The Importance of Ongoing SEO Maintenance

You’ve established your web presence and have an on-page SEO strategy in place. There’s steady traffic, and you’re even picking up some leads. Your job’s done, right? Not quite.

It’s not that simple. Effective SEO is an ongoing process that takes consistent work.

Just because you’ve hit your key milestones and are where you want to be in the search engine results pages (SERPs) doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. You still need to adapt. 

Why should you invest time in SEO maintenance? 

Because SEO is always evolving. Search engines update their algorithms. User behavior shifts. Industry trends unfold. And the competition—well, it never stops.

A one-time optimization simply isn’t enough to maintain long-term success and keep you ahead of the pack. In this piece, we’ll look at the nine most compelling reasons to embrace an ongoing SEO strategy.

Key Takeaways

• Ongoing SEO is your secret weapon in adapting to the frequent search engine algorithm updates that can affect your website’s rankings.
• Regular SEO maintenance efforts help you stay ahead of competitors, who are continually optimizing their sites to improve search visibility.
• Continuous monitoring and updates to your SEO strategy help keep your website relevant as user behaviors and search trends shift.
• Neglecting technical SEO maintenance, like site speed and mobile-friendliness, can lead to a gradual decline in search engine performance over time.
• A commitment to ongoing SEO maintenance is key to sustaining long-term growth and maximizing your digital marketing return on investment (ROI).

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Is Ongoing SEO?
• 1. There’s More Than One Type of Effective SEO Strategy
  • On-Page SEO
  • Off-Page SEO
  • Technical SEO
  • Local SEO
  • Enterprise SEO
• 2. Your Competitors Aren’t Stopping
• 3. Google’s Algorithm Changes and Evolves
• 4. New Content You Create Still Needs Optimization
• 5. Search Intent Can Change Over Time
• 6. Effective SEO Complements Paid Marketing and Other Efforts
• 7. Meet Changing User Needs
• 8. Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy
• 9. Effective SEO Still Drives Results
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is Ongoing SEO?

Ongoing SEO is the process of continually updating your SEO strategy. Your plan needs to be agile if you want to see SEO results because the digital marketing sector is constantly changing.

Constantly adapting your SEO strategy helps you preserve—and improve—your website’s performance in the SERPs.

Ongoing SEO activities include:

• Tracking data to find new trends and keywords, understanding user behavior, and keeping your plan on track
• Optimizing content with new keywords
• Researching and writing SEO-friendly content
• Building backlinks
• Maintaining technical SEO
• Tracking competitors

Still not convinced ongoing SEO maintenance is a must? Let’s get started with the first reason why it’s so important.

1. There’s More Than One Type of Effective SEO Strategy

There’s more than one type of SEO maintenance, and an effective SEO strategy covers each type. Because SEO is so multifaceted, it requires constant attention and adaptation.

Let’s break down the five categories of SEO:

• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Technical SEO
• Local SEO
• Enterprise SEO

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO optimizes a website’s content and structure to rank higher in the SERPs. On-page SEO includes optimizing the title and header tags, meta descriptions, images, and other elements

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO includes building backlinks to your site from other websites. The more high-quality backlinks a website has, the higher it ranks in SERPs, increasing your website’s authority and standing.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO optimizes your website for search engines to earn better rankings and more traffic. It covers the non-content areas of your site, like speed and mobile friendliness. Technical SEO is one of the most effective ways to improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.

Monitoring your technical SEO is a must, says NP Digital’s Associate Director of Technical SEO, Scott Zimmerman:

“Technical SEO benchmarks should be checked regularly to ensure the proper signals are being sent to both users and search engines. Websites evolve over time as new tracking is added, templates are updated, and platforms are changed. Keeping a pulse on the real-world speed performance is vital to understanding how the site’s underlying technology could be impacting conversion rates and thus your bottom line.”

Local SEO

Local SEO helps keep your website near the top of search engine results pages for relevant queries in your area. You can do several things to improve your local SEO, such as optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP). 

