The world of organic search and SEO marketing is always evolving. The ever-changing nature of the channel is in itself a problem for marketers. Additionally, each new iteration comes with unique SEO challenges. This article will cover the three biggest issues marketers and content creators face – and how to deal with them.
SEO Challenge #1: Oversaturation
One of the biggest SEO challenges today is oversaturation. Thanks to keyword research tools and AI, marketers have flooded the SERPs with low-quality content.
Keyword research tools can be a good way to find high-volume, low-competition keywords. But when everyone is using the same tools to find the same keywords, the result is a flood of similar content.
Artificial intelligence exacerbates the problem. These tools allow marketers to generate passable articles about any topic in no time.
That means you have to work even harder to prove that every piece of content is worth reading. Because everyone is itching for an excuse to click the “Back” button on their browser.
Solution: Originality
To do that and overcome this SEO challenge, you have to be original and deliver amazing value with everything you publish.
AI is part of the problem, but it can also be part of the solution. ChatGPT is a great tool for brainstorming unique content ideas. We used ChatGPT to develop an article about what marketers can learn from Stan Lee and Marvel.
Another way to be original is to think about things you’ve seen a thousand times and avoid them.
Short articles, videos, infographics, and webinars are done to death. That’s not to say you should avoid them all together. There’s a reason they’re popular formats.
But, at least for short blog posts, one of the main reasons is that they’re the cheapest and easiest to create. (Which is one of the reasons this SEO problem exists in the first place!)
Don’t let that be the deciding factor when developing your content strategy.
SEO Challenge #2: Less Space
The second SEO problem is that Google continues to offer more SERP features. These features take up space, which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. But they are not always geared towards directing traffic to the websites that provide the content for the features.
Solution: More Channels
The solution for this is the same as it’s always been for SEO and every other channel: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That means marketers should be taking an omnichannel approach.
Use a multitouch, multichannel strategy. Focus on retargeting and personalization to nurture your leads.
SEO Challenge #3: Low Intent
Another challenge in SEO is that many campaigns focus on top-of-funnel keywords. The hope is that it will attract website visitors who download a lead magnet (or something) and move down the funnel.
These low-intent keywords do drive a lot of traffic. But what if you’re not able to get visitors to submit your form? Most of them won’t, and then you don’t have many options for winning their business.
Solution: Lead Nurturing
Don’t neglect purchase intent keywords. They might not have the search volume of topics higher in the funnel, but they’re more likely to result in sales.
And you should be careful any keyword research tool’s search volume estimates anyway. They’re often wrong. (How’s that for an SEO challenge?) We’ve seen keywords that were estimated to get 0-10 searches a month lead to more than enough traffic to justify a piece of content.
Also, considering using website visitor identification software. It identifies the names, emails, and mailing addresses of anonymous website visitors. Then you can nurture them via email, social media, display, and direct mail retargeting.
Don’t Forget About the Next Set of SEO Challenges
The world of organic search and SEO marketing is constantly evolving and presents unique challenges for marketers. Currently the most pressing challenges are oversaturation of low-quality content, less space on SERP features, and low intent keywords.
To overcome these challenges, marketers should focus on originality, an omnichannel approach, and lead nurturing. But it’s also critical to stay on the lookout for the next challenges, because a marketers job is never done. We’ll be tackling new obstacles next year (or sooner)!