If you could see the future, prognosticating search engine optimization (SEO) marketing would still be a challenge. What exactly makes SEO marketing so unpredictable? The blame rests on the search engines themselves as well as your competition, but that’s just the tip of the SEO marketing iceberg. To help you get a better grip on SEO, here are a few insights Logical Position has gained about search engine optimization in their role as national SEO experts.
A Question of Values
Search engines use ranking factors to assess your website and determine the most valuable information to provide to their users. It should be simple to figure out what they’re searching for and improve your site, right? Unfortunately, no. Hundreds upon hundreds of ranking factors are in play. Any one of them can boost or hinder your SEO game, including canonicals (URLs the engines consider representative of your site), hreflang tags (which mark pages that are similar but are directed at different regions or languages), redirects, site speed, and, of course, the content itself. All these factors contribute to your organic success. Which do you tackle first? It depends. But ranking factors are one very big reason for SEO marketing’s unpredictability.
Mysterious Realm
SEO is a mystifying “place”. The biggest mystery is what happens behind the scenes with a search engine. Change is constant at Google. They perform core algorithm changes three to four times per year—a process they describe as an “oil change”—to ensure better performance. Unlike a real oil change, however, some businesses and industries notice a change in performance afterward. To compound things, Google rarely confirms or publicizes these changes, making SEO changes more difficult to forecast.
The Competition
Closely watch your competition, even in the digital world! As you invest in SEO, your rivals are doing the same. Whatever they do influences your rankings, and they are absolutely spending their time and effort on shared keywords to redirect the search engines away from your site and towards their own. Consider this when devising your SEO marketing plan.
More Than Meets the Eye
We’ve explored what exactly makes SEO marketing so unpredictable. One key thing to keep in mind: SEO isn’t singular, it’s plural. More precisely, it’s dozens of different concepts tied together. Getting a grip on that notion is difficult. That’s why it’s necessary to hire an SEO company like Logical Position that lives and breathes SEO. SEO requires organization, a well-thought-out strategy, and a national SEO services team dedicated to creating unique, consistent, and fresh content. Contact LP for a consultation. As an experienced national SEO company, we can educate you on the mysteries of SEO and how to make the most of it!
