Why Would Your SEO Not Be Working?

The reasons why SEO isn’t working for you range from impractical expectations to internal business factors to inappropriate resource allocations. Look into 10 of them here.

Introduction:

There are now only a few developing businesses that don’t bother about their web presence.

SEO is a process that takes more time and effort than almost all the paid media channels.

That doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. It hurts me when I hear sayings like “SEO isn’t working for us” or “SEO doesn’t profitable for us” or any kind of skepticism about the value of SEO.

There are at least 10 reasons why SEO hasn’t work.

Most of the time when SEO fails, it’s due to one or more internal reasons ranging from impractical hopes and beliefs or inborn challenges within the company or organization rather than external factors.

These are just pure realities that might hurt a bit if you can relate.

These are basic necessities to recognize before shutting down SEO operation or if you are unsure it will work for you or not.

1. Impractical hopes and beliefs	If we’re considering SEO as the magical source that will meet all of our goal conversions instantaneously, we need to rethink as, like media channels and other digital marketing disciplines, SEO should be planned and systematic. Search for industry-standard, competitor data, and audience (keyword) research to define and design the SEO road map.
2. Stop trying too early	One thing we all have to remember that SEO doesn’t guarantee anything in short term. Algorithm updates, website’s health and history, backlink profile, and the competitive landscape all make an impact on ROI through SEO and making it difficult and unpredictable. Most business owners hate the unpredictable nature of SEO outcomes when it comes to timing for results. With so many unknowns, the known thing that makes SEO campaigns flop though is giving up too soon. In general, the more competitive the market, the more time you need. Likewise, the more issues you have when you start SEO, the more time you need to wait for producing ROI.
3. Directionless decision-makers	When SEO doesn’t work, it’s often because it is without direction. Strategy means doing research, setting goals, planning out a process, measuring the outcome, and having mechanisms built in that allow to take actions to implement the intended strategy is called tactics. So, strategies and tactics must work cohesively for achieving success.
4. Old-fashioned practices	It’s understandable why even seasoned SEO professionals need periodic updates for their methods and understanding of the SEO profession. The risk of outdated or ineffective practices comes with having someone add SEO to their responsibilities, those that cost measly, or those that haven’t done SEO in the recent past.
5. Lack of demand in the market	I mentioned that most of the time it’s hard to find a case where SEO can’t help a business. That’s not always 100% true. Or, at the very least, I can definitely attest that there are times where it shouldn’t be one of the leading or highest priority channels in the marketing mix. When a company’s target audience isn’t searching for what they offer, that’s a warning sign that SEO won’t work. It isn’t a case where SEO efforts can’t get the site ranked for certain keywords – it’s about the fact that those rankings won’t matter in terms of driving traffic and/or leads and sales. Some examples include products or services that are ultra-technical, have zero awareness, or in selling models that are private and aren’t conducted publicly on the web. SEO is an inbound channel. We have to have people actively coming to a search engine, do a search, find us, and click through to see it work. When there’s no opportunity (or desire) for that, then investing in SEO and working to optimize can be a pointless exercise.
6. Heavy competition	Google search results use to appear with the different layouts and types of content in the SERPs based on search intent and keyword, and organic search results are just one portion of the SERP. SEO expectations need to be filtered by considering how competitive the market is and what feature-set SERPs are displaying against the focus keyword terms and phrases. If organic results are pushed way down the SERP below ads, images, local listings, and other content created by your direct and indirect competitors, the traffic potential for a number one organic search ranking is less than it would be for a page where organic results are above the fold near the top. Rankings don’t support traffic and conversions in such cases. SEO may not work despite the top organic position if SERP features are working against us.
7. IT support issues	I know many system engineers personally. Some of the professionals sometimes don’t understand or like SEO requests. Cloud security, server functionality, and domain configuration data are often seemingly considered unnecessary requests from the SEO team even after providing necessary justification. SEO doesn’t work when the IT infrastructure or support doesn’t work. When SEO isn’t even an option for prioritization by the IT team, the situation becomes worse. If technical site issues can’t be touched, updated, or fixed, things like indexing and site speed can suffer before we even start talking about on-page factors and CMS needs.
8. UX and UI issues	Especially for conversion-focused SEO campaigns, UX and UI can often make or break the opportunity. It’s one thing to get rankings and then targeted traffic. It’s another if that traffic doesn’t convert. You can have the best rankings and alignment with keyword research, supportive content, and apt promotion on the web. However, if the UX and UI is a weak point and people can’t navigate to where you need them to, then SEO will be judged as a failure. Just like the IT team, often the designers are reluctant to address requests that come from the SEOs. Maybe they refrain from reworking on an image. That’s why involving SEO at the time of site design and development is critical.
9. Poor team configuration	Team structure often a hidden issue for poor performance. Whether it’s tied to skill sets, experience, priorities, or commitment of the resources, the team (or individual) responsible for SEO success combined with others that need to support it. Early in my career, I was an individual SEO contributor in an organization. That has changed a lot - which is a positive thing. However, many organizations still run SEO operations with an undervalued or understrength team. If there’s no real commitment and prioritization by all involved, then SEO success is in jeopardy. We need people within or around the team for content, IT, UX, and other levels of support.
10. Lack of investment/budget	SEO traffic is free! This is an utterly false statement. While no direct media dollars are required, internal or external resources are needed to be hired. That means, either pay an agency for outsourced work and/or invest in software/tools to manage SEO for a large/complex site, in addition to the costs of setting up an internal team; so SEO definitely has a price. Many organizations and business leaders still feel hesitant to invest sufficient money for SEO from their marketing budget. Not a fully funded SEO effort with direct and indirect costs cannot keep SEO working. Proper investment of money and resource needs are both critical.

Conclusion:

We all want all of our digital marketing efforts to work.

SEO is no exception.

Whether there are one or more issues or challenges that stand in our way, being aware of the reasons why SEO doesn’t work is key.

SEO is an investment at many levels, especially in a multi-layered organization. Knowing where to resolve encounters or what can sink it before even SEO starts, or after efforts are underway, can have a deep impact on making it work and unlocking the potential opportunities for reaching overall marketing and business goals through it.