SEO Results: How Long Does It Take?

Let’s be honest, SEO sounds complicated to those who don’t understand it.

Many business owners push the idea to the side and those who attempt it without the knowledge tend to fail or don’t see the results that they were expecting.  The experts will tell you that it is okay to feel discouraged, but SEO results do take some time.  Your SEO results thrive off of your increasing site traffic which does not happen over night.

The early stages of SEO require an large investment with little payoff.  Rankings won’t be what you are expecting even with your most esteemed keyword.  An increase of traffic even when you have gained several positions in the rankings will not occur; it is because your keyword didn’t make the ranking to page 1.  The first two to three months of SEO rankings may yield little to no traffic and could even seem like your SEO is failing, when in reality it is not.  Improvements are being made in the background which business owners will not see. There are many factors that contribute to a successful SEO campaign and many of them you would never notice unless you know where to look.

Keywords are the key to a successful SEO campaign.  An expert will tell you that tracking such rankings based on your keywords is quite important.  Knowing what keywords to target will improve your SEO rankings and tell what progress is being made.

 

So how soon should business owners expect to see results?

There are variables at play that will influence how soon business owners will see these results and how well your SEO campaign is doing for your site.

• Competitors:  Your competitors may be dominating the rankings with the targeted keywords.  This will make for a longer result.  If you have little to no competitors, results will happen much quicker.  Competition analysis will help with the understanding of your competitors and what investment may be needed to pass them up in the SEO rankings.
• Strategic choices:  Your choices will also determine your results.  How quickly and how strong those results are will be determined by your strategic choices.  Should you focus on one keyword or many different keywords?  What will those keywords do for your results?  Will they bring in traffic, competition or the complete opposite?  Research on what keywords should be used is crucial.
• Channels and angles:  The tactics you choose will play a crucial role.  Long-form and short-form content, which will be your focus?  Will publication on more small time networks be your focus, or just a small handful of major networks?  What about social media outlets?  What will your activity and roles be?
• Investment:  Money always talks.  The more money invested, the more results you will achieve at a quicker rate.  Competitors may be spending more money on their SEO investment, which can be the reason why your SEO results are not as expected.  It is a two way streak, what you do and what your competitors do greatly affect your results.
• Learning and Expertise:  SEO can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be.  It does take time to understand how it works and how soon you will see positive results.  It is a learning experience, but a learning experience that will bring you the results you are looking for.  Mistakes and errors will be made, but will soon grant your business the SEO rankings you are wanting and needing.  When looking for an SEO expert you need to be aware of those who claim to be experts.  Their information is not deemed worthy.  The Internet is full of useful information, but also full of bad information.  Many are only looking out for themselves and not you.

Overall, results from your SEO investment can be seen within  six months realistically with the proper investment, research and by following the variables above.  Your return on your investment usually can be seen longer than 12 months after starting your SEO campaign.  Your break even point may be seen at 12 months, but can take longer.  Again, your campaign success revolves around your SEO decision making. This may sound frustrating, but there is reason to be patient. There is no investment for your business digitally quite like finally making it to the top of search results for the keywords that generate the most traffic. Once the traffic starts to come, it will keep coming day in and day out. With a little bit of patience and willingness to understand the process, SEO can make your business back it’s investment ten fold.