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Overview

SEOs often share with us about the obstacles that interrupt their path to results.

Even the most basic tasks can be a huge undertaking for large enterprises!

To understand this challenge, we surveyed nearly 1,200 SEOs (both in-house and agency-side) to discover:

  • what roadblocks exist for enterprise SEOs; and
  • what are these delays costing their companies?

So, dive in and learn how you can use this research to make a business case to get to results faster. We've even
included a ready-made PowerPoint version of this report for you to leverage within your organization: 

Download the Full Report

Not only that, check out the next-gen SEO automation launch from seoClarity that gets you closer to your SEO results faster than what you thought possible.

 

Key Takeaways

  • A majority (86%) of SEOs estimate that organic revenue would grow by at least 50% if they were able to implement outstanding changes. 

  • The top priority for SEOs is technical fixes (35%) followed by creating and deploying content (25%).

  • Half (50%) of SEOs are currently waiting for technical fixes to be carried out.

  • The biggest hurdles for implementing changes are ‘lack of SEO resource’ (55%) and ‘lack of dev resource’ (53%).

  • SEOs estimate that if all outstanding changes were implemented, their companies would generate an additional $35.9 million each per year. 


 

Top Priority for SEOs: Technical SEO Fixes

When we asked respondents which is their ONE top priority, 35% said technical SEO fixes. This is followed by 25% who consider creating and deploying content to be the main priority.

 

SEOClarity_Challenges facing SEOs_V1_Highest priority

 

Number One Roadblock: Technical SEO Fixes

When asked about the biggest SEO projects that are currently pending among SEOs, half (50%) said they are waiting for technical SEO fixes.

Given the majority (35%) of SEOs consider this to be the biggest priority out of all tasks, this is a worryingly high number.

SEO Priorities Take Weeks or More to Complete

We asked survey participants about how long they normally wait for these technical SEO fixes to be implemented, and the majority of respondents (37%) said it normally takes weeks, while: 

  • 15% said months
  • 1% said years

A lucky 16% of enterprise SEOs get technical SEO fixes resolved within hours with 30% reporting days.

37% of SEOs wait weeks for technical changes to be implemented because of a lack of SEO and dev resources.

 

- SEO Priorities Survey  |  seoClarity, September 2021

Beyond that, SEOs reported the following standard SEO tasks take up a lot of their time: 

  • Implementing structured data takes days (36%)
  • Creating and deploying content takes weeks (37%)
  • Internal linking implementation takes weeks (30%)

 

SEO Challenges 2-1

 

Lack of People Resources Is to Blame

When we asked about the challenges in implementing SEO projects, more than half (55%) said the biggest hurdle is the lack of SEO resources while 52.5% also mentioned a lack of dev or engineering resources.

Other challenges include: 

  • Technology and CMS limitations (39%)
  • Struggle to prove the business case and justify ROI (38%)
  • Lack of time to implement projects (21%)
  • Solutions deemed too risky by executives (11%)

SEOClarity_Challenges facing SEOs_V1_Top challenges

 

SEOs Require Support to Perform Tasks

As our research showed, one of the biggest challenges facing SEOs is the inability to implement changes due to a lack of dev or engineering resources.

The key task SEOs struggle to implement without dev resources is adding or editing structured data, with an overwhelming 92% of SEOs saying they are unable to perform this task without dev or engineering resources.

79% of SEOs can’t implement page speed improvements without dev or engineering resources.

 

- SEO Priorities Survey  |  seoClarity, September 2021

 

SEOClarity_Challenges facing SEOs_V1_Engineering resources

Missed Opportunities for Revenue Growth

We asked the respondents how much they think organic revenue would grow if they were able to make all of the most important changes and tackle their top SEO priorities.

The vast majority (86%) estimated that the organic revenue would grow by between 50-100%. 


SEOClarity_Challenges facing SEOs_V1_Organic growth

 

86% of SEOs estimate organic revenue would grow by 50-100% if they were able to implement the most important SEO changes.

 

- SEO Priorities Survey  |  seoClarity, September 2021

Companies Could Gain Millions Per Year By Implementing SEO Changes

To get a clearer idea of how much revenue is to be gained from SEO opportunities, we asked respondents about their company’s revenue. 

SEOClarity_Challenges facing SEOs_V1_Company revenue

By combining the estimated company revenue with existing organic channels, we can determine SEOs believe: if all outstanding changes were implemented, revenues would expand by an average of $35.8 million per year.

Companies could gain an extra $35.8 million per year on average if they implemented SEO changes.

 

- SEO Priorities Survey  |  seoClarity, September 2021

Research Methodology

Our survey was conducted using the Zoho Survey platform and consisted of our email subscribers and clients. The survey was open between September 24 and September 29 2021, and received 1,195 responses. The average respondent estimated their company’s existing overall revenue to be approximately $132.1 million per year, and that organic revenues are $55.6 million of that total.

We didn’t ask our respondents to distinguish any personal features about themselves.

Where our questions were framed in a range, i.e. ‘50% - 60%’, we took the mid-point of the range and calculated figures based on a median.

Next Steps

Save time immediately and download the full PowerPoint deck so you can: 

  • Leverage the survey results to get buy-in for more resources with your executive team
  • Make a case for how to tap into missed revenue opportunities
  • Be among the first to sign up to be the first to know about the launch of ClarityAutomation to scale SEO execution

Access more SEO research studies >

Lastly, we invite you to connect with Mitul Gandhi, Co-Founder and Chief Architect of seoClarity, on Twitter, and join the discussion about what can be gained when we remove barriers to SEO success.

Save time! Download a presentation-ready version now!

Use the results in your own SEO presentations to make the case for more resources to gain faster results.

Mitul Gandhi - Author Snippet (1)About the Author: Mitul Gandhi

As a longtime data-driven serial entrepreneur, information architect and SEO veteran, Mitul has developed a blend of vast technical expertise and intense marketing insight. His variety of experience, gained in positions in in-house SEO, search marketing, and software development, affords him the ability to efficiently assess how to use software tools to meet challenges and drive ROI. As the Co-Founder and Chief Architect of seoClarity, Mitul currently oversees day-to-day operations, and provides strategic direction to all departments. His well of knowledge includes 10+ years of consulting experience with Fortune 500 and top Internet retailers concerning online search marketing. He has several patents pending for analyzing cause and effect in SEO. Mitul holds an MBA in direct marketing from Rochester Institute of Technology. Additionally, he has spoken at conferences in the United States and the U.K., including SES, SMX and Pubcon. He has also been quoted in MSN Money, USA Today, Time Online, Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land and Web Pro News. Connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn.