Semalt: How Long Does It Take To Get The Results Of An SEO Campaign?
One of the most common questions we hear from new customers is "How long will it take us to see SEO results?" Like many digital marketing questions, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The amount of time it takes to obtain SEO results depends on many factors:
- the point where you start from;
- the market you are targeting;
- your expectations;
- and even your budget.
There is a saying among search engine optimization specialists that "SEO is a marathon, not a sprint". Thanks to the Panda and Penguin updates in Google Search, we know that "speeding" to a quick result in SEO can often end up at the expense of your business.
How long does it take to get SEO results? Before giving our short answer, let's look at the four main factors that determine how long it will take for your business to see the actual results in terms of traffic, lead generation, and SEO revenue.
How long does it take to get SEO results: regarding your competition
The more competitive your market is, the longer it will typically take you to achieve great search engine rankings.
This is because Google's algorithm is designed to display the most relevant result for each search query. Relevance is calculated based on the analysis of many factors on the page, including such as content, for example, while trust is signalled by other legitimate sites linking to your site.
When you enter a competitive market with a fresh, new website (often no links), you are competing against entrenched competitors. Such competitors have been operating in the industry using their own extensive, optimized websites for years or even longer and acquired during this time thousands of links.
On the other hand, your website may be completely new and almost unrelated "in the eyes of a search engine" to your industry and the keywords you care about. As a result, the time it takes to reach the top position is huge.
Fortunately, there are several ways to start generating results without directly competing with bigger and stronger competitors:
- You can optimize the website for keywords from the so-called long-tail keywords, which admittedly provide less traffic, but usually have a high conversion rate and are characterized by much less competition in organic search results.
Interestingly, data from the Search Engine Watch study shows that keywords between 11 and 30 characters convert much better than short keywords, making them a great target for initial SEO efforts.
- You can start optimizing for local searches instead of competing with national and international companies. This will allow you to enter a less competitive but more familiar market.
Increasing your page visibility for your main key phrases can take a long time, while focusing on gaining adequate visibility for your long-tail phrases and / or local keywords will allow you to start generating relatively fast results with SEO, which according to research will lead to greater profitability.
How long does it take to get SEO results: regarding your website
One of the most important factors in determining how long it will take to get SEO results is your website. The more your website is optimized before SEO starts, the sooner you will start seeing results.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, for sites that have received a penalty by Google because of bad SEO practices. However, most websites are still (thankfully) untainted by these types of practices, making it much easier (or rather not difficult) to achieve adequate exposure in organic search results.
If your site has been online for several years, has been published in local and / or national media, has enough high-quality content, has already acquired a certain amount of natural links, then only a few minor optimization changes to the page may be enough to improve its visibility and ranking. Start generating more traffic.
On the other hand, if your website is brand new, reaching the same level as your competitors may require more commitment and it will be definitely a more time-consuming process.
Each site is unique, and there is no exact formula that determines a site's ability to achieve adequate visibility in search results. If you are interested in an SEO campaign, first of all, you need to know how to optimize your website. Our team can carry out an SEO audit of your website and then provide an appropriate SEO strategy with powerful tools such as the Dedicated SEO Dashboard.
How long does it take to get SEO results: regarding your expectations
Such an example: If you have recently opened a bank and want to outbid for keywords such as "cash loan", it is unlikely that you will be successful in the near future?
A key aspect of generating real SEO results, both in terms of traffic and revenue, is your expectations. The more realistic your target keywords are in the search, the sooner will you be able to see real results from your SEO campaign.
This is one of the reasons why it is best to optimize your website for long-tail keywords or local keywords as a small start-up company at the beginning of your SEO investment - because that's what the search engine understands. By keeping your expectations realistic in the early stages of an SEO campaign, you can focus on gradual progress towards achieving your SEO goals for more competitive phrases.
Too often, expectations of a quick result in SEO lead to great rankings, followed by a quick and aggressive penalty from Google for using improper practices. It is better for your online business if you expect continuous SEO progress than immediate results.
There are no shortcuts to SEO and the ones that do rarely last long enough to be enjoyed. Instead of striving for the final win right away, focusing on continuous development and improvement allows you to quickly generate small, but good and stable results. Once you've started your SEO campaign in earnest, you'll also be able to get significant results for your competing phrases.
How long does it take to get SEO results: regarding your budget
SEO is not a spending contest, but your budget affects how quickly you can achieve adequate visibility for your target keywords. A higher budget allows you to invest in higher-quality content, spend more time analyzing the visibility of your website and developing an individual strategy, and allow you to build links based on the highest quality websites.
This doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune on SEO. In fact, if your business is targeting a small market with little competition, you can expect great SEO results without spending a particularly large amount, as long as your page content and links are in the right place.
How long does it take to get SEO results: regarding your patience
With great on-page content that is optimized for your target keywords, realistic keywords that are achievable for your website, and the right combination of reach and link building, you can see real, measurable results from your SEO campaign in just a few months.
Of course, in a highly competitive marketplace, it may take longer to achieve the desired results. However, once they start showing up, the traffic generated by SEO will gradually and consistently increase, allowing you to see an improvement month after month.
One of the best aspects of SEO is that the results keep increasing over time. What starts with a single call from a customer who found your website via a keyword often turns into a stable, predictable stream of leads and therefore sales and revenue.
As the old Chinese proverb says, "SEO is a marathon, not a sprint." Focus on small profits early in your SEO campaign as your website is just becoming a relevant, trustworthy resource for your target audience, but before you know it you'll see steady and measurable progress.
Conclusion
SEO is an increasingly important tool to promote and increase website traffic. By using website optimization, you can adjust the website code to the search engine's algorithm and improve your result on the search list -for key phrases that are important and interesting for you.
SEO is part of integrated marketing and is gaining more and more popularity alongside Google AdWords or social media. Naturally, since we already have a page, it is worth having someone to look at it - and the popularity of the page translates into more visits to the site - and visits per conversion, i.e. purchase or contact. Currently, customers search for information about products and services mainly through Google. Therefore, the network is the primary place where you can acquire new customers. Despite this, many people still do not realize how important SEO is. What a pity!
If you need to learn more about the subject of SEO and website promotion, we invite you to visit our Semalt blog.