One of the biggest questions that many people have about SEO is how long does it take to work?
This is an excellent question because given all the hype about SEO, many believe that it will work right away. Unfortunately, this is normally not the case as SEO needs a little time to become noticed and start pulling in interested parties.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the most powerful, passive marketing tool on the internet. When used properly, it can bring interested people to your content which makes building an audience or creating sales easier to accomplish. Over the past two decades there has been more articles generated about SEO compared to every other marketing tool.
SEO Time Frame for Success
If you have creating a proper SEO approach, you should start seeing results in six to twelve months. It is during this time frame that allows the SEO to take hold, reach out, and have people discover your content.
However, the six to twelve-month time frame is not locked in stone. It is possible to see results as early as two weeks, while it may take longer than a year before your investment in SEO starts to pay off. The variables depend on several factors such as the industry or niche you are in, the competition in your field, and your commitment to maintaining and uploading new content that is built on solid SEO principles.
One of the most important factors is something that you have relatively little control over, time. It takes time for a website to become an authoritative site which is a key element in creating success through SEO. Another reason why SEO takes longer is the sheer number of factors considered by search engines, particularly Google, when presenting results for a search query.
But how can you use SEO to build your influence quickly? Reaching out to interested users with SEO takes commitment, dedication, and the ability to change when necessary.
What Affects Rate of Success for SEO?
There is far more to putting in keywords and hoping that people find your website. There are several factors that will contribute to the speed in which the commitment to SEO will start to pay off.
- Age & Authority
- Backlink Quality
- Content Focus
- Design, Structure, and Quality of Site
- Errors & Issues
- Keywords
- On-Page & Off-Page Strategies
Basically, the older the site is, the more authority it may gather. Notice the word “may” as age alone is not enough to establish the authority needed to garner better search engine results with SEO. Between two otherwise equal sites, one that is years older than the other will have the advantage. But a poorly made or content inadequate site will suffer compared a good, solid site even if the latter is relatively new.
The profile of the backlinks is another important factor in determining the success potential of your SEO strategy. Plus, any errors, issues, or penalties your site suffers from will affect its ranking. It is why you should strive for a clean, error-free site which is within your control.
With a proper site, you can now focus on proper SEO strategy methods that reap results. It includes creating an architecture that is conducive to search engine optimisation. Plus, adaptable in case changes are made to the algorithm.
Although the importance of keywords has arguably dropped somewhat over the past decade due to changes in Google’s algorithms, they are still the best way to attract the attention of the search engine. You just need to incorporate the right keywords into your content to make it work. Keep in mind that your competitors are also using keywords as part of their strategy, so you will need to do additional research and employ the right ones to garner the right attention.
The backbone of any solid SEO strategy is the quality of the content. The better the articles, video, or descriptions, the stronger your content will rank. A proper strategy for your content starts with a focus on quality and addressing the needs of users. This means creating content that people are interested in, so you will need to do research in this regard as well.
Finally, there are on-page and off-page SEO strategies that may affect the success of your site. Once you have created your site and posted solid, informative content with the proper keywords, you can start looking at other strategies outside the page itself to garner additional attention. But before you tackle all the advice given at once, it is important that you start with the most important factor of all.
Do the Basics
You should look at SEO as a marathon, not a sprint. Even though six to twelve months is a relatively short time frame, you will need to make the right adjustments, maintain the content that you have created, and build on the results being generated.
Build for Sustainability: The stated purpose of search engines is to find the best sites that match the queries being made. For example, if someone is looking for sneakers, then the search results should showcase the best, most reputable sites that sell sneakers.
You should use the same approach when incorporating SEO into your content. The goal is to create a respected, authoritative site, so that people who need information will be directed to you. SEO works in conjunction with the overall quality of your site, it is not the sole means of building an audience. By taking the approach of sustainability, you can correctly use SEO as it is intended.
Long Term Goals: Overnight success is possible, but so infrequent that it is not a reliable strategy. Instead, you should aim towards creating long-term goals that are several months, if not years in the making .By aiming your content and SEO tactics to growth instead of instant success, you will reap much larger rewards six months, a year, and several years into the future.
Employ Strategies that Build Over Time: When getting started with SEO, do the research first before you start making assumptions. It’s okay to start posting solid content but focus much of your effort into checking out the landscape, seeing what the competition is doing, researching effective keywords, and conducting audits of your site to see where SEO is lacking.
Proper SEO is a trial-and-error process that builds up over time as you learn what works, correct mistakes, and focus on content that delivers a bigger audience. Again, it is possible that you may hit upon the right combination of keywords and content right away, but you should plan for the long run and assume that mistakes will happen and different directions in your focus must be made.
Avoid the Short Cut: In other words, avoid using tactics that are built to create speed over sustainable results. When the Google search engine sees a quick rise in the search rankings, the assumption is that the site is using “black hat” tactics. These are tactics that include spamming, overstuffing keywords, and other methods designed primarily to draw attention of search engines and not build a sustainable site.
SEO only works if you build your site for sustainability over the long haul. It takes time to get noticed, build a reputation for quality, and become an authoritative site that search engines like Google can recognise. For aspiring online business owners, you need to keep your expectations in check.
By focusing on the basics, your site can reap considerable rewards over time when you employ the right SEO strategy over the coming months and years to build success.
Contact us today to find out how we can help improve your website SEO ranking.