Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vital part of any digital marketing program. It’s important that your customers and leads can find you through their search engines. SEO started off being most reliant on keywords, but today there are many more factors that go into SEO. With SEO criteria constantly evolving, there seem to be more challenges growing with it. We are going to talk about 5 important SEO challenges brands are facing today and why you need to keep an eye on them for your digital marketing strategy.
Constant Algorithm Changes
To provide searchers with the best top results, search engines often have to change their algorithms. Some people don’t realize how often this change occurs. For instance, experts estimate that Google changes its search algorithm around 500 times a year! With that many algorithms, it's hard to keep up and adjust your strategy to benefit from this. So what can you do to beat this challenge?
The truth is, there is not one specific thing you can do. Honestly, it can sometimes feel like a game. Not every algorithm change will influence your SEO strategy but some of them will. These changes aren’t always so big you need to worry about them. Our suggestion is to stay up to date on the latest trends in SEO industry news. If there are major changes you need to pay attention to, the SEO industry will know about them. From there analyze if this change affects you and make your strategy decision from there. Some great SEO news sites to keep you up to date are:
Growing Competition
Competition is a huge challenge that most brands face. Whatever industry you might be in, there are bound to be some competitive brands. With almost 1.9 billion websites on the internet all wanting the top spot, there are bound to be some challenges. Not all of them will be your direct competition, but every one of them will be aiming for those top SEO spots.
Competitor analysis is important when it comes to overcoming this challenge. You can bet your competition is analyzing everything you do and aiming to be higher. It’s not even always about the top spot, but just about being higher than their closest competitors. Quality content is always a win, but it’s important you keep tweaking your strategy and keeping an eye on your competitors. Here are some awesome SEO competitor analysis tools to consider:
Incorrect Keyword Strategy
Keywords: the one constant in SEO algorithms. Although keywords have maintained their spot in SEO algorithms, they aren’t as straightforward as they used to be. You have these keywords that you KNOW have high rankings and you may feel the need to stick them everywhere all over your site. With today’s algorithms, that might not be the best option.
Using the same keywords on several pages could hurt your ranking. Search engines are analyzing pages with keywords in them, which means you're ultimately making your pages on your website compete against each other. With keywords, it’s important to focus on user intent and how they will go into what they are searching. Tracking search volume and using keyword tracking tools will ultimately help your keyword strategy. Take a look at these useful tools:
Titles and Meta Descriptions
Titles and meta descriptions also play a similar strategy as your keywords. As we mentioned above, if you are using the same keywords on different pages you are ultimately making them compete against one another. This is the same theory for your headings and descriptions. This is often a big challenge for brands that have similar products with the same descriptions, but you have to find a way to differentiate them.
Along with not using multiple keywords on different pages, another challenge regarding titles and descriptions is simply how compelling they are. Click-through rate is also a part of SEO, but there is a fine line you don’t want to cross. Make sure your titles are catchy and compelling but not considered “clickbait”. Clickbait will set off red flags for your ranking so you want to avoid that possibility for your titles.
Mobile Optimization
Yes, it’s 2022 and EVERYTHING relies on mobile. Especially since the pandemic, which essentially made everything virtual for a few years, people rely on their mobile devices now more than ever. You might be wondering, “Why does this matter to SEO?” Search engines adjust their algorithms to supply the best results for their searchers. With everyone relying heavily on mobile devices, how mobile responsive your site is plays a huge role in SEO.
Mobile optimization is important because Google now practices mobile-first indexing, which means they use the mobile version of your site when indexing and ranking. This makes sense for Google considering over 80% of internet users use mobile devices to surf the web. If you haven’t put the time and effort into making sure every page on your website is optimized for mobile, now is the time to do it!
SEO is a huge part of a brand’s digital success and it needs to be a priority for yours. If handled correctly, your site ranking could boost and overall gain more attention than your competitors. Remember, these are just the latest challenges right now, but as we stated earlier, it’s always changing. If this seems like a difficult task for you, let us do all the hard work! Reach out to 30|90 Marketing today to start your SEO strategy!