It’s 2016 and the world of SEO has come a long way since its infancy at the birth of the internet. Search engines are a lot smarter than they used to be, and simple black-hat tactics are not only less effective, they also come with heavy penalties. The best way to become king of the search engine results page is by blending quality content (the most successful B2B’s spend 42% of their budget on it!) with targeted keywords and comprehensive technical SEO aspects to make a polished finished product. However, these alarming SEO statistics show that plenty of companies are still behind the ball. Don’t become just another statistic!

Only 32% of B2B’s have a content marketing strategy

Most business-to-business companies know that they need content marketing to succeed, and that high-quality content is the only ticket to higher search engine rankings, but the statistics show that even though 88% of B2B’s use it, only 32% have a documented strategy. Great content is a good start, but knowing what you are trying to accomplish is the mark of a successful company. Make sure you understand what your content is supposed to be doing before you pay someone to do it.

60% of marketers admit that creating engaging content will be a challenge

When polled, 60% of B2B marketers admitted that creating engaging content would be their biggest challenge in 2016. We agree that creating great content isn’t easy. It requires a talented writer, a great research team, and top-notch topic creation in the hopes of standing out in a saturated web. Still, in a time when quality content is the ticket to top, companies shouldn’t be scrambling to create great pieces of web content. All great content is:

  • Accessible – great content is focused around sought-after keywords, and is equipped with an enticing title. “How I doubled my Twitter followers in one month” is vastly superior to “Get more Twitter followers by doing this cool thing I came up with”.
  • Entertaining – although some niches don’t really cater to humor or fun, chances are that yours does. A drab, dull, and overly-technical article might appeal to some, but hardly appeals to the masses. Use more humor, use more real-world examples, and be sure to add images.
  • Concise – Although lengthier articles tend to do well, that doesn’t mean that they drone on and on. A great piece of content is concise to the point that the words have a purpose. Stephen Hawking summed up the history of time (around 14 billion years) in 256 pages, so I think you can sum up your social media strategy in due time, as well.

37% of B2C’s say their content strategy is effective

The most successful companies have effective content strategies, so it’s alarming to see that more than one third of businesses that cater to consumers say their content strategy isn’t. Content is key for all businesses, so what this shows is they don’t understand how to do it or what they are trying to accomplish with theirs. The most important aspect of content when it comes to customers is usability. Is the content something they can use to achieve a goal? 78% of customers said they felt as though a company that provided helpful custom content were building a good relationship. If your strategy isn’t working, then you probably aren’t helping your demographic enough.

If there is one thing that is true about the modern SEO world, it’s that you need to have a highly-integrated strategy that’s a mix of great content, social media management, great web development, and thorough research. These 3 alarming SEO stats show that many businesses are still behind the times in 2016.