Content Production and Strategy are the Most Difficult Tasks: State of SEO

The latest "State of SEO"-report is out, and according to the 3.890 respondents, the most difficult tasks relate to content, as in production, marketing, and strategy.

At the same time, SEOs are acutely aware that they need to focus more on content in the next year and that an overall content strategy is the most effective SEO strategy.

Read more: AI Tops SEO Concerns and Opportunities

So grab a notebook and start scribbling because we are taking a closer look at the numbers from the report and what they say about the future of SEO.

Finally, we'll show you how AI can alleviate some of the content-related challenges.

Content is the most difficult task in SEO

Of the many tasks on every SEO's table, working with content is singled out to be the most difficult in the latest "State of SEO" by Search Engine Journal. According to the report, the addition of the extra "E" for Experience in Google's E-E-A-T guideline, along with the rise of generative AI, has upped the ante across the board for content work.

Google's standards for content are rising and the changes made to SERPs have made it harder to control what information users see in the results. The introduction of AI-chat result pages (CHERPs) through Bing and the coming Search Generative Experience also means SEOs expect it to become more difficult to generate organic traffic.

As a result, 13.8% of the responding SEOs point to "content (production/marketing/strategy)" as the most difficult task.

Interestingly, content was picked as the top difficulty no matter the experience, so whether you are just starting your journey in SEO or have more than 20 years of experience, you are not alone if you struggle with tasks related to content.

Perhaps, the difficulties with content production and strategy is a symptom of how much "the game" has changed. It used to be focused on turning knobs to meet specific ranking factors, and you could get mediocre content in the top 10 with SEO tricks. Sometimes they would stay there for months.

However, over the years, update after update, search engines have become more adept at recognizing content that's actually valuable for users.

So maybe this new focus require us to hone a different set of skills?

Focusing on Content is The Most Effective SEO Strategy

The SEO toolbox is full of strategies. While link building, long-tail keywords and competitor replication remain viable most SEOs see better results when focusing on an overall content strategy.

So, the very thing SEOs find difficult is also the most effective SEO strategy, based on their more recent experiences.

The second most effective strategy in the report is topic clustering, which is another strategy focused on creating content with a specific purpose. Even though the two aren't exactly the same, I would say having two content-focused strategies in the top of the list underlines the point pretty well.

Of course this doesn't mean you can ignore all the other strategies.

It means that focusing on site speed and performance for instance, or user experience and URL optimization won't be as impactful if you don't focus on the actual content as well.

It seems we are indeed moving towards a "user first"-approach where creating value for the visitor is more important than ever.

As Barry Schwartz, the SEO expert behind Search Engine Land and more, puts it in a recent interview with SEO.ai:

"It all leads back to the content – How you can make your content better: The core algorithm update, the helpful update, the reviews update - it all leads to content. Content content content!"

Sure, shaving off a second of load time can help, but making the content more relevant and on topic with users has a more significant impact on the rankings.

It seems the respondents agree with the experts on this one: Taking an extra look at the content is more effective than spending time on fine tuning specific ranking factors.

What Do SEOs Intend to Focus on The Most? Content!

Yup, the SEOs in the report are nothing if not consistent: Content is the most difficult task and most effective strategy – And SEOs plan on focusing more on content moving forward.

Content strategy and production comes in at 13.5% with plenty of room to the first runner up: Data analysis.

The image changes slightly when looking at the results based on experience. SEOs with more than 20 years of experience expect to focus as much on "Search Intent on Page" as "Content Strategy/Production".

This can be viewed as another example of SEOs targeting users instead of algorithms.

However, the two are not mutually exclusive. Indeed it has become a more viable strategy to connect content with users through intent now that search engines are better at determining users' search intent.

The report states that:

"Analyzing data, understanding the audience, building subscriber lists, and search intent – taken together – indicate that SEO professionals are trying to build strong core audiences."

Wrestling rankings and visitors away from businesses that succeed in building these strong audiences will likely prove difficult. Especially through the type of small incremental changes that some still cling to as a main strategy.

Leverage AI to Alleviate the Difficulties With Content-Related Tasks

As the bar is raised on what users and algorithms expect from content, so are the capabilities of the tools available. The intersection of AI and SEO heralds an exciting era where the burden of content production and optimization can be significantly lightened, even transformed.

Of course, we are biased since we build AI-powered tools for SEO, but we truly believe that AI can make a big difference. Our tool has many features that solve problems directly related to content creation and optimization.

Embracing AI doesn’t mean sidelining human creativity. Instead, it's about augmenting human capabilities, streamlining processes, and crafting content that stands out in a crowded digital landscape.

So, here's our guide on how you can leverage SEO.ai to remain competitive in the SEO content game:

‍

While the importance of content in SEO is undisputed and the challenges real, the potential of AI in revolutionizing the field is immense.

As we move forward, the synergy between human creativity and AI prowess will undoubtedly redefine SEO's future.

Those ready to adapt and evolve with these technologies will be best positioned to thrive.