6 SEO Problems Every Marketer Faces (& How to Fix Them)

Search engine optimization isn’t just about keywords anymore.

With every new change in Google’s algorithm, SEO becomes less of a single process or skill and more of a comprehensive strategy. Successful SEO concepts need to be firmly embedded into an enterprise’s entire communications approach from the beginning.

Identifying the audience and choosing how to address them, are now crucially integrated into the never-ending quest for search engine visibility. That means the SEO expert needs to take a holistic view of the process and all its moving parts.

And that, more than anything else, can lead to SEO problems.

The SEO challenges of the past – questions about keyword density, meta tags, and so much more – are increasingly giving way to the most complex issues a company faces as it brands and positions. Good SEO demands tech savvy, clear communication, and project management skills.

Let’s look at some of today’s top SEO problems and how to fix them:

PROBLEM: Not Enough Info on Prospective Customers

When an enterprise first starts out, its ideas about its customers are largely conjecture – based on reading and research in similar markets. Even launching a new product brings with it a level of uncertainty here: You have to reacquaint yourself with your prospects all over again.

In time, lead nurturing gives your sales team more opportunities to talk to and find out what they’re thinking. Meanwhile, however, there are steps you can take on the SEO side of things that will make the process of discovering your prospects easier:

How To Fix It:

• Connect with sales pros to find out what uses, concerns, and questions prospects have
• Create lead magnets you can exchange for some basic information on your prospects
• Use progressive profiling with forms that gradually ask for more specific information
• Get info from customer service or tech support to see how prospects use your products

PROBLEM: Unclear Buyer Journeys for Web Visitors

When they arrive on your website for the first time, your prospects already bring with them lots of history. They may never have heard of your brand before, but they have assumptions about what you can provide. Odds are good they have already done some research.

From the start, your content should provide a crystal clear vision for how your offerings fit into their overall plans. Each qualified buyer has different needs and expectations, so they can easily be driven away if there’s a mismatch between your content and their expectations.

How To Fix It:

• Consult with your product development team to understand the “use cases” they envision
• Huddle with sales pros to learn if there are any gaps in your prospect-facing Web content
• Design e-books, video tutorials, and other content that differentiates prospects’ key needs
• Use email marketing automation with behavioral forks to keep prospects on the right road

PROBLEM: Focusing on Too Many Keywords

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: You can’t have an SEO strategy without keywords. For all the talk about how smart search engines are getting, they are nowhere near reading your content like a person. Keywords are critical for getting the level of visibility you need.

But here’s the thing: Enterprises easily fall into the trap of trying to go too far, too fast.

Exactly how many keywords are too many is one of those classic “chicken and egg” SEO problems. Still, it’s usually best to cover a small number of high-value keywords that you can service with outstanding content instead of a huge number of tangential ones.

How To Fix It:

• Use your analytics suite to find keywords with high bounce rates and shelf them for now
• Pick out your top five current keywords based on engagement and length of Web session
• Review (or establish!) your editorial calendar to ensure new content around hot keywords
• Develop a structured plan to add new keywords to your strategy as they become relevant

If you’re running a bigger SEO team with lots of dedicated writers and techs, you can take on the task of making optimized landing pages and content for current low-value keywords. In most cases, though, that’s a medium-term process: Today, it’s all about SEO troubleshooting!

PROBLEM: No Integration of New Keywords

No matter how careful or comprehensive your keyword discovery process is, you’ll soon find there are new vistas of opportunity out there for you to explore. This is one of the few good SEO problems to have, as each keyword creates new grounds for you to connect with potential buyers. Still, consistency is the key in ensuring you are driving traffic from every useful source.

How To Fix It:

• Use Google Search Console to pinpoint incidental keywords you’re getting traffic from
• Write focused landing pages for those keywords; link to them from current landing pages
• Integrate monthly sweeps across your analytics tools to find new and emerging keywords
• Use lead capture tools and cross-linking to ensure visitors discover new, optimized pages

PROBLEM: Not Enough or Poor-Quality Backlinks

There are more ranking signals than there used to be, but backlinks are still at the top of the heap when it comes to advancing your SERPs position. Google now slices and dices backlinks with an incredible level of precision, making the most desirable links far more powerful than the rest. Done right, you can craft a quality backlink portfolio in a fraction of the time it once took.

How To Fix It:

• Connect with brands in adjacent verticals that might link to your most useful content
• Share content with social media influencers who can spark instant traffic and backlinks
• Get high-authority links from industry organizations that serve your target audience
• Add optimized links across all the platforms you use – YouTube, SlideShare, and more

PROBLEM: Not Enough Local SEO Traction

Not all B2B enterprises will need to make local search a top priority. Still, a good local SEO presence works together with overall SEO by making your business more discoverable. This helps you develop a citation flow that raises trust and authority. Plus, you have all the usual benefits of being able to capture traffic from people who may be ready and able to buy immediately.

How To Fix It:

• Make sure you have a dedicated Contact page with your business address and phone
• Add your contact information in a well-organized footer on all main content pages
• Claim your listing at Google My Business and other local business directories online
• Use a sitemap with XML markup so search engines decipher your location more easily

What’s the lesson? Even the toughest SEO problems can be overcome when you have a clear strategic vision backed by the flexibility and techniques you need.