Why You Still Can’t Beat Your Search Competition
This article was published on April 29, 2019
Categorized in: SEO
SEO is a long term process. You aren’t going to see results quickly, but within six months to a year of an SEO campaign you should start to see some improvement in your search ranking. What if you’ve been working at it for a year and don’t see any significant change? What if you just can’t seem to compete in your industry or niche, no matter how hard you try?
When it comes to a stagnant SEO campaign, here are a few common culprits that can hinder success:
Your Content Isn’t Great
Content is the foundation of an SEO campaign. If your content is poorly written, too thin, or includes too many keywords or not enough keywords it won’t be trusted by the search engines (or your target audience). While content quality is most important, quantity matters too. In order to be successful, you need to publish content online in places other than your website on a regular basis.
Your Code Is Sloppy
To the search engines, sloppy code equals a sloppy website. Sometimes website owners aren’t even aware that their code is messy, since the website itself still looks OK. When in doubt, hire an expert to do an analysis.
You Aren’t Getting the Right Links
You know that links are important so you’ve been working on building them religiously. But are you building the right links? All links are not created equal. A link from a high authority industry related publication is worth much more than a link from a little known directory. Spend your link building time doing research and concentrate your efforts on sites that actually matter.
You Don’t Have a Blog
Any search engine optimization specialist will tell you that a great way to improve your SEO efforts is to blog on a regular basis. Blog posts rank in the search engines and provide additional opportunities to target keywords. Each new post ensures that the search engine spiders will be making their way back to your site frequently.
They Are Older
This is one that you really don’t have much control over. Your competition may be outranking you not because they have better content or a better link building strategy, but simply because they have an older site. Trust is huge in the search engines, and domain age is a big contributing factor to ranking.
While search engine ranking is important, you don’t want to be too focused on where you stand compared to where your competition stands. Instead, focus on improving your own traffic and conversions through online marketing.
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About the Author: Brick Marketing President, Nick Stamoulis
Nick Stamoulis is a digital marketing expert and President of Brick Marketing. With 25+ years experience, he specializes in solving complex digital marketing challenges through SEO, content marketing, social media, PPC, email marketing, SEO for AI (GEO) and conversion optimization.
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