SEO not working? Here’s why…

I’ve had several recent conversations that have drawn to my attention a common lack of transparency around SEO.

?Why is this?

Is it because SEO service providers think the client might have a go at implementing SEO themselves if they have a better understanding of what it is, and how it works? Or is the underlying motive that the less the client understands, the less easy it is for them to hold their SEO provider to account?

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As someone who tries to see the best in people, I’d like to be able to say with some assurance that it’s the former, but my instinct tells me in the real world it is likely to be a mix of both.

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The trouble is that if there is a lack of transparency, and a lack of results, then the client loses trust, and that loss of trust takes the form of either:

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a.)?? Trust in SEO as a tactic that can get them results – meaning they are less likely to invest in the future, and potentially could miss massive opportunity that could be provided through having the service delivered properly.

b.)?? Trust in digital marketers altogether – even worse scenario as it’s then far harder for honest, experienced marketers to gain back a trust lost by someone else and unfortunately clients who have a mistrust in marketers before they even begin to work with you, are the least likely to take on board genuine advice that would benefit them.

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Either way, we are now not in the best position to be able to rectify poor SEO performance, so to any marketers reading this who could be more transparent with their SEO activities – please do your best to be as transparent as possible. It’s in your interest, the client’s interest, and any future service providers interest too!

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I’ll go into the reasons why your investments in SEO may not be reaping the rewards that you hoped in a moment, but first let me clarify what SEO is and how it works so that you are able to ask the right questions and weigh the answers up against your own knowledge.

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What is SEO?

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SEO is simply a series of practices that helps search engines recognise that you are adding value to their audience based on the search terms they are using, and ensures your website is delivered in the search results. Your placement in the search results depends on a myriad of factors, and SEO addresses these and helps you to sit higher up in the rankings, making you more likely to be found by prospective customers.

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How does it work?

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Your position in the search rankings depends on quite several factors but here are just a few:

·????? Your overall site health.

·????? Links back to your website from websites with high authority.

·????? Content on your web pages – and the way that you set information in the back end of your website (the bit people can’t see) that tells search engines what the page is about.

·????? Content on your website that is genuinely valuable to the user, which is analysed through search intent.

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Here’s an example – if you type in a product name the search engine will assume you are trying to find somewhere to buy the product and therefore will prioritise returning ecommerce results to you (no good if you aren’t an ecommerce brand and some of your competitors are). If you type in a question, you are more likely to find that blogs answering the specific question that are deemed to be high quality will be returned in the search.

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Top 5 reasons why SEO might not be reaping the rewards you hoped – and how to avoid them:

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1.)?? There is low search volume for related terms.

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Before proposing an SEO strategy, your provider should be checking to see whether there is enough volume (number of searches) for related search terms to justify recommending an SEO strategy. Low volume = low website traffic, even if you rank high up in the search. This can mean that your investment isn’t worthwhile for the volume of traffic that you receive and remember that we don’t just want any old traffic, we want high quality traffic that is intentional about researching and purchasing your specific products or services.

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How to avoid this:

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I would consider it fair to ask for a quick search volume analysis upfront. Your provider will be able to quickly analyse potential search volume and competition online for your products or services. While in-depth keyword analysis takes time, you can expect to know rough search volume within a few minutes using the right tools. I would particularly advise asking for this if your provider is only providing SEO services, as those providing a host of services will find it easier to guide you to a more suitable marketing tactic should they deem that SEO isn’t going to be the most effective tool in their toolbox.

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Where appropriate, I do occasionally explain to clients interested in SEO that I think there are other methods that would provide a better ROI, particularly for short term objectives and where a quick win is necessary.

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2.)?? There is very high competition online.

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If there is a high search volume relating to your products or services, then the chances are that your competition is already going to have recognised that and be deploying their own SEO strategies. This is particularly the case for ecommerce businesses where the business model is reliant on website traffic and investment to make sure that traffic finds its way onto those websites is going to be high. For smaller businesses, this can be a pain as established market players will have the budget to be able to implement very thorough SEO work.

