Enterprise SEO challenges and how to solve them

The role of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in driving organic traffic and ensuring online visibility cannot be understated.

The vastness of their digital assets, the multiplicity of stakeholders, and the intricate balance between global and local strategies make enterprise SEO a behemoth task. This doesn't just require technical expertise, but also a strategy that intertwines with the overall corporate objectives. In this guide, we'll delve deep into the specific challenges enterprises face in the realm of SEO and provide actionable solutions to navigate this complex landscape successfully.

‍Scale and Complexity

When we discuss the vast digital landscapes of enterprises, we often refer to websites with thousands of pages. This sheer volume is both a strength and a challenge. A larger website means more opportunities to rank for various queries, but it also introduces a myriad of complexities.

Larger websites inherently have more moving parts. There might be multiple product or service categories, numerous blog posts, white papers, case studies, user-generated content, and much more. Every piece of content is an opportunity for SEO, but also a potential pitfall if not managed correctly. Broken links, outdated information, or inconsistencies in metadata can become widespread issues that can significantly diminish SEO effectiveness.

Solution:‍

Advanced Technical SEO Platforms and Tools: Investing in robust SEO tools is non-negotiable. Platforms like DeepCrawl or Botify can help in understanding the architecture of large websites and spotting anomalies.

Segmenting the Website: By breaking the site into distinct sections or categories, and assigning dedicated teams or individuals to manage them, it becomes easier to maintain quality and consistency. Each team becomes an expert in its own section, understanding the nuances and requirements in-depth.

Systematic and Regular Auditing: With the dynamic nature of enterprise websites, regular SEO audits are crucial. These audits help in spotting issues like duplicate content, missing alt tags, or slow-loading pages before they become detrimental.

‍Multiple Stakeholders‍

In an enterprise, seldom does a decision boil down to one individual or even one department. The nature of large organizations means there's a complex web of stakeholders involved in most strategic processes, and SEO is no exception.

SEO in an enterprise isn't just about the technical aspects of a website or keyword research; it’s an interdisciplinary task. Decisions made by the content team, the design department, IT, and even public relations can significantly influence SEO outcomes. For instance, a content team's decision to prioritize a particular topic might clash with the SEO team's strategy to target another, more valuable keyword. Or a design decision might make a website more visually appealing but less SEO-friendly.

Solution:‍

Central SEO Governance Structure: Having a centralized governing body or team dedicated to SEO can ensure that all SEO-related decisions pass through a consistent checkpoint. This team can ensure that SEO guidelines are met across the board and can be the bridge between different departments.

Regular Training and Workshops: The more informed the stakeholders are, the better decisions they'll make. By conducting training sessions and workshops, you can ensure that all departments have at least a basic understanding of SEO and its importance.

Defined Roles and Responsibilities: Clear communication regarding who is responsible for what can prevent overlaps and gaps in SEO tasks. For instance, if the content team knows it's their responsibility to incorporate target keywords and the tech team understands their role in site speed, the chances of missing out on essential SEO tasks reduce significantly.

Global & Local Optimization

Many enterprises cater to audiences spread across different regions, countries, and even continents. Each of these audiences has unique search behaviors, language preferences, and cultural nuances. Therefore, what works for an audience in North America might not resonate with an audience in Asia. Additionally, search engines like Google prioritize localized content for users, which adds another layer of complexity to the enterprise's SEO strategy.

‍Solution:‍

Implement hreflang Tags: These tags tell search engines which language you're using on a specific page, ensuring that the right content is presented to the right audience. If your enterprise has a French version of a webpage for its audience in France, hreflang tags ensure that French-speaking users are directed there.

Localized Content Strategy: Simply translating content might not be enough. It's crucial to localize content, considering cultural nuances, local events, traditions, and buyer behaviors. This might mean creating entirely different content for different regions or tweaking global content to suit local tastes.

Use of CDN (Content Delivery Network): A CDN ensures that your website content is delivered quickly, regardless of where the user is located. It stores cached versions of your web pages on servers located worldwide, thus ensuring faster load times, which is a significant factor in SEO.

Website Migrations and Redesigns‍

Website migrations and redesigns are often large-scale projects that involve restructuring URLs, updating content, and overhauling design elements. Each of these changes can inadvertently alter critical SEO elements. For instance, a change in the website's URL structure can lead to broken backlinks, and a design overhaul might unintentionally bury important content. These disruptions can lead to drastic drops in organic traffic and visibility if not handled correctly.

