Search engine optimization (SEO) might be the single-most misunderstood element of digital marketing.

The days of keyword stuffing and optimized meta-tags are over—as today’s SEO content creation is multilayered and complex, requiring extensive planning, near-constant adjustments and, perhaps most of all, patience.

If your website seems to be losing ground on Google and the other search engines, there may be a number of reasons why. Here are a few of the most common problems our professional content writers see on a regular basis:

• Lackluster content: Your SEO content creation could be inadequately written or researched, have numerous spelling errors, be overly spammy with keywords or be simply uninteresting. Whatever the case, Google rewards websites that have high-quality content and punishes those with low-quality content. Take a good look over your website and blog and see if there is room for improvement.
• Lack of a cohesive effort: SEO isn’t something you can succeed at by putting in 30 minutes a week and hoping for the best. You need to put real time and effort into it to make sure all of your web pages and blog content have been properly optimized.
• Poor inbound links: Link building may not be as important as it was in past years, but bad inbound links can still have a negative impact on your overall search results. A pattern of manipulative or spammy links can hurt you. If you have links on your website, make sure they are relevant and actually add value for your readers.
• Failing to target the right audience: Make sure you’re focusing your SEO content creation on search queries people are actually using. Make sure any keywords and phrases are actually representative of the users you are trying to target. Even if you’re getting a lot of traffic from existing keywords, if those people are not turning into customers or spending much time on your website, you likely need to adjust your approach.
• Pulling the plug too early: Online marketing is a long-tail strategy. A brand cannot expect to see results after a few days or weeks—the returns compound over the course of months. You may even see a negative return on investment within your first few months. But the more you invest into the strategy, the greater long-term ROI you will likely achieve.

SEO content techniques to implement

A lot of business owners and content writers who are just getting started with SEO content creation have the misconception that it involves stuffing as many keywords and phrases into blog and web content as possible. Today’s SEO processes, however, are far more intricate and sophisticated.

There are no shortcuts in digital marketing, and simply finding the best keywords is no longer the most important part of your strategy. Rather, they simply represent one piece of the puzzle. You also need to focus on the quality of your website copy, how often you update your blog, the mobile capability of your site, the organization of your sitemap and how fast your pages load.

One of the best ways to boost your search rankings is to publish new blog content on a regular basis. Consider updating your blog at least once per week—or more than that if you have the capacity. The better the quality and more dynamic the content, the stronger impact your blog will have on your search results.

If your company competes on a local level, you should also be sure to get your company’s name, address, phone number, hours and other information in Google’s Local Business Listings. (You should do this regardless of your business, but it’s particularly important for locally based companies.)

Finally, remember to use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to track your site’s performance when it comes to your SEO content creation. After all, planning an implementing your strategy will be for naught if you don’t know how well it’s doing.

Creating good, informative content on a consistent basis can be challenging for small and medium-sized business owners. If you could use some assistance, consider reaching out to a team of copywriting professionals.