It’s incredibly easy to fall into a trap when it comes to SEO. The industry is constantly evolving with new opportunities to get advanced and improve your strategy, but sometimes it can be too much too soon. If your SEO strategy seems to be floundering, it could be because you’ve spiraled into using too many tactics or following outdated advice. It can be tough to admit it, but sometimes what you need is to ditch your old strategy and take an entirely new direction.
Steps to Help You Create a New SEO Direction
Creating a new SEO strategy can seem overwhelming, particularly if it’s your second go at trying to be successful. Not only do you have to stop and think about what redirection to take and how, but in many cases you actually have to go back and undo what you’ve already done. It therefore helps to think about the before, during, and after of a redirection:
Creating Your New Plan
- Figure out what is and what is not working. Whenever you’re taking a new direction with anything in your company this is the first place to start. Identify what you want to improve upon, what is getting you results, and what needs to be revised or trashed.
- Get your staff and employees involved. Involve your entire staff in this process, even if they don’t work with SEO, and start by simply jotting down ideas and then connecting the dots later. All departments can help shed insight into your audience and what they want, and that’s one of the most important things to understand for SEO success.
- Research other options and learn from influencers. Once you have an idea of what is working and what isn’t, it’s time to research. Look at some of the most well respected SEO blogs in the industry such as Search Engine Land, Moz, and even our sister-site HigherVisibility, and start following SEO influencers. Remember though, always take a look at the date an article was written—SEO changes fast!
- Consider hiring an expert or agency. This is probably going to be your best course of action. An agency has practice revamping old SEO strategies, and they have experience making these changes quickly. They will be able to jump in and tell you what’s working and what isn’t, so if you have the budget, it’s well worth it.
Putting Your New Plan Into Practice
- Know how you’re going to measure your results. Once you put your new plan in practice, it’s all about measuring results. Make sure you know how to use Google Analytics, which you can learn more about here, and make sure that you’re familiar with what different metrics mean so that you can alter your strategy as you go.
- Continue to A/B test. You should always be testing different types of content, formats and designs, and more so that your audience is happy and the Google bots are following all of your information. Even asking your audience or employing a Google Consumer Survey may help you succeed.
- Continue to follow SEO news. SEO is constantly changing and new ideas are constantly emerging, so go back to those blogs and those influencers every few days to keep yourself fresh.
What to Do After Your SEO Redirection
This is where keeping an eye on your Google Analytics data and SEO Reports is extremely important. You have to make sure that you’re patient and give yourself enough time to see results, but this is also the time where you should be testing and making changes to see what content types are working, what links are bringing you traffic, where you fall in the rankings for certain search queries, etc. If you still find that you aren’t having much luck, take a good look at who is working on your SEO and consider changing agencies or hiring a larger and/or more experienced team.
In the end, having to change your SEO direction is actually a common occurrence for many companies, and companies find success with this all the time. It may be frustrating at first, but if you continue to work hard and work with the right people SEO is something every company can master. If you have any advice or any stories of your own, let us know in the comments below.