A lot of digital PAID marketing strategies provide quick, easy, and quantifiable results. For example, a fresh PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign will immediately start to bring in paid traffic; any new content you share on social media will immediately get views, this is If you have a great audience or Social PPC of course. Business owners familiar with these strategies can sometimes expect SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to deliver immediate results and can become impatient when they don’t see a change in ranking immediately after audits and updates are performed. Below are some factors that speak to the reality of things.
Quick Results are a Myth
Inexperienced and sub-par SEO agencies will usually lay claim to providing quick SEO results. Their promise is that your website will be featured on the 1st page of Google after a couple of months (2-3 Months). While some SEOs can meet this expectation if the industry their dealing with isn’t competitive, for most this isn’t the case.
Here’s a breakdown of the timeline:
- SEO Research & Customer Approved Strategy- Can take up to 2 Weeks
- On-Page SEO (For only 10 Keyword Phrases)- Can take up to 2 Weeks
- Off-Page SEO (Can be Done Side by Side with On-Page)- Can take up to 2 Weeks
So, the 1st Phase in the process can take up to 1 Month of Research, Optimization, and Publishing.
After that you have to wait for the “Google Crawlers” to index your site completely and effectively, this can take up to 2 weeks as well.
Recommended for You
Webcast, March 15th: How to Scale Upmarket with Enterprise Field Sales
By the time the business is visible (On Page 10-15) Its been a Month and a half of SEO Work. This is a best-case scenario with and SEO agency that is following best practices.
So, all in all a good SEO agency has to apply their On-Page and Off-Page SEO strategies for multiple months and with the clients’ assistance in order to see results. There is set no standard but with a new business you could see 6 months to a year in order to clearly see the return.
Even the best and most experienced SEO professionals can take several months to deliver expected results. That’s one of the reasons why you should consider this marketing strategy a long-term investment rather than a short-term campaign.
SEO is Complicated
Google ranks websites after it considers over 200 ranking factors. These ranking factors are essentially traits your website should have in order to be considered good enough for the first page. SEO professionals optimize your website and online presence to meet those standards and that takes a lot of time. You need to maintain those standards for some time before your ranking starts to move up and you see results.
Experienced SEO professionals experiment with a number of different techniques and strategies to get good results. Some of these techniques succeed while others fail and this process takes time as well.
Google Likes to Play Mischief
Google upgrades its search algorithm and includes new conditions or factors regularly. The company doesn’t bother to inform marketers about the changes it makes; so professionals are forced to study the changes, look at the impact they have had on their existing campaigns, and react accordingly.
SEO specialists work hard to collect data from thousands of websites over several days to determine how the algorithms impact their SEO ranking. They alter their strategy based on this new information in order to maintain or improve the rankings.
The Ranking isn’t Static
Your competitors might change their strategy and do something right in their SEO campaigns. They will climb higher and you will notice a dip in your ranking. The first page is always mobile so if you’re not on top of your SEO game, you will lose your position quickly. It’s important to be consistent with your SEO campaign and maintain the quality of your website.
SEO requires a lot of effort, dedication, experience, and knowledge. However, if you have the right strategy and are consistent, you will eventually see results. Google and other search engines look for reliable websites with quality content. Their goal is to provide their users with the best experience and information. If your website regularly performs well and lives up to expectations, you will remain on the first page for a long time. You just need to be patient and give SEO time to work.
Source: Business 2 Community