In the past 12 months, I’ve spoken with over 1,000+ businesses about SEO.
From startups to the biggest brands in the world, across various industries, budgets, and goals, one thing remains consistent… SEO is still widely misunderstood.
When business owners approach me, they often voice the same concerns. These are the most common ones I hear and why they signal a deeper problem in the industry.
“We worked with an agency before… it didn’t work.”
SEO agencies have a trust problem. Many business owners come speak to us after a bad experience. Promises of first-page rankings, complex reports filled with jargon, and ultimately, no tangible return on investment.
The result? A lighter wallet and a lingering sense of skepticism.
Many SEO agencies focus on deliverables rather than outcomes. And worse, they often underdeliver on those, too. This is what help fuels the distrust between owners and agencies.
Monthly reports, blog posts, and backlinks are meaningless unless they contribute to what really matters… growth in leads, sales, and revenue. If an SEO strategy isn’t moving the needle in a way that impacts the bottom line, it’s not working.
“We want to rank position 1 for [insert keyword].”
Keyword obsession is alive and well, largely because many agencies still sell rankings as the ultimate goal.
But let’s be clear: ranking first doesn’t automatically translate into more revenue.
The real question businesses should ask is:
- What keywords are actually driving our target audience to our website?
- Are these visitors converting into leads and customers?
- Are we attracting the right kind of traffic that aligns with our business goals?
Without a strategic approach that connects rankings to real business outcomes, focusing on a single keyword is just a vanity metric.
“I just need someone to optimize the website.”
Many business owners view SEO as a set of technical fixes. Optimizing metadata, fixing broken links, and speeding up the site etc.
While these elements are important, they are just one piece of the puzzle.
SEO is about more than tweaking a website. It’s about aligning your business with how people search, think, and buy.
To do this effectively, I need to understand more than just your website. I need to understand:
✔️ Who your best customers are (Are we attracting the right audience?)
✔️ What drives their decisions (Are they price-sensitive, trust-driven, or acting with urgency?)
✔️ How they find and engage with your brand (Are they impulse buyers, or do they spend months researching?)
✔️ Your top-performing markets (Are we missing opportunities in untapped locations?)
✔️ Your business goals (Do you want more leads, higher-value clients, or better retention?)
If an SEO agency jumps straight to optimizing without asking these questions, they’re just guessing. And guessing doesn’t drive revenue.
If you’re looking for SEO that actually impacts revenue, let’s talk.