‍Solution:‍

Detailed Pre-launch SEO Audits: Before launching the updated site, conduct thorough SEO audits to identify potential issues. This includes checking for broken links, ensuring meta data remains intact, and verifying that all redirects are correctly set up.

Use of Staging Environments: Instead of directly implementing changes on the live site, use a staging environment. This is a replica of your live site where all changes can be tested without affecting the actual users or search engine rankings. Once everything is verified in the staging environment, changes can be safely rolled out to the main site.

Regular Communication Among Teams: It's crucial for development, design, and SEO teams to maintain open channels of communication throughout the process. This ensures that all teams are aligned and can quickly address any unexpected issues that arise.

Integrating SEO with Other Digital Strategies‍

Each digital marketing strategy has its goals, metrics, and KPIs. For instance, while SEO focuses on organic traffic and keyword rankings, PPC might prioritize click-through rates and conversion costs. Similarly, a social media campaign might emphasize engagement and brand visibility. If these strategies are siloed, it can lead to duplicated efforts, inconsistent messaging, or even missed opportunities for cross-promotion and synergy.

‍Solution:‍

Cross-training Teams: While specialization is crucial, it's beneficial for teams to have a basic understanding of other digital marketing strategies. An SEO specialist who understands PPC can better coordinate keyword strategies. Likewise, a social media manager who knows SEO can optimize social content for search visibility.

Integrated Digital Marketing Dashboards: Use platforms that can amalgamate data from various sources, offering a holistic view of the digital landscape. This enables decision-makers to spot trends, identify synergies, and make informed strategic decisions.

Periodic Strategy Alignment Meetings: Establish regular meetings that bring together leaders from each digital marketing branch. These sessions can serve as platforms to share updates, discuss overlapping areas, and ensure cohesive campaign execution.

Content Duplication

For enterprises, content is often the bedrock of digital strategy — be it for product descriptions, educational blog posts, or case studies. However, with vast websites and multiple contributors, content duplication becomes a pertinent challenge. Duplicate content can dilute SEO efficacy, lead to confusion among visitors, and in some cases, even penalties from search engines.

Solution:

Advanced Plagiarism and Duplication Check Tools: Utilize tools like Copyscape, Siteliner, or Screaming Frog to regularly scan your website for duplicated content. These tools can identify internal and external duplications, allowing for prompt remediation.

Canonical Tags: If there's a legitimate reason for content to appear in more than one place (e.g., a product description on multiple product pages), use canonical tags. These tags tell search engines which version of the content is the "original" or "preferred," ensuring that the right page gets indexed and ranked.

Clear Content Guidelines for Creators: Establish and disseminate clear guidelines for all content creators. Emphasize the importance of originality and the potential pitfalls of duplication. Regular training sessions can also keep this topic at the forefront of their minds.

Consistent Internal Communication: With multiple departments or teams, ensure there's a centralized content calendar or system in place. This can prevent instances where, for example, two different teams unknowingly work on similar content topics.

Speed and Performance Optimization

The speed and performance of a website have transcended being mere conveniences; they're now necessities. While visually appealing designs and interactive elements can enhance user experience, they can also bog down a site's speed. For enterprises, especially those with vast online assets, striking the right balance between aesthetics and performance becomes a pivotal challenge.

Solution:

Comprehensive Performance Audits: Utilize tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest to regularly evaluate your website's performance. These tools offer actionable insights and recommendations to improve load times.

Optimize Media Files: Large, unoptimized images or videos can be significant culprits behind slow load times. Use compression tools and ensure that media files are in the most efficient formats. Also, consider implementing lazy loading for images, where they only load as they come into the user's viewport.

Minimize Use of Heavy Scripts and Plugins: While certain scripts, plugins, or third-party integrations can add functionality, they can also slow down your site. Regularly evaluate the necessity of these tools and remove or replace those that are not vital or are performance drags.

If you are managing large websites of enterprises, get in touch with us! We have worked on hundreds of enterprise websites and we know what can go wrong.

Book a call now!

Read more:

• 6 common enterprise SEO Mistakes and how to avoid them
• 10 SEO best practices for B2B tech companies

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