Survey Finds Traffic Generation as Top SEO Goal in 2016

The latest Ascend2 survey, “Search Engine Optimization Strategy,” found that traffic generation and search rankings are the most important goals for an effective SEO strategy.

In addition, 38 percent of respondents aim to achieve lead conversions and 37 percent hope to see improved brand awareness.

Some of the significant barriers to success include search rankings (46 percent), traffic generation (34 percent), and return on investment (34 percent). According to researchers, “A lack of search rankings will hinder traffic generation, the most important goal for SEO.”

Fifty-seven percent of participants agree relevant content creation is the most effective SEO tactic used to achieve important goals. Other effective tactics include keyword/phrase research (49 percent), social media integration (39 percent), and external/internal linking (36 percent).

Unfortunately, some of the more effective SEO tactics are also the most difficult to execute.

Relevant content creation, external/internal linking, and keyword/phrase research are cited as the most difficult tactics.

Changing Algorithms Top SEO Challenges in 2015

The 2015 “Search Engine Optimization” survey from Ascend2 determined that changing search algorithms were the most challenging obstacles to SEO success. Other challenges include budget constraints and managing keywords/phrases.

Last year’s survey also found that 72 percent of respondents agreed relevant content creation was the most effective SEO tactic, which was 15 percentage points more than this year’s survey. The top SEO goal in 2015 was improving search rankings (66 percent), followed by increasing website traffic (58 percent). Traffic generation edged out search rankings as the most important goal in 2016.