Getting SEO Work Done: Common Blockers & Red Flags

It's time for another Gray Dot thread ??!

Continuing on our theme of ? Getting SEO Work Done ?, let's talk more about when & how blockers to SEO efforts commonly arise - so you can spot those red flags in advance.

This insight is specific to the lens of internal or external SEO consultants (aka: inhouse or agency) who are vetting their future boss/client.

Goal: ensure that the the consultant understands issues in advance, and can confidently overcome them, or, so these situations can be avoided.

*** It does not cover those issues specific to the consultant, themselves. (Check out https://seomba.com/ for help on that!)

Without further ado:

Issue 1: Critical Long-Term, High LOE Business Initiatives

Impact: Resourcing & budget are locked up; quick or short-term wins may not be possible

Status: Yellow Flag

Is your brand undergoing a massive brand redesign? Is your site feature-limited, prompting a move to a new platform? Above and beyond normal business objectives, a single large focus can mean that budgets need to shift elsewhere, for the overall health of the business.

NOTE 1: Even if/when these projects are helpful for SEO in the long run, they can be a blocker to short-term SEO budgets and success (e.g. sometimes the re-platforming is for SEO - but it will still ultimately mean that SEO work is paused in the meantime.

NOTE 2: The goal can be an overall company goal OR specific to a team - where that team's support is necessary to SEO, and therefore a blocker to SEO success.

Issue 2: Leadership misunderstands SEO as "Magic"

Impact: Too little budget, a badly allocated budget, or lack of implementation

Status: Red Flag

When teams don't understand what work is required of SEO - or what kind of SEO their brand needs to grow......(backlinks? tech fixes? content?) - they can make the wrong hiring decisions for the wrong skill sets.

Further, they can assume that "SEO work" is done by virtue of simply making a hire - and then never allowing that hire to implement anything.

SEO success requires the right work, and that work needs be live on a website (live!) for enough time to impact the bottomline.

Issue 3: Constantly Shifting Business/Strategic Initiatives (Shiny Object Syndrome)

Impact: Goals shift just as SEO starts working... and you have to start over with a new focus

Status: Yellow Flag

While change is inevitable for all businesses, some shift so frequently that SEO initiatives don't have time to show progress or results before you have to pull up and focus elsewhere (e.g. 2 months into targeting a new competitive keyword cluster, your exec team now wants to focus on a new one. Rise and repeat, ad infinitum.)

Focus over time is critical for SEO success!

Issue 4: Focus on SEO, and Only SEO (Tunnel Vision)

Impact: Reduced impact, especially over the long term - when algo updates might hurt

Status: Yellow Flag

This issue looks very different because it's essentially the opposite of everything above. SEO initiatives always have buy-in and get implemented as a silo - to the detriment of cross-functional (and overall business) ROI.

SEO works best when it's part of your marketing mix, and the work supports the impact of multiple channels, including social, email, brand strategy and more.

Don't put too many of your eggs in the SEO basket (especially the Google-specific basket!), or there's a high risk for algorithm updates taking you out at the kneecaps.

What other walls have you hit, as an SEO - what does this list miss?

Let us know Gray Dot Company !