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SEO (search engine optimisation) is a vital element of any digital marketing strategy. Without it, you may struggle to gain visibility in the search results and drive organic traffic to your site.
But, SEO requires constant monitoring and regular adjustments to keep up with the ever changing digital landscape. Otherwise, you’re likely to hit a plateau. If you’ve noticed you’re no longer making progress in your SEO performance, it may be time to identify any areas of your strategy that are holding you back.
So, here are some common things to look out for if your SEO performance has come to a halt, and how to fix them.
One of the most common culprits behind a stagnant SEO performance is outdated content. Google prioritises new, relevant, and authoritative content - if your content hasn’t been updated in months, or even years, it’s more than likely that you will lose visibility to pages offering newer and more recently optimised content.
If you suspect outdated content could be one of the contributors to your plateau, you need to do two things:
To find what content on your site is out of date, use an SEO tool like Moz to identify pages that have lost a significant amount of traffic or have seen a considerable drop in rankings.
Once you’ve made a list of pages, you need to decide what content should be deleted, what content can be repurposed or updated, and what content could be redirected to a new page.
Top tip: Prioritise pages that were previously ranking high in the SERPs or bringing in a lot of traffic first.
Over optimising is using an SEO tactic too much. This could be keyword stuffing or link building with exact match anchor text every single time. Whilst keyword stuffing was a tactic that worked decades ago, Google’s algorithms are smarter than that now. Instead, Google tends to penalise sites that they suspect are adding multiple keywords with the sole intention of manipulating the search results.
Be strategic when implementing SEO tactics. Use the right keywords in key places like title tags and meta descriptions, and scatter them into your content organically. When it comes to link building, be sure to use a range of anchor text types like brand references, exact match keywords, and partial match keywords.
It’s easy to put all your focus on what’s on the page to achieve high ranking content, but your efforts will return lacklustre results if you’re failing to make your site technically sound. Slow loading times, a lack of mobile optimisation, and broken links can all negatively impact your rankings.
Technical issues can vary from site to site and you may require expert SEO help as some technical problems aren’t a quick or simple fix.
That being said, here are a few common technical SEO issues to identify:
You can find most of this information using Google Search Console and SEO tools like Ahrefs.
Search intent, as the name suggests, refers to the user’s main intention when searching online. This could be to get answers to a question, find out more information about a product, or make a purchase.
People often make the mistake of spending time and effort researching which keywords to use but don’t take into consideration the intent behind them. This can lead to content that is less relevant to the user’s search query.
Search intent is split into four categories:
The easiest way to identify the search intent behind a keyword is to analyse the SERPs. The types of results that rank well typically indicate the search intent that the search engine has determined for that keyword. Sometimes when a search is ambiguous and the search engine hasn’t identified the intent, the results will be more varied.
Google rewards content that offers users a good page experience. A confusing site structure, difficult navigation, and intrusive pop-ups can create a poor experience for the user, which could drive them away from your site.
Google has a self-assessment checklist that you can use to gauge how good or bad your page experience is:
You want to ensure your page has good core webs vitals, is served on a secure server, is optimised for mobile, doesn’t have too many ads that cause a distraction, and has clear main content.
Backlinks signal to Google that your site is authoritative, and since Google gives more weight to sites with more authority in their niche, it’s a pretty important element of your SEO strategy. If your backlink profile has dwindled or you’re not focusing on acquiring new links, your site may struggle to gain authority in the SERPs.
Analyse your current backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Semrush. Look out for broken or lost links that you could reclaim by contacting the publisher.
Additionally, you should be engaging in activities that could earn you links, such as digital PR or producing linkable assets like infographics.
Structured data (also known as schema markup) helps search engines better understand your content. This can help boost your visibility in the search results by improving your chances of appearing in a featured snippet.
SEO is relative. So, even if your SEO performance hasn’t worsened, if your competitors have improved more than you have, then it’s likely that they will continue to outrank you.
It’s important to monitor your competitors regularly. See what keywords they are using, what content formats they are choosing, and where their backlinks are coming from. What’s working for your direct competitors will likely work for you, so get inspiration from their strategies, then improve on it for your own site.
If your SEO progress has come to a standstill, it doesn’t mean your website is doomed - it means it’s time to reevaluate your strategy. Conduct regular keyword and content audits, take a deeper look at your website’s technical SEO, focus on high-quality and user-first content, give context to Google, and leverage the success of your competitors for your own site to help get your SEO moving again.
In addition, it's important to keep up-to-date with the latest changes from Google. Algorithm updates can rock the search results, so you need to be aware and prepared for these in order to stay ahead.
If you’d like expert help reviving your website’s SEO performance, get in touch with us today.
