About the Author
Corey is the owner and President/CEO of VOLTAGE. He is also founder and author of The Digital Marketing Success Plan® and the START Planning Process. Corey has spent 20+ years working in strategic and leadership roles focused on growing national and local client brands with award-winning, ROI-generating digital strategies. He's the recipient of the KCDMA 2019 Marketer of the Year award and his team at VOLTAGE has won nearly 100 local, national, and global awards for ROI-focused client work in the past decade.
When SEO performance stalls, it’s easy to point fingers at technical issues, lack of content, or even algorithm changes driven by AI. But one of the most overlooked—and most impactful—barriers to success might be coming from inside your own walls.
We’re talking about internal silos.
At VOLTAGE, we see this all too often. Whether you’re an in-house marketing team or working with an agency, if there’s a lack of alignment across strategy, channels, or teams, your SEO efforts can suffer—even if your tactics are spot-on.
In this article, we’re breaking down five key silos that can quietly derail SEO performance and ROI, and how you can identify and address them.
1. Strategy in a Vacuum
When SEO is treated as a last-minute add-on or just another checkbox in a marketing plan, it rarely achieves meaningful results. Instead of layering SEO on top of other initiatives, it should be part of the strategic foundation. That means aligning SEO goals with overall marketing objectives and ensuring it has a seat at the table from day one.
2. Digital Channels Operating in Isolation
One of the most common issues we see: SEO and PPC teams not sharing data or working in sync. That’s a missed opportunity—especially when both channels are targeting the same search audience. When content, keyword research, and performance insights aren’t shared, you risk duplicating efforts or missing signals that could improve efficiency and performance. The same holds true for social media, email, and other digital touchpoints that drive users to your website.
3. Siloed Content Planning
Content is the fuel for nearly every digital channel. If SEO, social, email, and brand teams aren’t aligned around a shared content strategy, the result is fragmentation. Inconsistent messaging, off-brand voice, and duplicate efforts can hurt your results across the board. Building a unified content roadmap ensures every team contributes to and benefits from the same goals.
4. Disconnected Data & Reporting
Even with the best tools, dashboards, and KPIs, if data isn’t centralized or accessible across functions, your organization could be making decisions based on an incomplete picture. This often leads to disconnects between the SEO metrics being tracked and what the C-suite actually cares about—like customer acquisition cost, revenue, and ROI. Bridging this gap requires integrated reporting and intentional communication across teams.
5. Web Development Bottlenecks
Your SEO team may know exactly what needs to be done—technical updates, new page structures, content additions—but if there’s no access to dev resources or updates get buried in a backlog, progress stalls. This is a common issue, especially in larger organizations or those with IT-managed websites. Collaboration between SEO and development is essential to remove these bottlenecks and execute strategy at the right pace.
Final Thought: Break Down the Walls Before ROI Suffers
Internal silos might not seem like a top SEO issue, but they often explain why even well-planned strategies fall short. These roadblocks aren’t always visible, but when they go unaddressed, they can erode the ROI of your search investments over time.
If something about your SEO results feels “off,” consider what may be happening behind the scenes. Often, resolving these internal gaps is the key to unlocking real growth.
🔗 Want to dive deeper? Read the full article on Search Engine Journal