10 Reasons Why Website Optimization Is Getting Harder Year by Year
Take our company as an example. Back in 2015, there were only about 30 competitors in our niche, and many businesses weren’t interested in SEO—paid advertising (SEM) was the mainstream. At that time, simply optimizing content, internal links, and backlinks was enough to drive decent traffic. However, as the internet evolved, more companies recognized the importance of SEO and flooded the market. Today, there are nearly 200 competitors in the website development industry alone, and the actual number is likely even higher.
This is one reason why SEO is becoming increasingly difficult—the pie stays the same size, but more people are fighting for a slice.
While Baidu remains the dominant search engine, its overall traffic has declined compared to before. The rise of various online platforms has drawn users away from traditional search engines.
Sometimes, even when a website ranks well for high-volume keywords, traffic remains low. Platform fragmentation is partly to blame. Nowadays, SEO isn’t just about optimization—it also requires cross-platform promotion and backlinking. Since user attention is scattered, businesses must find ways to consolidate it.
Constant algorithm updates significantly impact website optimization. For instance, backlinks that worked before may lose effectiveness due to new algorithm changes. Each update requires careful analysis to avoid penalties that could harm a site’s ranking.
It’s common to see older, poorly optimized websites outranking newer, better-optimized ones simply because search engines like Baidu trust them more due to their longevity. Overcoming this requires persistence and long-term effort.
The core of SEO lies in user experience and value delivery. Only by creating a user-friendly website can businesses improve conversion rates. SEO is gradually becoming a traditional yet essential part of corporate online marketing.
However, many companies still focus solely on traffic, neglecting user experience and needs. They prioritize aesthetics and product presentation but fail to address real user pain points, which contradicts the principles of effective online marketing.
With the internet’s expansion, users now have multiple channels to acquire information, reducing their reliance on search engines. Additionally, the rise of different search engines with varying rules further fragments traffic sources. In the future, a new search engine might even emerge.
Website optimization today is far more challenging than a decade ago. Back then, only a few understood SEO, but now, everyone does. What was once a two-person race for a slice of the pie has become a battle among dozens, leaving little for each participant. Many SEOs now target mid-range keywords to reduce competition and achieve rankings faster.
As businesses grow stronger, more invest in paid advertising. For many search terms, the top results are dominated by two, three, or even seven or eight paid ads. Since search engines display only ten results per page, most clicks go to the top listings. Even if a site ranks organically at #4, traffic drops significantly if three ads precede it.
With so many optimization methods, disagreements arise—what one expert deems correct, another may reject. Search engines provide no definitive rules, leading to conflicting strategies. Some stubbornly stick to flawed approaches, making optimization even harder.
Many webmasters and SEO professionals have noticed that ranking takes much longer now. In the past, minimal effort could land a keyword on Baidu’s first page. Today, even with double or triple the effort, achieving rankings—especially for high-difficulty keywords—can take months or even a year.
In summary, website optimization won’t be replaced in the short term. Currently, no method is simpler or more efficient than search engines for accessing general knowledge. However, this may change in the future—just as website directories were once replaced by search engines.
Apply for your exclusive plan for free