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How to avoid this:

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In this case, establishing niches with worthwhile traffic volume is going to be the best strategy for those with smaller budgets. There is no point throwing budget at competing in arenas where you cannot win, so pick your battles wisely. Ask about competition at the enquiry stage and if it is stated to be high, ask for a search volume check on a couple of more niche keywords based on your USP.

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I was working with an ecommerce brand with incredibly high online competition recently and we discovered that there were some gaps in competitor strategies that we could fill. Even with just some simple tactics, we have boosted traffic volume to the client website by a significant proportion.

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3.)?? The allocated time/budget isn’t appropriate to the opportunity and competitive environment.

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This links in with the above point. There are a few things I’ve come across recently that make me suspicious that providers are offering ‘off the shelf’ SEO packages that might be appropriate to one client, but perhaps aren’t to another.

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An analysis of the extent of the work that needs to be done should be taking place. Now, there’s an ideal world (that rarely exists in SME marketing) where we can allocate the amount of budget that we need to make the results happen, but in the real world we have a budget that the client can invest sustainably with which to get the best results that we can.

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It might be that the budget is close enough, or it might be that we have a Grand Canyon between the budget and expected results, in which case managing expectations is important.

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As a client, please remember that most digital marketers are operating with the same toolkit and whilst we do have our own original ideas, we can’t work actual magic on your SEO. ?

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How to avoid this:

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One thing to look out for is if you are given a quote before the service provider has given a suggested course of action. The same quote provided for multiple websites with different products or services in different industries under a group umbrella is another sign that there is no review of ‘best fit’ by the service provider. If this happens, ask the question “Is this the right level of investment to get us to where we need to be?” You might find that the answer is “Not in an ideal world, but at this moment of time we believe it’s a sustainable investment for a business of your size with an overall marketing budget of ￡x.” That’s a fair answer, but you can then have an input into that affordability assessment and your expectations are managed. That’s the benefit of transparency.

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4.)?? You’ve not given it long enough.

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It might simply be that there is a lot of work to be done to get you up the ranks, and that work takes time. SEO isn’t a short-term strategy, though you should be able to see indicative results of progress within a couple of months. Just bear in mind too that when a new domain goes live it has what’s called low authority, and that authority builds over time. This makes it harder for new websites on new domains to rank well in the search results.

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How to avoid this:

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Simple – ask for a monthly report. You want to know:

·????? What activity has been implemented within the month

·????? Which search terms have been targeted within that month

·????? Where you rank for those search terms

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You should be able to compare your monthly reports and see progress from one month to the next but be aware that not all elements are within your SEO providers control and competitor SEO strategy implementation can knock your rankings about so if you have a couple of months where the results look less pleasing than others, that is normal. Look at the wider picture over time.

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5.)?? It isn’t being done to the extent that it needs to be.

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There are different degrees to which SEO can be implemented. Most web developers will include SEO in the website build package. As a one off, this means that your website will begin its life with basic content being optimised for search once. For effective SEO, really there needs to be a long-term consistent strategy. The trouble with this is that people don’t always understand that and think that their SEO has been done and there is no need for anymore, and no opportunities being missed. I’ve even come across a situation recently where the client has been told this basic level of SEO has been done, to discover that it hasn’t been implemented at all.

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How to avoid this:

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Ask what keywords your website has been optimised for. Pages should have one key term per page so you can ask for the list of which relate to which pages.

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A call to clarity

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In conclusion, transparency is critical to help build and maintain trust between SEO service providers and clients. By adopting a transparent approach and addressing potential challenges with SEO, those responsible for driving revenue can work together to achieve meaningful and sustainable results. Open communication and a clear understanding of the process are the cornerstones of a successful strategy implementation and positive working relationship.

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In the interest of providing more transparency in the marketplace, I can provide (free of charge) a report stating your current position – and a simple search volume report which will allow you to see for yourself whether SEO could be the right tactic for you. Depending on your level of competition online, and your budget, I can also offer either a ‘done for you’ approach to implementing an appropriate SEO strategy, or guidance for you to implement some elements yourself.

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For more information get in touch via LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]