You may have heard that search engine optimisation (SEO) is a powerful way to grow your business, increase visibility and reach a highly targeted audience. But if you haven’t seen the benefits yourself, it can be hard to believe the hype.
The truth is, SEO isn’t the best solution for all businesses. For example, if you sell a really niche product that no one is searching for yet, you might be better off speaking to a PPC agency.
That being said, there are many businesses who could be reaping big benefits from SEO but aren’t getting anywhere with their SEO campaigns.
If you find yourself in this position, it can feel like you’re pouring money down the drain. But before you give up on SEO entirely, check out these common reasons why SEO campaigns fail to deliver.
When you know the problem, you can adjust your methods, iron out the kinks and start reaping those SEO rewards you’re hoping for.
Here are 6 reasons why most SEO campaigns fail to deliver.
1. Giving up too soon
If you’re hoping for overnight results, SEO can’t help you. In fact, when you just start out with SEO, results can be slow. It usually takes months – or years even – to really see the fruits of your SEO campaign.
That’s why it’s important to have a long term vision when you start using SEO.
If you go into the process expecting a quick fix, you’re going to be disappointed and like many businesses, you might feel like giving up.
For sure, if you’re not getting any results after a few months, you might want to start asking your marketing team a few questions. But if your SEO team has a good plan, is using best practices and results are happening – even if they’re a bit slow – it’s better to wait it out.
If you need quicker growth or an immediate sales boost, think about combining your long term SEO method with paid-per-click (PPC) advertising on platforms like Google and Facebook.
2. Cutting corners
Like most things in life, cutting corners with SEO is going to backfire. Many people still use outdated and black hat tactics because they’re looking for a quick solution only to find themselves losing rankings and visibility.
Stay away from any SEO agency that uses tactics like keyword stuffing, duplicate content and cloaking.
Search engines like Google and Bing are very clear about their stance on black hat tactics. They will penalise any website that uses them, whether that’s through the algorithm or a manual penalty.
3. Ignoring the competition
If you’re a business owner, you know how important it is to do competitor research. How can you stay competitive if you don’t know what your competition is doing?
Too many businesses forget that this applies to their SEO campaign too. It’s more important than ever because so many industries and keywords are already saturated. Trying to claw your way up to number 1 on Google in a saturated market with very established players is really difficult. And costly.
Applying a one-size-fits-all approach to your SEO campaign isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to know the “lay of the land” so to speak, before you know what tools and tactics are best.
When your SEO team is good at doing their research and understanding the nature of the market you’re in, they’ll be able to put their energy and your money into fruitful opportunities.
4. Overlooking user experience
It’s true that keywords are important for SEO. But when you try to put keywords everywhere, it becomes unnatural and it loses people’s interest.
Your website visitors don’t want to read another wall of text that sounds like it was written by a robot. They want to feel like they’re connecting with a human behind the words.
They also want to be able to scan the information quickly, navigate around your website easily and not have to wait more than 3 seconds for images to load. All these things are about user experience (UX).
What does the experience someone has on your website have to do with SEO? Everything. It’s in Google’s interest to show websites at the top of the search results which are accurate, easy to use and fast to load. Therefore, user experience is built into Google’s algorithm.
If you want to get results with SEO, make sure you are paying attention to UX on your website. You should also look for ways to keep on improving UX – don’t just set and forget.
5. Failing to track results
If you don’t keep track of your results, how do you know if it’s working? And how do you figure out ways to make your campaign better?
Thanks to a whole host of SEO tracking and monitoring programs, it’s easier than ever to record the data. The trickier part is making time to analyse that data, understand what it means and use it to make your campaign stronger.
If your SEO company isn’t reporting the numbers to you and helping you understand what they mean, that’s a red flag.
A good SEO Perth agency isn’t afraid to be transparent and honest because they understand that all results – good or bad – present an opportunity for further growth.
6. Scams and sub-par service
Unfortunately many businesses get scammed by so called “SEO experts” who claim to get unbelievable results overnight or who offer services at a very low price.
In truth, many of them use black hat tactics which can have detrimental consequences for your online presence in the long run.
It’s best to ask around for different prices. Anyone that is offering the same services at an incredibly low price is probably skipping out on the quality of their tactics.
Don’t be afraid to ask an SEO agency what they can do for you before committing to them. Also, look for agencies that don’t have lock-in contracts. If they’re confident in their work, they won’t need to lock you in to earn your trust.
In Summary
From black hat tactics to abandoning ship too early, there are lots of reasons why your SEO campaign might not be getting results you’re happy with.
The good news is, even if your campaign isn’t looking great, there are plenty of ways to get it back on track. The best way is to partner with an SEO Perth agency that uses current best practices, will be honest with you about results and won’t lock you into a contract.