Here’s a great example of local SEO from the legal firm Cunningham & Mears. It’s ranking on the first page of the SERPs, attracting more than 3,600 monthly searches for Oklahoma-centered keywords. 

How? By using local keywords in its page titles and headers, publishing local law content, and optimizing its Google Business Profile listing.

Enterprise SEO

Enterprise SEO is a large-scale method of SEO. It considers your business goals, target audience, and competition. It uses multiple optimization strategies and usually covers websites with high volumes of transactions or large amounts of published data.

Pro tip: Even if you don’t have time for a complete SEO overhaul, you can implement a minimalist SEO maintenance plan by following these six simple steps.

2. Your Competitors Aren’t Stopping

If you’re thinking about giving up on your ongoing SEO strategy, you can guarantee your competitors aren’t. 

Keep in mind, though, that effective SEO takes time. You might see an initial boost in your SERP presence when you put your plan into action. However, SEO is a long game. You likely won’t see results instantly, so buckle up for the long haul.

Your competitors understand this, and they keep testing. If you’re not doing the same, you’re giving them an opening to outrank you.

You can bet your rivals are tweaking and implementing new processes as the search engines update and evolve. Don’t get complacent. 

3. Google’s Algorithm Changes and Evolves

Google’s algorithm is constantly changing. You can be riding high in the SERPs one day and then lose your online visibility overnight.

Although Google’s algorithm is updated frequently, many of these updates are minor and do not cause significant impacts on search rankings. Core Algorithm updates cause more shake-ups and typically happen several times a year. Remember Panda and Penguin? When Google introduced them, these updates sent many website owners into a tailspin.

Panda emphasized quality content, while Penguin penalized sites using shady backlinking techniques and keyword stuffing.

Another update, Hummingbird, considered searchers’ intent, while the Pigeon update impacted local SEO.

While not all of Google’s algorithm tweaks will significantly impact the SERPs, staying up to date on the latest Google algorithm news is essential. That way, you can adjust your SEO strategy accordingly.

Google’s constant change is one of the more compelling reasons for prioritizing SEO maintenance.

4. New Content You Create Still Needs Optimization

You know that awesome fresh content you keep creating? Well, it’s not enough on its own.

If you want your articles to attract organic results and reach your ideal customers, keep them optimized with ongoing SEO maintenance.

While there’s no denying the part social media plays in getting traffic to your pages, search engines deliver much more. What should you focus on the most with content optimization?

Aside from keywords, assess your content using tools like the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant. It analyzes your writing with an eye on:

• SEO
• Tone of voice
• Readability
• Originality

From there, you can further optimize your content by:

• Focusing on technical elements like meta tags
• Covering topics in-depth
• Managing keyword density and including semantically related keywords
• Adding internal link

Let’s move on to search intent.

5. Search Intent Can Change Over Time

Another reason ongoing SEO maintenance is so important? Search intent. 

Searchers’ intent can change over time, significantly affecting your website’s standing in the SERPs. 

Seasonality, for example, often shapes search intent.

Say you own a hotel on the coast.

Your business might boom in the summer as vacationers search for somewhere to stay near the beach. They’ll naturally use phrases like “beach hotel (location)” to find such a destination. 

However, your business might slow down come wintertime as fewer people search for beach getaways. An effective SEO strategy considers these seasonal changes in search intent and adapts accordingly. For example, you might change your keywords to “seasonal short breaks” (location) or something similar.

Other factors like weather, holidays, and economic conditions can also change search intent.

Obviously, keyword research will steer you toward the exact phrases to use. My keyword research tool, Ubersuggest, can help you with that.

6. Effective SEO Complements Paid Marketing and Other Efforts

Effective SEO maintenance is part of an overall strategy for optimizing your results. Using SEO alongside paid marketing, outreach, and other efforts contributes to a balanced online marketing plan that delivers short-term and long-term results.

