Search engine optimization (SEO) has become quite a buzzword in the last few years, but for good reason. Reports show that 93% of all traffic comes from a search engine, while Google receives over 63 thousand searches each second!
In such circumstances, it is completely natural to hear webmasters and digital gurus discussing issues such as keywords, on- and off-page optimization, or metadata. But the truth remains that not everyone is capable of implementing a state of the art SEO strategy.
If you are wondering whether your website is underperforming or not, you should look for the right signs. In this post, we are going to present you with six signs that indicate you need outside SEO help. Let’s take a look!
1. You don’t know your average daily traffic
Web traffic is one of the basic, and also the simplest, SEO parameters. It is simply the average number of users who visit your website daily, weekly, or monthly. You have to track this indicator because it’s the first way to analyze website performance.
The real issue is not how many users visit your site, but rather where they come from. The most common traffic sources are these:
- Direct traffic: Some people will go to your site directly by typing your URL in the browser bar.
- Referrals: Some users will follow a link that leads to your website from another site.
- Paid traffic: You can also pay for online ads or PPC campaigns.
- Social: This happens when social media followers find and follow the website URL from your account.
- Email: Email subscribers will often click the link you added to your newsletter.
- Organic traffic: Most users will find you through online searches and most of them will use Google as the search engine.
The last item on this list is critical to the success of your website. It depends on SEO strategy, so you better make sure to hire external agencies to help you in case you can’t do it alone.
2. You experience a decline in traffic or ranking
A traffic or search ranking decline is among the scariest things for a webmaster. Let’s say that your post used to be at the top of Google’s search results, but suddenly you realize that it’s now on the second page. Would you know what to do? Could you detect the problem?
Kathy Marsh, the SEO specialist at UK Careers Booster, says there are so many things that could go wrong here: “From keyword strategy to CTA and user interface, there are tons of details that can undermine your optimization efforts, so don’t be shy to ask SEO advisors to step in and give you a hand.”
3. There are not enough leads
As much as website traffic is important, businesses ultimately depend on lead generation and conversions. If you cannot acquire fresh leads and convert them into purchasers, your online endeavors are doomed.
Once again, problems could range from low-quality web design to broken links. Another problem that most webmasters don’t get is that sites often attract the wrong audience. These are the people who like your content, but don’t intend to do anything about it. These are all small but very annoying details that can ruin your SEO efforts.
4. You don’t know anything about SEO
While it’s much better to admit ignorance, you shouldn’t just give it up and leave everything to professional SEO services. If you really want to administer a successful website, you have to at least learn fundamental optimization tactics. It will not only help you to understand the basic processes, but also make it easier to find the best company to manage your SEO strategy.
5. You believe that you’ve done all it takes
Here’s another banal but very frequent problem – a lot of webmasters believe themselves to be experts in SEO even though they don’t have a clue. This creates a big problem because they think they’ve done all it takes to boost website ranking, but reality fights back with fierce determination.
If you belong to this inglorious group, keep in mind that SEO rules are not fixed. Google changes search engine algorithms all the time, while user preferences and keyword strategies also evolve. In such circumstances, superficial SEO knowledge is not enough to make your website effective. On the contrary, you need some external help to halt the decline and put the site back on the right track.
6. Content is king… Or is it?
We all know that users search for various topics online because they want to find quality content that solves practical problems. However, don’t think that content alone can drive leads and conversions since you still need to inspire users to click the link and consume your posts.
This is not possible without implementing the latest optimization tricks. It’s all about topic research, keyword analysis, following trends, and finding the right timing for your articles. Unless you are able to craft a comprehensive content optimization plan, your posts won’t make much of a difference.
Conclusion
SEO is one of the cornerstones of online business, so every webmaster is eager to learn more about this important concept. However, the truth is that most people don’t really know how things work in this field and don’t notice that their websites are underperforming.
In this post, we showed you six signs that you need outside SEO help. Keep an eye on these SEO indicators and make sure to react promptly if you notice any of them – it could save your business some day!
