6 Biggest SEO Challenges for Site Owners in 2024

Intro

This year has been tough for online business owners, content creators, and SEOs.

With the algorithm changes, increased competition, and shifting consumer behavior patterns, keeping up with the ever-evolving digital landscape has been a constant challenge.

As we near the end of this year, it's important to reflect on these challenges and start planning for the coming year.

This article will discuss some challenges faced by online businesses and provide tips on how to overcome them in 2025.

1. Google’s Updates Threats

The March update was a big one. It lasted 45 days and had a major impact on website rankings.

Google declared there was a 45% reduction in SERPs of low-quality and unhelpful content.

If your site was affected, you may have seen a drop in traffic and rankings.

So, how can you deal with it?

First, you should audit your content and make sure it is highly relevant, accurate, and up to date.

Next, focus on satisfying search intent and providing a great user experience.

For example, if a user is looking for software to display information on TV, make sure your page offers detailed information and reviews of different software options.

In addition to this update, Google has also been focusing on penalizing sites with poor user experience and slow loading times. This means it's crucial to regularly review your site's technical performance and make necessary improvements.

If you haven't done it already, check Google’s Search Essentials, which provides valuable insights into the search engine's expectations for website quality (and what to avoid).

While it's impossible to predict every algorithm change, following SEO best practices is always a good idea.

This includes optimizing your website for mobile devices, creating high-quality and relevant content, using proper headings and meta tags, building quality backlinks, and utilizing keywords strategically.

Keeping up with the latest industry trends can also give you an advantage in staying ahead of the competition and adapting to any future algorithm changes.

2. AI Results

Google has been testing for a while its AI overviews.

It is a new feature that provides users with a quick overview of key information related to their search query.

For example, if you search for "Zepbound Weight Loss", the overview may include a brief description of the product, average ratings, prices, and availability.

But, what happens if Google already shows the answer to the user without letting him visit your website?

Although it may seem counterintuitive, this can benefit your website by increasing brand visibility and credibility.

To take advantage of AI results, make sure to have accurate and updated information about your products or services on your website and utilize structured data markup.

You can also use Google My Business to provide accurate and up-to-date information for local searches.

3. Outranking Competitors

With the increasing number of businesses going online, competition is only getting tougher.

To outrank your competitors, it's crucial to regularly monitor their strategies and performance.

Tools like Ranktracker can help you analyze your competitors' backlinks, keywords, and rankings.

For example, if you find an opportunity to be included in a featured snippet, you can use the "People Also Ask" section on Google to see what your competitors are doing and how you can improve your content.

Additionally, keep an eye on their social media presence, paid advertising strategies, and customer reviews. This will give you a better understanding of their overall online presence and help you identify areas where you can differentiate yourself.

One great way is to steal their competitive keywords. To do so, focus on the effort-to-reward ratio:

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These are basically long-tail keywords with lower competition and higher relevance to your target audience.

Use keyword tools to identify these opportunities and incorporate them into your content strategy.

4. Being a Small Fish

If you are a small business or just starting, it can be challenging to compete with established and well-known brands.

But, don't let this discourage you. Instead, use it as an opportunity to find your unique selling point and stand out from the competition.

Consider targeting niche markets or using creative marketing tactics that appeal to your target audience.

You can also leverage influencer marketing or collaborate with other businesses in complementary industries to boost your traffic.

Additionally, focus on building a strong online presence through consistent branding and high-quality content creation.

By establishing your brand and delivering valuable content to your audience, you can build trust and loyalty that can help you compete with bigger players in the long run.

And, how can you do this?

You can get a lot of help from quality backlinks.

They can improve your website's credibility and authority, boost your search engine rankings, and drive more traffic to your site.

You can acquire backlinks through guest posting, partnerships, or creating engaging content that others want to link to.

Platforms like Featured.com, for example, offer a way to connect with relevant websites and acquire quality backlinks by sharing your knowledge. I've been featured on Entrepreneur thanks to my contribution to one of their roundups.

5. Keeping Content Helpful is Hard Work

Last but not least, remember that SEO is an ongoing process.

It's not enough to have great content once; you need to continuously update and improve it.

This means regularly monitoring your website's performance, identifying areas for improvement, and creating new high-quality content.

Additionally, staying updated on the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes can help you stay ahead of the game and adapt accordingly.

Remember to always prioritize user experience and relevance in all aspects of your website – from design to content – as these are key factors in ranking well on search engines.

One practical way to do this is by refreshing old content with new information and making sure it is optimized for search engines.

For example, you can:

• Include new visuals like videos, or infographics
• Add new statistics and research
• Update the formatting and structure
• Optimize for voice search
• Fulfill search intent

6. Mastering Core Web Vitals

In 2021, Google introduced Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor.

These are specific metrics that measure the user experience of a website, including loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

To stay ahead of the competition and rank well on search engines, it's essential to optimize your website for these core web vitals. This includes optimizing images and videos, minimizing third-party scripts and plugins, using caching techniques, and improving server response time.

Specifically, they are:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
• Interaction To Next Paint (INP)
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

This measures the loading speed of the largest element on a page, such as an image or video. The goal is to have an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less.

Interaction To Next Paint (INP)

This metric measures how quickly a user can interact with a page after it has loaded. A good INP score is less than 100 milliseconds.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS measures visual stability by looking at how many elements on the page move unexpectedly while it's loading. Aim for a CLS score of less than 0.1.

In summary, mastering these core web vitals can greatly improve your website's user experience and help you rank better on search engines. Don't ignore them as they become increasingly important in the world of SEO.

Takeaways

As SEO continues to evolve, it's crucial to stay informed and adapt to changes.

Remember that thorough keyword research, staying updated on the competition, finding your unique selling point, creating high-quality content, and optimizing for core web vitals are key factors in a successful SEO strategy.

By implementing these tactics, you can improve your website's visibility and drive more traffic and conversions. Keep learning and experimenting to find what works best for your specific business and target audience.