Ideally, you want to use SEO alongside pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. Here’s why:

• PPC, a key component of search engine marketing (SEM), instantly boosts your traffic through targeted ads, while SEO is a slow-burner that often takes up to a year to pay off.
• SEO can increase the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns by targeting the right audience and increasing click-through rates (CTR).
• By improving your website’s ranking in the SERPs, you can drive more qualified traffic to your site.
• SEO helps you target users who are already interested in what you offer, resulting in a higher conversion rate.
• Paid search and SEO work together to create a comprehensive online marketing strategy to help you achieve your business goals.
• SEO can help you create quality content that attracts attention online. This content can be used for paid advertising campaigns, resulting in more leads and sales.

7. Meet Changing User Needs

Another reason ongoing SEO maintenance is so essential is the constant shift in user needs.  As we discussed above, user behavior and search trends change over time and sometimes vary according to the seasons.

Then there are the bigger, industry-wide changes. For example, search engine updates can make certain SEO practices more critical—or sometimes, even obsolete.

And that’s not even mentioning AI’s considerable impact on online search.

While you can’t control the constant changes, you can keep your site up to date with keyword research and update your content to ensure it’s relevant.

8. Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy

According to Search Engine Journal’s recent State of SEO report, 36.3 percent feel generative AI in search will have the most significant impact on SEO in the next few years. Those surveyed also expect AI and generational changes in how people use the internet to have an impact.

You know what that means? You can’t take a one-and-done approach to SEO. Instead, be proactive about SEO maintenance to spot trends and prepare for future changes.

As Zimmerman explains:

“All great maintenance programs are underpinned by regular monitoring of organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates, allowing you to quickly identify and address any performance drops or opportunities. By closely tracking these metrics, you can detect shifts in user behavior, search trends, or potential issues before they significantly impact your site’s performance.”

“This focus is crucial for sustaining and improving your SEO efforts over time, but it’s also important not to become reactionary and remain proactive,” Zimmerman continues. “On top of performance monitoring, conducting periodic, proactive content audits is a must. These audits help you identify outdated information, content gaps, and opportunities for optimization, allowing you to keep your site aligned with current user intent and search engine algorithms.”

The key to staying ahead in online search and digital marketing is to be proactive with your SEO. It’s about having a long-term vision, being adaptable, and always striving to improve. That way, you’ll be ready for whatever curveballs the digital world throws your way.

9. Effective SEO Still Drives Results

You can find countless articles online declaring, “SEO is dead.” Some of these articles go back to 2012 and beyond, and they all say more or less the same thing. I can confidently say they’re wrong!

I’m not the only one who thinks SEO is still worthwhile. Even in an AI-powered world, Search Engine Land says SEO will remain alive and kicking.

Recent research shows that 59.2 percent of marketers find content marketing “highly effective” for boosting SEO, while 49 percent prioritize it in their SEO strategy. 

And the most telling stat about SEO? It’s that 82.5 percent of marketers intend to invest more in it.

Why? Because it’s a tried-and-tested method. In an ever-changing digital world, SEO still gets results.

Whatever sector you’re in, SEO can land you fresh leads and improve conversions, taking your business to the next level.

FAQs

What is ongoing SEO?

Ongoing SEO involves constantly updating your website to enhance your visibility and SERP rankings.

That means regularly updating and optimizing content, keywords, and other website elements in accordance with search engine algorithm updates and other factors, such as user behavior and new technologies like AI.

Do I need ongoing SEO?

Absolutely! To keep pace with changing technologies like AI, changing user behaviors and demands, and regular search engine algorithm updates, you’ll need regular SEO maintenance.

Conclusion

If you’ve ever wondered whether SEO is a continuous process or a one-off project, this article should leave you with no doubt: SEO maintenance is a must if you want your strategy to remain effective.

There are many factors to consider when optimizing a website. While the necessary changes may vary from site to site, the key to success is continually optimizing for SEO.

SEO maintenance is critical to staying agile in the face of new trends and developments, changing search intent, and evolving algorithms.

Following best practices and keeping up with the latest trends will pay off big time. You’ll increase the chances your site ranks high on SERPs, bringing more visitors and potential customers your way. You can use my checklist as your guide to crafting a comprehensive SEO strategy. If SEO is a task you’d rather not do alone, you can always try SEO consulting to define your strategy and keep it on track.