Search engine optimization (SEO) remains the number-one strategy in reaching potential customers, as long as companies invest the proper time and resources. To support that, a new study suggests that content generation is the most effective way for companies to benefit from SEO – but it’s also the most difficult.

For tactics to maximize SEO efforts, more than half of marketing influencers (57%) said content creation was the most effective, and 48% said it was the most difficult. Other effective tactics included keyword/phrase research (49%), social media integration (39%) and external/internal linking (36%). In addition to content creation, linking (45%) and keyword research (35%) topped the list of difficult tactics.

The survey, conducted by marketing research agency Ascend2, found that 81% of respondents see their SEO efforts as at least above average. Half of respondents reported that traffic generation is their top goal of SEO, and 46% said that search rankings are their biggest barrier in achieving SEO success.

“With changes in search algorithms and the focus of quality and relevance of content over quantity, it’s even more important that marketers develop a strategy and dedicate resources to content creation,” Todd Lebo, partner and CMO of Ascend2, told Marketing Dive.

Supporting Lebo’s statement, 82% of marketers said that SEO’s effectiveness is on the rise while 42% said its effectiveness is increasing significantly. The survey also showed that 76% of companies execute all or part of their SEO tactics using external resources due to the difficulty and time-consuming nature of content creation and link building.

“Whether companies do it themselves or hire someone, they need to have a well-planned, well-executed SEO campaign,” Eric Sachs of Sachs Marketing Group recently told Counselor. “SEO comes down to content – if the content is subpar or copied, then there isn’t enough information for the search engine to feel your website is relevant based on the search queries.”