Why SEO is not working: twelve real reasons
Six months of work, invoices paid, no result. Before changing contractor it is worth understanding exactly where the chain breaks. There are not many possible causes, and almost all of them can be diagnosed in one evening.
The three usual causes: too little time has passed, the pages were built for the wrong queries, or the site technically will not let itself be indexed. Less often, competitors too strong for the methods chosen. Check in that order rather than starting by buying links.
In this article6 sections
First, clarify what «not working» means
That single phrase covers four different situations, and each is treated differently.
| Symptom | Where the break is | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Positions are not rising | The search engine does not see or value you | Indexing, content, competition |
| Positions exist, no traffic | The wrong queries | Keyword research and demand |
| Traffic exists, no enquiries | The site does not convince | Conversion, prices, trust |
| Enquiries exist, no sales | Losses inside the company | How enquiries are handled |
Half of all «SEO is not working» cases actually belong to the bottom two rows. There marketing has already done its part and the money is lost later.
Reasons connected with the site
1. Pages are not in the index
The most galling reason: the work is done but the search engine cannot see the pages. An accidental ban in robots.txt, a leftover tag from the test server, server errors. A site: query in search checks it in a minute.
2. The site gets in its own way
Duplicates, slow loading, a broken mobile version. None of this zeroes out promotion, but it drags constantly and no amount of content outweighs it.
3. There are no pages for the queries
The home page is promoted for every service at once. The search engine shows whichever page answers the query most precisely, and that is almost never the home page.
4. The text was written for robots
Keyword stuffing, filler, no specifics. People leave without reading and the algorithm records that.
Reasons connected with strategy
5. The wrong queries were chosen
High-volume queries contested by national players are promoted instead of the specific ones that bring paying customers. Or the reverse — queries nobody types at all.
6. There simply is no demand
A new service people do not yet know about and therefore do not search for. SEO collects existing demand but does not create it. Other channels are needed here.
7. The niche is taken by aggregators
For general queries the top is nothing but marketplaces and directories. Breaking in with a small company's site is close to impossible, and the strategy has to be built on narrow queries.
8. Not enough time has passed
Two months in, and results are expected as if from advertising. That is not a cause of failure but a cause of wrong expectations — yet the money lost changing contractor is real.
Reasons connected with the contractor
9. No work is being done
A monthly report exists, changes on the site do not. Easy to check: ask for a dated list of specific edits and see whether anything on the pages has changed at all.
10. Risky methods were used
Bulk link buying, faked behaviour. First a rise, then a fall below the starting point. Recovery takes months.
Reasons not connected with marketing at all
11. The offer does not stand comparison
The person arrived, compared the price and terms with competitors, and left. It shows in behaviour: pages are viewed, no enquiries, high bounce. No amount of optimisation fixes an above-market price on worse terms.
12. Enquiries are lost internally
Nobody answers the phone, calls back a day later, ignores messengers, cannot quote a price. In our experience this is the most common cause and the last one anyone finds — because people start looking in marketing.
How to check all of this in one evening
- IndexingType site:yoursite.com into search and compare the number of pages with reality.
- PositionsCheck your ten main queries by hand in incognito. Not general words, but the ones that bring money.
- Speed and mobileOpen the site on a phone over ordinary mobile internet and try to submit an enquiry.
- The contractor's workAsk for a dated list of edits over the last three months.
- Enquiry handlingSubmit an enquiry yourself as a customer and time how long until someone calls and what they say.
- Comparison with competitorsOpen three sites from the top and honestly answer who you would order from.
This list covers most situations. If the cause is still not found afterwards, an independent audit is needed — but that is rare.
Frequent questions
After how many months can conclusions be drawn?
Six months is the minimum for an honest assessment in a competitive niche. After three months the first signs of movement should be visible; if after six nothing has changed on any query, that is itself a result.
Should we change contractor?
Yes, if there is no substantive answer to «what was done and what changed». No, if work is happening, changes are visible and the niche is genuinely hard. Changing resets accumulated progress by one or two months.
Can SEO simply not suit a business?
Yes. If the service is not searched for in words, if the decision is impulsive, or if the niche is entirely occupied by aggregators, the money is better spent on other channels.
Positions dropped after an algorithm update — what now?
Do not panic and do not change everything at once. Wait 2–3 weeks: part of the fluctuation reverses. Then work out which pages dropped and what they have in common.
Can a redesign do harm?
Yes, if page addresses, texts and structure changed along with the design. Appearance alone does not affect rankings, but a move without redirects wipes out what was accumulated.
How do we tell a seasonal dip from a problem?
Compare with the same period last year rather than with last month. If there was a similar dip at this time a year ago, it is the season, not a fault.
The materials answer general questions. We will look at your specific case — free and without obligation.