The 6 Major SEO Challenges Brands Face in 2022, According to HubSpot
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 5:29 am
Google’s algorithm changes very often, so every marketer working with SEO needs to pay attention to those updates to change their digital strategies or create new ones. It makes many businesses wonder what SEO challenges they will encounter .
Recently, HubSpot released a web traffic and analytics report to understand why do vietnamese use zalo? how websites are performing and what they need to have to be at the top of search engine results.
Based on the report, we decided to write this article that presents the main challenges in terms of SEO and how to deal with them. Are you ready?
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
What are the 6 SEO challenges that brands can anticipate this year?
Let's take a look at the challenges that every marketer should be aware of.
1. Stay on top of changes in Google's algorithm
Google's algorithm is constantly being updated, and marketers need to keep up. According to Moz , we've had 6 changes in 2022 - as of June - and 16 updates throughout 2021.
Every time an update comes out, the way Google views each web page changes, and this can be good or bad for your content production. In 2020, some websites lost positions in the SERPs, as you can see in the example below.
A user reported to Google that he had the first position for years and then in one night he lost 3-4 positions.
So, the tip to avoid these kinds of problems is to stay on top of your industry . Regardless of what kinds of changes arise, producing content on the main topics of your niche helps you get along with the algorithm.
2. Not ranking higher in search results
We are aware that SEO takes time to produce results, but to achieve them we must do all the homework. This means that every detail you have to do in terms of SEO counts to achieve a good position in Google results .
While some websites produce really great pieces of content, they forget to do things that seem silly, but are extremely important, such as:
header tags ;
alternative text ;
keyword best practices ;
secondary keywords;
author's signature;
internal and external backlinks ;
build content based on a group of topics or Topic Clusters .
When these points (and many more) are missing, Google doesn't consider the content to be good and your ranking will probably not be high, especially after an update that takes these elements into account.
3. Using keywords incorrectly
A long time ago, in a search engine far away, keywords were enough to get websites to the first page of Google, even if the content was poor. But thankfully, those times have changed.
Nowadays, keywords alone are not enough to boost organic results, because what matters most is not the keyword itself, but the user intent behind the keyword .
So, before writing a content based on a keyword, use tools like Keyword Planner or SEMRush and perform a Google search with the keyword to understand what people are actually searching for. Take notes of all the topics you find and use them in your article.
4. Write attractive titles and meta descriptions
Every time someone finds your website in Google search results, the next step is to convince them to click through. That's why your articles should have titles and meta descriptions .
This study by Backlinko says that emotional titles are more likely to generate visitors and increase click-through rate ( CTR ). So, our recommendation is to focus on the problem your audience has and how your content will help solve it.
Take a look at the example below.
This article on Content Marketing written by us can be found in the first position on Google when you search for "Content Marketing". The title suggests an educational approach and that has a great appeal.
Additionally, if your content is really good, Google may give you a featured snippet , also known as "position number zero."
The example above shows our article on Artificial Intelligence Algorithms for the US market. Having it in the featured snippet position brought good results in terms of CTR, 11.8%, which is good, according to Backlinko.
5. Losing the brand's mobile reach
Today, many people around the world use mobile devices to access the Internet, much more than on the desktop. It means that your website must be mobile-friendly to attract and retain your visitors.
Also, since July 2019 , Google prioritizes mobile versions of web pages for indexing and ranking in SERPs. Therefore, if your website does not work well on smartphones and tablets, you are probably not ranking well on Google .
So, when you hire a developer or build a website using a CMS like WordPress, make sure that the template is responsive and the loading speed is fast. Currently, as Google said , 53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes more than 3 seconds to load.
So, if your website is slow, you're sure to find a lot of people leaving it to visit your competitor's site. But don't worry. We have a solution that can help you !
6. Leverage video in search results
Video content can be very useful depending on what the user wants to find. For example: if you want to know how to play the guitar, a video showing how to do it is much better than a blog post.
Google knows this, which is why the video above appears in the first position. Google Product Manager Danielle Marshak said that Google is working and improving on more ways to experience videos as search results .
So, if you want your videos to be on the SERPs as well , there are some best practices to follow, such as:
Add chapters to your video – makes Google understand your content as a whole and use different clips in search results;
Using the keyword in your video content – Just like you should put the keyword in an article, the same goes for videos, because YouTube and Google recognize when you say it, which is good for improving your position in the results;
Optimize Title, Description and Image – The same SEO practice you use on blog posts via Yoast SEO should be done with your videos for better rankings and high CTR;
Add tags – These work in terms of videos because they help your content to be found by users.
How to keep up with today's SEO challenges
Now that you know the 6 challenges that every marketing professional must face in terms of SEO, let's move on to some tips that you should follow in your SEO strategy to continue having good results.
Focus on the buyer persona to produce your content
It may sound obvious, but we still need to remember it. It is not unusual to see companies producing items that have no connection to them or to the business itself. The consequence of this action: no results.
Therefore, it doesn't matter if a keyword has a high search volume or if a trend is occurring, content about it will have no meaning if it is not connected to the potential buyer's persona .
Make sure your SEO homework is done on all articles
Inserting the keyword into the content, adding alt tags to images, completing the SEO title and meta description... These are examples of tasks you should follow for every blog post. But have you done this with older posts as well?
