Have you ever watched in amazement as a juggler almost effortlessly has several balls in the air? Dexterous and agile, he throws them high, juggles them one by one, even does tricks with them... and yet, none of them bounce off the ground!
You get home and decide to try it. But even with two balls, it doesn't work the same way. You failed. And you fail again. “Juggling is hard,” you tell yourself. But is not. Not if you learn how to do it. And then practice how to do it.
SEO is that way, too. Without knowing how it works, you will fail. Often spectacularly.
Here are six scenarios that could happen.
1.- Be outdated
Even large corporations that handle high volume online sales often work with “expert” SEO dinosaurs who learned their trade 10 years ago and then stopped without updating their knowledge. In a fast-moving field like search marketing, this approach won't work.
An SEO strategy that is not up to date with knowledge is problematic on many levels. First, there is the obvious issue that you may not be able to outperform competitors who are using more cutting-edge tactics.
There is also a risk involved in using outdated tactics. Many tactics that were previously considered acceptable in the SEO world They are now considered spam or “black hat” techniques. – which means you could incur a penalty which removes all or part of your site from search results. Depending on how much you rely on organic traffic and sales, this could have a disastrous impact on your business.
A good SEO practitioner stays up to date with cutting-edge technologies and is aware of trends and changes in the market.
2.- Low ambition
Because great SEO can be expensive, it's hard to justify the expense when you only have modest goals. When business leaders realize the amount of effort it takes to achieve world-class results, they prefer to scale their goals down. Settle for less. The acceptance of mediocrity.
That's a sure way to fail at search marketing.
Unlike many tactical forms of marketing, SEO becomes more and more powerful over time. An ambitious plan to dominate search results in a niche is more likely to have a greater positive impact on your business than a half-hearted attempt to secure a “top 10” position on Google for keywords.
3.- Without condition
As an amateur boxer, I know that it doesn't matter if you win the first round or not. What's really important is that you can last the rest of the rounds – and be able to remain standing at the end of the fight.
A key requirement for SEO success, too, is your ability to stay the course. Your budget must be adequate and distributed intelligently over the duration of a campaign. If you are compulsive and throw punches quickly, or stop before you have gained strength, then you will inevitably fail. Following a flawed strategy, or not doing what is necessary, you will gradually undermine your search rankings and profitability.
In boxing, if you underestimate your competition and become less careful, you will be hit by a punch and knocked out early. In some ways, boxing is better – because you'll get immediate feedback. In the search, Often you won't know how badly you were hit until several months later.
4.- Establish and forget the mentality
Among the things I find most difficult to explain to new clients is the reality that SEO is not a one-time solution. It is a continuous process.
Misguided by the claims of inexperienced or unscrupulous marketers who promise quick fixes, many think they make SEO decisions as a mere sequence of steps that are taken once – and never repeated. That attitude condemns your SEO strategy to failure.
The greatest strength of SEO is that it becomes more effective over time, as long as you continue to maintain it. Giving up effort will limit the scope of your success – after all, your competitors will never stop trying to beat you.
SEO tactics implemented correctly will bring results for weeks, months, and even years… but only when you build your continued success.
5.- There is no tracking
Everything you do in your SEO strategy should have a measurable impact – and someone on the team should be responsible for tracking success.
When things don't give the desired result or profits, you should be able to see it in time. Without analytics data and an ongoing review process, it is difficult to track key performance indicators and measure progress. This is where so many SEO failures occur.
A map with a clearly defined route, with specific tasks assigned to team members, can simplify and improve your SEO plan.
6.- Don't see beyond
Above all, the role of a good SEO consultant is to understand clients' needs and educate them on how SEO can help them achieve their goals. Sometimes it's important to remember that meeting your business goal is what really matters – not getting high rankings or creating perfectly optimized pages.
SEO strategy is about constantly moving the needle. Generate more money for the client's business, acquire more clients, make more sales, retain current clients and rankings and keep clients happy by delivering results.
Final thoughts
Good and sustainable SEO takes time to deliver the greatest impact. Without the support and trust of your SEO team, you will be tempted to ask for help. So be smart and keep your focus on the end result. This is how you will avoid failing at SEO.
