Why does SEO seem so frustrating?

Marketing is a surprisingly high pressure job in some organizations. They have the same imperative to deliver ROI as salespeople—yet, unlike salespeople—so much of it is out of their control. So with all this pressure and, in many cases, not much job security, marketers are supposed to have mastered search engine optimization. If the company isn’t in the first page of search results for basic terms that are relevant to the organization, some managers will want to know why.

The truth is that SEO is a specialization that takes a long time to learn and requires a significant amount of time to stay on top of. I would compare it to database management—which I would point out—is actually a college major. Marketers, however, are expected to have more than a passing understanding of how to build, manage, and analyze client databases.

The good news is that there are professionals (like us) that are adept at SEO and don’t find it frustrating (and there are excellent database specialists)..So the next time someone asks why your company isn’t on the first page of search results, a good response would be, “Thanks for reminding me, we should bring in a consultant for that.”