For any SEO optimizations to work, they need to be implemented. Unfortunately, in my experience, SEO implementation is often the biggest hurdle for businesses to overcome. Delays and challenges in implementing SEO plans can significantly limit your online growth and visibility.

Considering that SEO can take 3 months and up to a year or more before you see real results, it’s important to navigate these challenges quickly and effectively. Let’s look at some common issues with SEO implementation and how to deal with them.

What is SEO Implementation?

SEO implementation refers to applying your SEO strategies and tactics to your website and related platforms. Before diving into the complexities of SEO implementation, ensuring you have the essential SEO setup for your new business is necessary. If you work with an SEO agency or SEO consultant, depending on the scope, they will provide you with recommendations for your website.

These include items like page titles, headers, meta descriptions, page speed optimizations, keywords, content, images, and more. This will be up to you, your internal team, or your developer to put these recommendations in place on the site.

The faster this can be done, the quicker you’ll find out if the SEO optimizations work or not.

Identifying Common SEO Implementation Delays

The effectiveness of the SEO strategies and tactics will only be determined when they are implemented. Often, there are impediments to implementation that can hurt the effectiveness of SEO.

Resource Constraints

One of the most common blockages to SEO implementation is resource constraints. Every business I’ve worked with struggles with these three constraints:

• Limited time
• Limited budget
• Limited people

This makes it a challenge to execute an effective SEO strategy. Because SEO takes longer to see results than other strategies such as paid advertising, it is often de-prioritized.

Lack of SEO Understanding

Another significant challenge is a lack of understanding of how SEO works. For example, some people still think SEO is a one-time set-it-and-forget-it activity.

A lack of knowledge can lead to the minimization or de-prioritization of SEO efforts. Ultimately, they underestimate SEO’s potential impact on business growth.

Organizational Challenges

Internal processes and resistance to change within an organization can also slow down SEO efforts. Working your way through these organizational obstacles requires a thoughtful approach. Quite often, there needs to be a cultural shift towards embracing SEO and other digital strategies.

Handoff of SEO Deliverables

A very common issue I’ve seen is the handing off of deliverables to clients from agencies or consultants. Clients are often provided with lengthy, complex documents that they aren’t sure how to implement correctly. They might not have the in-house expertise to implement them. Or, maybe there was a lack of clarity on what to do with them.

Misunderstanding of Scope of Service

Lastly, valuable recommendations are often not applied due to uncertainly over who exactly is responsible for implementation. Is it the SEO or is it the client? Scope of service, that is, what the SEO provider actually is responsible for, is usually agreed to and spelled out in the work agreement. While SEO agencies and freelancers will contract to implement, SEO consultants typically just provide recommendations that are handed off to clients. Issues here arise due to lack of communication. Also, when there are multiple contacts or changes in personnel on the client side that aren’t clear on scope of service.

Impact of Delays on SEO Outcomes

Delays in SEO implementation can have a sizable impact on a business’s online visibility. Here are some impactful consequences that may arise from delays:

• Lost traffic and revenue
• Decreased visibility
• Negative user experience
• Missed opportunities for brand-building
• Reduced ROI
• Competitive disadvantage

Each one of these will quickly grab the attention of primary stakeholders. I recommend highlighting these as reasons to implement quickly.

Strategies to Overcome SEO Implementation Barriers

Ownership of SEO Implementation

First, determine who is responsible for Implementing the SEO strategies and tactics. Is it the SEO agency, freelancer, or the business? As SEO covers a broad range of areas, from content to coding, you may have multiple people involved. This can include content writers, developers, and others.

When there are multiple people involved, clearly define their roles in the SEO process. Scheduling regular meetings can help keep everyone on the same page and allow for the adjustment of strategies as needed. Assigning ownership also means establishing accountability for the results.

Prioritizing SEO Tasks

Next, identify what the primary blocker to implementation is. This will help with prioritizing the optimizations and simplifying them as much as possible.

Whenever possible, engage with primary stakeholders. Find out what’s important to them. Show how SEO can help them achieve their goals. As I mentioned earlier, make it a point to talk about the consequences of inaction.

Use data to show how SEO can have an impact on their business goals. Prioritize those tasks.

SEO Education and Training

I recommend approaching each conversation as an opportunity to learn and educate. Stay away from SEO jargon (This is primarily for SEO consultants and agencies) and keep it simple.

Offer training sessions for your clients and/or teams. Educating them about the importance of SEO and how to implement basic strategies can empower them to take more initiative.

With the clients I work with, I often provide step-by-step instructions for implementation with screen shots. Then, on calls with clients going over those documents, I will screen share and walk through it as well. In this manner, it provides clients with an opportunity to see what your doing and ask any questions they might have.

Outsourcing and Collaboration

When internal resources aren’t cutting it, outsourcing SEO tasks or collaborating with external experts can provide the necessary support. This not only brings in specialized expertise but also helps in accelerating the implementation process. As noted above, SEO encompasses a broad scope from research, writing, web development, coding, IT and more. Outsourcing at times will be a necessity to address gaps in some of these areas.

Enhancing Clarity and Communication

This ties in with education and training. The SEO must provide detailed instructions to their client. I recommend putting together step-by-step guides or even videos explaining how to implement the deliverables. There is a great discussion on handing off SEO recommendations to clients on a recent episode of the SERP’s Up Podcast you should check out for more on this topic.

Also, regular follow-ups with clients are a must. Check on the status of implementation in each conversation. See if they need help with anything. If you’re not checking in on status, the client may not understand the importance of implementation.

Create an SEO Roadmap

To succeed with SEO implementation, develop a clear and actionable SEO roadmap . The roadmap should clearly lay out the time frame for completing each SEO task. For example, if you completed an in-depth technical audit, be sure to prioritize the recommendations. Sure it’d be nice if image file names were descriptive but that’s not more important than the 200 or so 404s that are killing the site’s user experience.

The roadmap could look something like this:

Technical Audit Implementation Roadmap
Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5
Fix critical website issues (404 errors, broken links) and improve mobile responsiveness.	Update meta titles/descriptions and alt tags; begin basic keyword optimization.	Revise site structure for better navigation; start targeted content updates.	Implement internal linking strategy and enhance technical aspects (structured data).	Expand content strategy; initiate a targeted backlink-building campaign.

This roadmap should align with your unique constraints and objectives. Regular reviews and adjustments ensure the plan remains relevant and effective. The only way for SEO to succeed is for you to commit to it.

Conclusion

SEO implementation challenges are common but can be overcome. By recognizing these challenges and strategically addressing them, you can ensure your SEO efforts are not just planned but effectively executed.

Remember, SEO is an ongoing process that requires commitment and adaptability. Facing these challenges head-on can lead to significant long-term benefits for your business’s online presence.