How Long Does SEO Take? This is a question we always get asked.
When justifying it, often sounds like we’re trying to make a quick quid or two. It was refreshing to see that Search Engine Journal asked the same question. With 876 votes pointing generally to what we often point out to new clients.
Depends…
Almost like a disclaimer. There are so many variables that need to be considered. If you’ve had a go yourself you may or may not have had success. Problem is if you’ve dabbled unsuccessfully, we’ll have to undo this before we even make a start. Digital marketing, like so many other professional trades, requires a trained professional to undertake the work. Sure, have a bash, you’ll get a result, it just may not be a good one. Plumbers, electricians, doctors – all train to do what they do best. Same with us.
What are the factors involved?
To answer the question How Long Does SEO Take, you have to consider a few points. If your website is brand new, an audit will allow us to see what can be improved, we will look at many factors such as on-page SEO, technical SEO and off page SEO, identifying the priority areas that need to be worked on. We will submit the website (or re-index it) to various search engines as well as get some high-profile sites to share the site. This will hopefully kick start the indexing allowing search engines such as Google to see the positive changes, within a couple of weeks. From here on in there are several factors that need to be considered:
- How competitive is the market?
- Are your objectives realistic?
- Does your SEO work alongside your branding and PR?
How Long Does SEO Take?
Outside factors and traditional marketing have a huge impact on SEO and how well you perform in search, have a great product, a great brand then people will begin searching for you. It’s not unusual to see your brand become related to business related keywords, as long as your SEO has a great foundation. Google has a better understanding of brands and the services they provide, think of your business as an entity, within this entity you have social media, products, services, contact information, location etc. All of which can be coded into a site using rich snippet data, so Google can better understand who and what you are about.
There is no quick solution to SEO, only well formulated and thought out plans will get a website where it needs to be. On average, as the poll states, 6 months to 1 year is the norm. This maybe frustrating, particularly for a new client, that results aren’t happening fast enough. Stick with it. You WILL see results and as well as ROI, it takes time.
So, how long does it typically take for SEO to start showing a positive impact?
Typically, you’ll see things happening 3 months in. 6 months more so. After a year, you’ll be so impressed you’ll want to invest more so we can do more. These words from Simon Sinek encapsulate everything we do:
“Excitement comes from the achievement. Fulfilment comes from the journey that got you there.”