Take a look at the above articles and make sure you complete your SEO homework on all of them. You can start with posts that rank better and bring in more traffic according to your Google Analytics .
Recently, HubSpot released a web traffic and analytics report to understand why do vietnamese use zalo? how websites are performing and what they need to have to be at the top of search engine results.
Based on the report, we decided to write this article that presents the main challenges in terms of SEO and how to deal with them. Are you ready?
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
What are the 6 SEO challenges that brands can anticipate this year?
Let's take a look at the challenges that every marketer should be aware of.
1. Stay on top of changes in Google's algorithm
Google's algorithm is constantly being updated, and marketers need to keep up. According to Moz , we've had 6 changes in 2022 - as of June - and 16 updates throughout 2021.
Every time an update comes out, the way Google views each web page changes, and this can be good or bad for your content production. In 2020, some websites lost positions in the SERPs, as you can see in the example below.
A user reported to Google that he had the first position for years and then in one night he lost 3-4 positions.
So, the tip to avoid these kinds of problems is to stay on top of your industry . Regardless of what kinds of changes arise, producing content on the main topics of your niche helps you get along with the algorithm.
2. Not ranking higher in search results
We are aware that SEO takes time to produce results, but to achieve them we must do all the homework. This means that every detail you have to do in terms of SEO counts to achieve a good position in Google results .
While some websites produce really great pieces of content, they forget to do things that seem silly, but are extremely important, such as:
header tags ;
alternative text ;
keyword best practices ;
secondary keywords;
author's signature;
internal and external backlinks ;
build content based on a group of topics or Topic Clusters .
When these points (and many more) are missing, Google doesn't consider the content to be good and your ranking will probably not be high, especially after an update that takes these elements into account.
3. Using keywords incorrectly
A long time ago, in a search engine far away, keywords were enough to get websites to the first page of Google, even if the content was poor. But thankfully, those times have changed.
Nowadays, keywords alone are not enough to boost organic results, because what matters most is not the keyword itself, but the user intent behind the keyword .
So, before writing a content based on a keyword, use tools like Keyword Planner or SEMRush and perform a Google search with the keyword to understand what people are actually searching for. Take notes of all the topics you find and use them in your article.
4. Write attractive titles and meta descriptions
Every time someone finds your website in Google search results, the next step is to convince them to click through. That's why your articles should have titles and meta descriptions .
This study by Backlinko says that emotional titles are more likely to generate visitors and increase click-through rate ( CTR ). So, our recommendation is to focus on the problem your audience has and how your content will help solve it.
Take a look at the example below.
This article on Content Marketing written by us can be found in the first position on Google when you search for "Content Marketing". The title suggests an educational approach and that has a great appeal.
Additionally, if your content is really good, Google may give you a featured snippet , also known as "position number zero."
The example above shows our article on Artificial Intelligence Algorithms for the US market. Having it in the featured snippet position brought good results in terms of CTR, 11.8%, which is good, according to Backlinko.
5. Losing the brand's mobile reach
Today, many people around the world use mobile devices to access the Internet, much more than on the desktop. It means that your website must be mobile-friendly to attract and retain your visitors.
Also, since July 2019 , Google prioritizes mobile versions of web pages for indexing and ranking in SERPs. Therefore, if your website does not work well on smartphones and tablets, you are probably not ranking well on Google .
So, when you hire a developer or build a website using a CMS like WordPress, make sure that the template is responsive and the loading speed is fast. Currently, as Google said , 53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes more than 3 seconds to load.
So, if your website is slow, you're sure to find a lot of people leaving it to visit your competitor's site. But don't worry. We have a solution that can help you !
6. Leverage video in search results
Video content can be very useful depending on what the user wants to find. For example: if you want to know how to play the guitar, a video showing how to do it is much better than a blog post.
Google knows this, which is why the video above appears in the first position. Google Product Manager Danielle Marshak said that Google is working and improving on more ways to experience videos as search results .
So, if you want your videos to be on the SERPs as well , there are some best practices to follow, such as:
Add chapters to your video – makes Google understand your content as a whole and use different clips in search results;
Using the keyword in your video content – Just like you should put the keyword in an article, the same goes for videos, because YouTube and Google recognize when you say it, which is good for improving your position in the results;
Optimize Title, Description and Image – The same SEO practice you use on blog posts via Yoast SEO should be done with your videos for better rankings and high CTR;
Add tags – These work in terms of videos because they help your content to be found by users.
How to keep up with today's SEO challenges
Now that you know the 6 challenges that every marketing professional must face in terms of SEO, let's move on to some tips that you should follow in your SEO strategy to continue having good results.
Focus on the buyer persona to produce your content
It may sound obvious, but we still need to remember it. It is not unusual to see companies producing items that have no connection to them or to the business itself. The consequence of this action: no results.
Therefore, it doesn't matter if a keyword has a high search volume or if a trend is occurring, content about it will have no meaning if it is not connected to the potential buyer's persona .
Make sure your SEO homework is done on all articles
Inserting the keyword into the content, adding alt tags to images, completing the SEO title and meta description... These are examples of tasks you should follow for every blog post. But have you done this with older posts as well?
Take a look at the above articles and make sure you complete your SEO homework on all of them. You can start with posts that rank better and bring in more traffic according to your Google Analytics .