If you have ever tried to tackle SEO yourself then you will know just how much of a challenge it can be. Some of the tasks are actually quite technical and it takes a significant amount of time for you to see rewards for your efforts.
In saying that, these days there are a number of tools available to assist you in a variety of areas. There are tools that you have to pay for and some that are free to use, like Google’s Search Console for example.
Tools or no tools, it is still important that you have an idea of what the biggest challenges you need to tackle in SEO are, as well as understanding the best ways to overcome them.
Take a look below at the biggest challenges you will face in SEO in 2018:
1. Creating AMP Pages
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages and it is where you design specific pages just for mobile devices to ensure that the process is streamlined and the speed is fast.
In a world where users are expecting everything instantly, it certainly pays to have specific AMP’s for your website. Not only do users like this, but Google loves it and being in Google’s good books certainly won’t hurt your SEO efforts.
If you need assistance in creating an AMP page, there is a YouTube tutorial video that helps beginners learn and understand the process. If you are completely new to this then you should certainly take a look at tutorials before you tackle the issue live on your website.
2. Generating Large Amounts of Quality Content
While this isn’t a part of technical SEO, it presents a major challenge none the less. The main challenge business owners have here is simply time. But at the end of the day, Google loves high-quality content, and a lot of it – so, unfortunately, there is no getting around it if you want to improve your rankings.
Your websites should be updated on a regular basis, usually at the very minimum 2 to 3 times per week. For some websites, that is an easy task to complete and for others, not so much.
This is why it is recommended you add a blog section to your website if you haven’t already. This section of your website means that there is a way you can constantly update your website.
When you are updating your website on a regular basis you are showing Google that your site is still active and you actually care about providing your visitors with the latest and most up to date content about whatever industry you are in.
Remember, you are an expert in your chosen field, so you should have enough ideas for new pieces of content to keep you going for a little while. When you are developing content, be sure to make it appealing or useful to readers, if not then it’s pretty simple – no one will read it!
3. Using Social Media To Help SEO
There are a lot of different arguments when it comes to social media, some love it and some don’t. But at the end of the day if you can master social media then it will have a positive impact on your SEO.
The challenge that business owners face is that social media efforts don’t directly translate into SEO results. It is more about building brand and reputation. And just like SEO, social media does take a bit of time, so you will need to be patient.
There are a couple of quick actions you can take to attempt to boost your presence on social media. Firstly, you should have social buttons on your website, especially on any pieces of content. This makes it so much easier for users to either like your page or share an article on your website.
Secondly, you will need to post regularly. This seems like a no-brainer but many businesses start off with social media all guns blazing and then suddenly drop off after a couple of months. Find a happy medium that works for you and a schedule that you know you can stick to.
4. Pushing Down Negative Content
You cannot please everyone and eventually, there will be some negative pieces of content on your website on the internet. Unfortunately, you can’t simply delete that content. So you will need to do the next best thing – push down that negativity with positivity.
To do this it is actually quite a simple process, firstly you need to create a lot of positive content about your website and then you will need to ensure there are a lot of backlinks that are pointing to this content.
If the negative content comes in the form of a review or message on social media or similar, then it is very important you respond publicly to the individual to attempt to resolve the situation. That way others can see that you actually care that users have a positive experience when dealing with your business.
