Our SEO industry has reached a point where most businesses have their in-house SEO teams. 

Working as an in-house SEO resource is somehow different than working it independently. It is equally true that our online marketer community hardly talks about the unique challenges in-house SEO guys face and how to deal with them. Such challenges can be associated with limited resources, differing viewpoints, communication issues, and more. 

Here I have rounded up some key challenges most in-house SEO teams face today. 

Working with Different Decision Makers

Your boss might not think like the way you do. 

You tell that X is better for that website while your boss or manager prefers Y. The situation becomes complicated even if you know that your idea is better and can show the result. 

For example, you think that working over the landing page can bring results as they are displayed on the specific search results for different keywords they include. On the other hand, your boss or manager stresses working over the home page only. For me, this is the key challenge an in-house SEO guy has to deal with. In this scenario, you will have to make a compromise. 

Differences in the Way of Working

SEO is dynamic. What’s in the trend might become obsolete tomorrow. Your manager or boss can still believe in the shady SEO practices of those good old days, no matter how big experts they are. But you believe in the latest ideas. Can it lead to another clash of ideas?

Lack of Resources

Not all companies have content creators and web developers to support their in-house webmaster.

It is really a big problem as it might require you to handle all the things on your own. It can hamper their productivity. Besides, not all companies have a sufficient budget to invest in new technologies or tools suggested by their in-house SEO person. The cost of these tools can affect their budget, meaning that internal SEO staff has limited capabilities to rely on. 

Responsibilities

As a salaried SEO expert, you are solely responsible for the success of your company’s projects. You feel stress when ranking drops or the project fails to perform up to mark. It can make you spend all your time focused on some strategies for months without any kind of return. It is frustrating, particularly when it works for the competitors.  

You are expected to ready with a plan if things don’t work. What if you are asked to make last-minute changes when you are already juggling multiple projects and deadlines? 

Unrealistic Expectations

It is common to come across the clients looking for a top-ranking within weeks. That’s might sound crazy. But for the client, getting top rank is what they are paying for. Some of them think that SEO experts are the god of the digital world. Whether the problem is of development or designing, clients might ask an SEO person to fix that. 

That can be justified as most clients are a layman and not that technically sound. But that can be stressful if your boss has little to no SEO knowledge. For example, you are handling an online marketer for a roof vent manufacturing company. The owners can know how to turn aluminum sheets into the roof vent, but they lack basic SEO knowledge. Top of that, they are inspired by the articles or videos claiming to get ranking within a week. 

If a website has poor products and inferior services, or low-quality customer care, SEO can’t make it successful unless those issues are fixed.  

There’s often a blurred line between optimistic expectations and unrealistic expectations. This way, it is not easy for an SEO person to convince them. 

Lack of Fresh Perspective

Admit it. Working on the same project for years on can be tiresome. You can only come across engaging blogs related to automobiles, and if you have to create the title tag one more time you are going to lose your calm. Boredom leads to creative saturation. This way, it becomes challenging to keep the creative juices flowing. Lacking a fresh perspective means losing your efficiency and ability to think out of the box. 

Not Being Able to Identify the Right Strategy

While an in-house SEO pro has many things on hand to do, one of the key things is helping clients set up an appropriate strategic direction for their marketing efforts.

Some might fail to address the strategy at a certain level.

The outcome: talented in-house SEO teams are not able to set it up to the property as the key data that need to come from leadership or management is missing. 

Bottom Line

Working as an in-house SEO can be overwhelming. Amidst the challenges, you might feel stressed and lost trying to handle it on your own. But that doesn’t mean working as an in-house SEO person is not rewarding. Make sure to stay updated on the key trends as well as convince your clients or leadership about your ideas. 

What do you think? Let me know by commenting below!