So you put in the work for a website, and SEO did its magic for you. You’re sitting pretty comfortably at the top (or at least near the top) of search results, and it feels like you crossed some sort of finish line.
Time to relax and enjoy those hard-earned perks, right?
If only it were that simple.
That top spot is not a trophy that you get once and then showcase on a shelf. Think of this as a trophy that constantly gets passed along to people. Think of it like a never-ending race. And the person who’s currently the fastest is holding the trophy until someone passes them again.
To keep that trophy, you need to put in the work… constantly. Just because you’re number one now doesn’t mean you won’t be at the bottom of the barrel by next month.
It’s frustrating. What’s even more frustrating is that there’s no big bang that drops your rankings. Instead, your page just sort of… Fades. You’re number one now, number three in two days, and then you’re on the dreaded second page in a month.
What went wrong?
Is it something you did? Is it something you didn’t do?
Let’s find out!
Why Early SEO Wins Happen So Easily
It feels amazing to get those first good SEO rankings, doesn’t it? You made a few tweaks, and bam – top of the page one! But that first win is often the easiest part.
- Early rankings are usually about fast execution and good timing.
- You’re often targeting topics that still aren’t super competitive.
- If you’re quick to publish decent content, you fill the gap that search engines want filled right now. Basically, you’re grabbing the low-hanging fruit.
- Businesses hire high-quality SEO/link-building agencies, such as Stellar SEO, to move faster when they get to this stage.
- This is how they skip the learning curve and build a foundation quickly to get momentum.
- This early win is all about momentum, not permanent victory.
- The only thing this proves is that what you’re currently doing works under the current conditions.
- It does NOT prove your site can stay relevant against competition in the future and changes in the algorithm.
Think of this early win as finding an excellent parking spot. Does it feel great? It sure does. But does it mean that this spot is yours forever? Absolutely not.
What Starts to Change After the Initial Win
Today, you’re celebrating. Tomorrow, things in the search results start to change.
Did you do something wrong?
No, it’s just that everything else is changing. You’re constantly battling things such as content decay, search intent drift, your competitors refreshing/updating their content, link attrition, the algorithm updates/changes, sudden dilution in topical authority, your internal link structure isn’t updated, and other similar issues.
And if you do nothing about it, your rankings will start dropping as your existing and new competitors slowly start to take over.
Search Intent Doesn’t Stay Still
- The results that users want when they type a search query evolve over time.
- A question that was simple two years ago might now be more complicated, so the answer could be divided into more steps.
- New tools/products and new trends tend to change what people are looking for.
- Your No.1 (winning) page stays ‘frozen in time’.
- It was published, ranked, and you moved on to something else.
- User expectations kept moving forward without you.
- The result is a mismatch.
- Your rankings go down because your page starts to be less relevant.
- People might click, but they bounce back quickly.
- New competitor pages start to feel more ‘complete‘.
Competing Pages Grow (Yours Doesn’t)
- Your page sits still collecting dust. Other people take advantage of that and work on and improve their own pages.
- They add real-world, non-dated, relevant, new, trending examples that you don’t have (new technology, new products, new events, etc., etc.; something that didn’t exist or wasn’t relevant at the time you were writing your content).
- Their explanations are clearer and more concise, so people opt for their page as it explains better and provides more easily digestible information. Their visuals are also better.
- Your page doesn’t actually get worse.
- The content is the same as it was the day it was published.
- All your hard work is still there, but it’s less useful by comparison. Nothing changed with your content, but it’s no longer the best option.
How Content Slowly Loses Its Edge
Quality content is a must for successful SEO. But what’s considered quality now might be totally useless in 6 months.
Even the best content loses its edge sooner or later.
Language Starts to Feel Dated
- Phrases that were once clear are now vague.
- What was called ‘the cloud’ 5 years ago might need to be more specific now, since there are so many cloud-based technologies that weren’t there at that time. You might need to be more specific (e.g., edge computing platforms, serverless architecture, etc.) in order to sound more relevant and current.
- References no longer match what’s current.
- If the content mentions ‘the latest iPhone 12’ or ‘during the pandemic’, or it has a top 10 list that doesn’t include new/latest products, or the content focuses on the past, the user will know it’s old/outdated content and the information (likely) doesn’t matter as much anymore.
◆ You Add New Sections Without Reworking the Old Ones
- If you patch content instead of refreshing it, you’re making a mistake.
- You get a question about a new feature, so you add a paragraph at the bottom. A new trend comes up, so you tack on a new H3 in a blog post. Not ideal.
- The page is longer, but less focused.
- Instead of being one cohesive guide, your page turns into a patchwork of ideas.
Inconsistencies Pile Up
- Terminology changes across the page.
- You call something a ‘plugin’ in the intro, only to call it ‘module’ in the middle. That’s confusing to readers.
- Assumptions change.
- The content is beginner-level in one section and then jumps to advanced details in the next. Again, it confuses your readers.
- The page doesn’t feel ‘whole’ anymore.
- What should be a single, authoritative answer feels fragmented, leaving searches unfulfilled. They’ll look for a satisfying answer elsewhere. There’s no cohesion, and the search crawlers will take that data, compare it with user engagement (dwell times, click-through rates, etc.), and rate it as degrading quality.
Conclusion
When it comes to SEO, you can never actually win. The best you can hope for is a good head start. Once you manage to get to the top, congratulate yourself and then keep working to stay there.
SEO is NOT a one-time race. It’s an endless one. And if you want to stay in position one, then you want to keep running so that you stay there.
Just remember how hard you’ve worked to get to the top. Do you really want to stop and relax now, allowing others to snatch that trophy out of your hands?
