5 Biggest Problems With SEO and Solutions

Here are the biggest problem with SEO (in general) as a marketing method:

1. SEO is slow & not a quick fix.
2. SEO is hard and unless you’re consistent – it can feel like time wasted.
3. SEO results can seem unclear, and some people sell flimsy SEO and just tell you ‘it takes time.’
4. The Google algorithm is changing often so results can seem fleeting. 
5. SEO doesn’t feel scalable, it’s hard to pay more money for more result or quicker result, while lead buying and ads are more predictable.

First of all – I hear you. In the 5 years I’ve been running our company and working with contractors on driving more traffic and leads – I’ve seen these issues, had tough conversations, failed and grown. We created better processes and got better about expectation setting.

Now I feel like a bit of an accountability partner for people that want to quit, because results actually aren’t always easy – or quick.

How to solve for each/ or how to think about it differently:

1. SEO isn’t a quick fix – so if you are in your first year, DIY your SEO (link in comments for 3 things to do if nothing else) and use Google ads, and other more immediate methods. Just at least get the ball rolling with location pages and a blog a month ideally answering questions you get often in the sales process.
2. SEO is hard – EXACTLY (good), and that’s why 9 out of 10 of your competitors won’t do it diligently.
3. Results are unclear – this is why learning a little bit yourself can go a long way. Sign into Google analytics and search console + get a free Ahrefs account and look for increases in referring domains and keywords ranked for (while waiting for .. yes, a sometimes annoying wait for increase in leads.)
4. Google changes – Yes the algorithm changes, but not as quick as SEO’s sometimes make it seem. Rankings (not created by ‘growth hacks’) generally stick around for a long time, keep going up long after the effort was made, and have a long half life.
5. SEO doesn’t feel scalable and is less predictable – I kind of agree with this one. That’s why I like ads too… but really you could create more content at scale and generally you’ll get more result, it just does feel less predictable than ads.

Any more objections to SEO in general? 

Curious to other peoples take on these. Comment below! 👇