Six traits that would make you give up on SEO!
If your SEO fails often, it's quite a maze walk to really know what went wrong and you're more likely to give up and move on to a different job. However, here are the probable traits that keep us blindfolded most of the time which you must definitely look for,
Outdated SEO Strategies & Techniques
Unlike most other jobs, SEO is very volatile in terms of its technique and tactics. This is primarily because of the reason that search engines have evolved drastically. For instance, Google which holds close to 90% share of the search engine market is known for unleashing new strategies and algorithms almost every month. In fact, it is quite evident that the search engine giant is pretty much brutal when it comes to enforcing its guidelines.
Here's the list of algorithms that Google unveiled in recent years,
Florida, Big Daddy, Jagger, Vince, Caffeine, Panda, Freshness Algorithm, Page Layout Algorithm, Venice Update, Penguin, EMD (Exact Match Domain), Payday, Hummingbird, Pigeon, Mobilegeddon, Quality Updates, RankBrain and Fred
Though the list goes on and on, most SEO professionals tend to stick to outdated SEO practices that are Keyword stuffing and unnatural Link Building in disguise. We may give it a legit name like 'Keyword Optimization', 'Semantic Optimization, etcetera, etcetera... But here's the newsflash, Have you heard of Google's Penguin and Panda algorithms, it's Google's dedicated algorithm to detect and bring down the websites that engage in Keyword stuffing and Link Building. To much worse, Google bonded these algorithms with the core recently which means that whenever your web page is crawled, these two core algorithms will rip apart its enemies.
So, for an SEO to stay relevant and confident, it is vital to be up to date on the latest algorithmic changes and upgrades of popular search engines.
Unrealistic Targets
Even the smartest SEOs tend to leave their clients unsatisfied just when they fail to set their targets right. And nothing can be frustrating for an SEO who put in months of effort for nothing. Having a realistic target can help overcome this trait to an adequate extent. For instance, an SEO can never settle for targets that directly involve traffic increase. Yes, it isn't a PPC campaign or any paid marketing where there's a minimum promise of traffic or leads from the platform itself. After all said and done, it's not an open-source platform we're dealing with. Be it Google, Facebook or any other marketing platform, it's all private companies that aim and generating revenue at the most optimum level.
It's like walking on a thin rope for an SEO to reach the goal. You need to consider the scope of every strategy, the budget of the project and ROI projection before setting up the goal post.
Giving Up on SEO
If you're an SEO, you will likely have given up hope on SEO at least once in your lifetime. There're still many Ex-SEOs who argue that SEO is done.
Is SEO Outdated?
Definitely not! It's not just that marketers and businesses are in need of search engines like Google but it's a two-way street. Google needs these businesses as much as these businesses need them. Have you heard of the following free or open-source projects from Google,
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Most of these projects were aimed at helping small and medium businesses to establish their digital presence and to fight the big fishes online! If not the desperation to have the businesses on board, what else could be the logical reason?
Not convinced? Why do you think Google has a dedicated team of experts who help the SEO community to deal with their SEO obstacles and challenges? You must have heard about John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google. He connects with the SEO experts around the globe live and listens to their queries and responds to them. Many other Search and product experts from Google have released numerous podcasts aimed and helping the SEO community.
Still not convinced? Would you believe that Google published a job posting for an SEO Manager for its own products? Trust me, the JD of the job may surprise you. This is what the job description said,
In fact, in January 2020, John Mueller revealed that just like any other SEO, it wasn't easier for Google's SEO team to optimize its products.
So, it's quite evident that Google is equally desperate to help businesses to exist on search engines just like the businesses themselves. Don't you think?
Reasoning with Instincts!
Yea, I've been there too. It's quite easy to get carried away with your instincts if you fail to reason with them. Always, make sure that you're instinctive ideas or plans have factual reasoning or evidence to back them up.
Strategies or Techniques?
Nope. Both aren't the same, bro!
And, it's a never-ending debate to decide whether to settle for just SEO techniques or it should adhere to thoroughly articulated SEO strategies. This is where the entire SEO community are split too!
But I'd say it's definitely the strategy that would help us eliminate any depreciating SEO efforts in the long run. Though SEO has had pretty big victories following just the techniques in the past, strategies are smarter, futuristic and inclusive. A well-thought-out strategy will also help us avoid any algorithmic wounds.
Overdoing SEO
Too much of anything is good for nothing! Well, this proverb is very much true when it comes to SEO. Like I said, for most of the journey, you've to walk on a thin rope. You're more likely to fall head-first if you don't stop at the end of the rope.
That's all folks! I'd much appreciate it if you'd like to add more to the write-up in the comments section. Especially, the ones with a difference of opinion!