website performance, crawl errors, and indexing issues.
To address this issue, prioritise technical SEO by regularly auditing your website for issues like broken links, crawl errors, and duplicate content.
Use tools like Google Search Console or Screaming Frog to identify technical SEO issues and prioritise fixes.
Using outdated SEO tactics or relying on black hat techniques:
Outdated SEO tactics or black hat techniques can harm your website’s search engine rankings and reputation. To avoid this issue, focus on using ethical, white-hat SEO techniques that prioritise the user experience and provide value to your target audience.
Stay up-to-date with industry trends and algorithm updates, and avoid using tactics like keyword stuffing, cloaking, or buying backlinks.
Poor website design and navigation:
Poor website design and navigation can harm your website’s user experience and search engine rankings.
To address this issue, prioritise website design and navigation by creating a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate website.
Use intuitive navigation menus, clear calls-to-action, and whitespace to guide users through your website and prioritise the user experience.
Not using social media to promote content and build backlinks:
Social media can be a valuable tool for promoting your content and building backlinks to your website. Neglecting social media can result in low visibility and fewer opportunities to build backlinks.
To address this issue, focus on using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to promote your content and engage with your target audience.
Use social media to build relationships with influencers and other industry leaders, and prioritise social media optimisation by creating shareable content and optimising your social media profiles for search engines.
Not using schema markup
Schema markup is a type of structured data that can help search engines better understand and index your website’s content.
Neglecting schema markup can result in poor visibility and lower search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on implementing schema markup on your website using tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.
Use schema markup to provide additional information about your website’s content, such as reviews, ratings, and event information.
Not regularly publishing fresh and relevant content
Search engines prioritise fresh and relevant content, and neglecting to regularly publish new content can harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, prioritise content creation by regularly publishing new and relevant content on your website.
Use keyword research to identify topics that your target audience is searching for, and create informative and valuable content that answers their questions and provides value.
Not optimising for voice search:
Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and neglecting to optimise your website for voice search can result in lower search engine rankings and visibility.
To address this issue, focus on optimising your website for voice search by using natural language and long-tail keywords, providing concise and informative answers to common questions, and optimising your website’s content for featured snippets.
Neglecting local SEO factors:
Local SEO factors like reviews, citations, and location-specific keywords can significantly impact your website’s local search rankings.
Neglecting local SEO factors can result in low visibility for local searches and harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on optimising your website’s local search presence by prioritising local keywords, encouraging customers to leave reviews, and building local citations and backlinks.
Not prioritising user experience:
Prioritising the user experience is essential for SEO success, as search engines prioritise websites that provide a positive user experience.
Neglecting user experience factors like website speed, navigation, and mobile optimisation can harm your website’s search engine rankings.
To address this issue, focus on prioritising the user experience by creating a visually appealing, easy-to-navigate, and mobile-responsive website that provides value to your target audience.
Not measuring and analysing SEO performance:
Measuring and analysing SEO performance is essential for understanding the effectiveness of your SEO strategy and identifying areas for improvement.
Neglecting to measure and analyse SEO performance can result in a lack of insight and missed opportunities for optimisation.
To address this issue, prioritise SEO measurement and analysis by using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track website traffic, search engine rankings, and keyword performance.
Use this data to identify areas for improvement and optimise your SEO strategy for better results.
