New SEO companies seem to come and go like bad TV shows. In this post I’ll explain the top 10 reasons so many SEO companies fail so quickly. But first, let me validate my reasoning by telling you a little more about me. I am the CEO of The Ocean Agency, a boutique digital marketing agency in Chicago, IL. This is our 10th successful year in business. We have 7 employees, gross over a million dollars per year, and half of our revenue comes from SEO.
Before we get started with the list, I think it’s important to note that SEO is a very easy market to enter. Juts build a site and BOOM, you’re an SEO expert. I wish it were that easy, but it’s not. So, easy entry to market is really an indirect reason why so many SEO companies fail.
Top 10 Reasons SEO Companies Fail
1. They focus on websites, not “web pages”
Google does not rank websites, Google ranks web pages. I constantly see and hear SEO companies talk about ranking websites. They should be talking about ranking web pages and landing pages, after all, that’s what Google does. Test it out. Do a search in Google for “Chicago SEO”. Ocean19.com does NOT come up first. Instead, our SEO page comes up first. Google wants to get their users as close as possible to the content they are looking for. Here’s another test: Try Googling “Digital Camera” and see what comes up first. Not their home page. Their digital camera age comes up first.
2. They link “build” instead of link “earn”
Link building implies SPAM. After all, you’re going out there and trying find websites that will link to you for no other reason other than the link. You’re not providing valuable information. You’re promoting yourself. Good SEO companies earn links. They build such amazing content that people choose to link to it and share it. Link earning forces us to focus on creating quality content, and not spamming people. So, introduce link earning to your team, and stop link building.
3. They target too many key phrases
You’re confusing the hell out of Google by targeting too many key phrases on one page. You should be targeting 1-3 very similar key phrases, not 5-10 different ones. An example of similar key phrases would be, “Chicago pizza” and “Chicago pizza delivery”.
4. They focus too much on technical SEO
SEO is 20% technical and 80% content strategy. It use to be the other way around, but not any more. SEO is about awesome content strategy. The technical is still very much needed, but it’s only a small part of SEO these days. Technical can help with code optimization and site optimization, but content strategy is the new SEO.
5. They don’t brainstorm internally
One of the most valuable things good SEO companies do is brainstorm internally. Two heads are always better than one. Meet frequently about your client and discuss awesome content strategies to improve their SEO. Bring everyone in the room. You never know where that awesome idea may come from.
6. They don’t offer Free SEO Audits
Not offering a free SEO audit is like going to a mechanic and not getting a free estimate and diagnoses of the problem. Always offer a free SEO audit to get the conversation going. It’s also something visual that you client can hang on and remember you buy. Embed a free website analysis tool to your website using MySiteAuditor.com. You will generate way more SEO leads and way more SEO sales.
7. They don’t focus on revenue
One of the top SEO professionals in the industry, Neil Patel, has always said, “Most SEO agencies have it wrong. They focus on rankings, not revenue.” Neil could care less about his client’s traffic. He thinks more big picture, and that’s about his client’s bottom line. All he cares about making more money for his clients. That inherently causes him to do better SEO tactics.
8. They focus on content quantity, not quality
Don’ tell you SEO clients how many article you’re going to write for them. Tell them how awesome the content will be. Better yet, show them how great it will be. At The Ocean Agency, we love showing awesome content we’ve built for new clients, like this infographic we did for a longtiestore.com.
9. They don’t stay organized
There are so many things that need to be done during the life of a SEO campaign, and our brains aren’t meant to remember all of them. You need to stay organized, and make sure nothing slips through the cracks. My advice is to make checklists for everything. Basecamp is the best paid tool for making checklists and checkli.com is the best free tool for making checklists.
10. They don’t read top SEO blogs
Surprisingly, reading blogs are very hard to do because there are so many to read and it takes up a lot of time. Here’s what I do. Every morning I try to ride our exercise bike. During that time I also read all of my blogs. It’s perfect. It kill two birds with one stone. Here is a list of the top SEO blogs to read in 2014.
Conclusion
The good news is that it’s very easy to get into the SEO industry. The bad news is that it’s very hard to stay. So, learn from the experience professionals who’ve already been down the road you are taking. There is no need to make the same mistakes we made 5 years ago. Otherwise, your SEO company will just wind-up another failed SEO company.