Zazzle_Media-2019年SEO报告（英文）-2019.11-12页_1mb

The State of SEO 2019 Summary

Core Content

The 2019 State of SEO Survey provides an in-depth look at how businesses are approaching search engine optimization. Despite the challenges, SEO remains a crucial part of marketing strategies, with a growing recognition of its effectiveness. However, there is a notable trend of reduced spending on SEO, raising concerns about the industry's ability to justify its value.

Main Findings

1. SEO is more important than ever, but less is being spent

• Importance: 97% of marketers believe SEO is important to their overall marketing strategy, up from 88% in 2018.
• Effectiveness: Marketers' perception of SEO's effectiveness has increased from 79% in 2018 to 85% in 2019.
• Budget Allocation: The average budget spent on SEO is 22%, down by 5% from 2018. This suggests that while SEO is seen as important, it is not receiving the same level of investment as other channels.

2. Reasons for Reduced Spending

• Resource and Budget Shortages: 60% of marketers cite this as the main reason for not increasing SEO investment.
• Proving Value: 33% of marketers find it challenging to demonstrate the value of SEO to secure more funding.
• Other Channels: 25% of marketers believe other channels deliver better returns, indicating a shift in focus.

3. Best Practice is a Struggle

• Knowledge Gap: There is a significant knowledge gap, with 8% more marketers feeling "naive" about SEO and 30% fewer identifying as experts.
• Keeping Up with Changes: 51% of marketers find it difficult to keep up with changes in search engine results page (SERP) layouts, highlighting the need for continuous learning.
• News Sources: Marketers are increasingly relying on sources like Google's blog, Search Engine Journal, and SEOmoz, with the Moz blog losing ground to competitors.

4. Competitor Monitoring

• Competitor Analysis: 54% of marketers find it difficult to access rich media production, which is essential for creating varied content in a competitive environment.
• Branded Keywords: Over half of surveyed marketers believe competitors are targeting their branded keywords, emphasizing the need for brand protection in SEO strategies.

5. What's Working

• Content Creation: Content remains king, especially on-page content. Creating and optimizing new content is seen as highly effective.
• Traffic and Conversions: Traffic has become the most important objective, increasing from 20% to 40%. Conversions are now second, at 31%, while brand awareness and revenue/ROI have dropped significantly.
• Rich Media: While 54% of marketers struggle to produce rich media content, those who can are gaining an edge in the competitive landscape.

6. What Isn't Working

• Over-Optimization: Practices like overuse of keywords, exact match anchor text, and poor basics are still considered less effective.
• Link Building: Although not as dominant as in previous years, link building is becoming more relevant, with a focus on topical relevance and quality content.
• Voice Search: Voice search optimization is still in its early stages, with only 30% of marketers including it in their strategies. While there is interest, tangible results and measurement tools are lacking.

Key Takeaways

• SEO is seen as a vital channel, but budget allocation is not keeping pace with its importance.
• Marketers face challenges in proving the ROI of SEO due to measurement difficulties.
• Content remains a critical component, but the ability to create and optimize rich media is still a hurdle for many.
• There is a growing need for continuous learning and adaptation to keep up with evolving SEO practices.
• Competitor analysis and brand protection are essential, but many marketers lack the resources or expertise to do so effectively.

Conclusion

The 2019 State of SEO highlights the maturity of the SEO channel, the need for better measurement and reporting, and the ongoing struggle with knowledge and skills gaps. As the industry evolves, marketers must focus on content quality, link building, and staying updated with best practices to justify SEO investment and achieve better results.