A report from Forrester found that search marketers currently face a number of challenges that they plan to address in the next two years. Developing an effective strategy to stand out is increasingly difficult given the myriad factors associated with search rankings.
According to the study, 65 percent of respondents said integrating other channels into a search strategy is major concern. Social media marketing and website content play important roles in a company’s presence within on Google, Bing and others, and marketers struggle to align their efforts with an integrated strategy.
Moreover, 51 percent said keeping SEO and other elements of search marketing updated in response to new developments, namely algorithm changes, is a major concern. Other prominent issues brands face include measuring ROI (47 percent), staffing (41 percent) and budgetary restraints (31 percent).
While none of these are particularly unique problems, there are ways marketers and companies of all sizes can succeed with search. Thirty-four percent said creating and managing content is a major challenge for their SEO or PPC marketing efforts. Developing high-quality website content is necessary for SEO. It helps brands keep sites fresh and offer prospects relevant information. Each of these benefits speaks to satisfying users with regularly published content. As Google’s search algorithms continue to change in the name of finding optimum user experience, this is ultimately the most important part of any search strategy.
Developing a diverse content marketing campaign that focuses on delivering information to prospects in several different formats is one way to avoid issues with ideas for new content. Brafton recently highlighted a report from the Content Marketing Institute that suggests B2B brands plans to use more than 10 different types of content to drive their strategies in 2012. To maintain production frequency, more than 40 percent of responding companies said they will outsource a portion of their content creation.
