Today, all businesses need websites. After all, the internet provides a worldwide platform for owners to showcase their companies. Unfortunately, not all websites are created equally. Some see success, while others seem to be without purpose. However, your website is finally thriving! Or so you’d guess…
Whether you’re a dental practice or a garage door company, you’ve finally realised that you should optimise your website. You’ve delved into the world of Search Engine Optimisation, and now you’re waiting to see results. But how long does SEO take, and when will you see the fruits of your efforts? While the desire to see success is valid, we must consider a few factors.
Let’s start by defining what SEO success would look like.
How Do You Define SEO Success?
To measure our results clearly, we must define SEO success and what it means for each business. We’ll start by looking at the business’s campaign goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Your campaign goals refer to the eventual outcome you hope to achieve, while your KPIs are the metrics that demonstrate your progress towards these goals. For example, your goal may be to increase your revenue by a specific amount over 12 months. Here, your KPIs will be organic traffic growth and steady improvement in visibility, impressions and rankings.
Remember that you must set measurable and realistic goals for your business. When examining your KPIs about your business’s campaign goals, you’ll see if you’ve achieved SEO success or if your strategy still needs some work.
5 Factors That Influence SEO Success
Five key factors determine how long it will take to see success from an SEO strategy. We explain each of them below.
1. The History of Your Website
Are you working on a new domain or not? The answer will influence how long it will take to see SEO improvement.
The truth is that a brand new domain will succeed over a longer time than an established one since it hasn’t yet earned backlinks or built up any authority. On the other hand, an established domain will have achieved a level of authority and have some backlinks pointing to it.
It must be said, however, that an established domain won’t automatically guarantee quicker results. If the domain has previously received a penalty or a core algorithm update, or if it has had SEO work going against Google’s guidelines, you aren’t likely to see results.
When you work on a new project, build up a detailed image of the website’s history by looking at impressions on Google Search Console and other similar tools. Consider how the site has performed over the last two to three years to help put projections together.
2. Your Competition
Low competition niches and search queries see results quicker than competitive ones. That’s why using long-tail keywords is so important. Trying to rank a page for competitive keywords such as “house for sale” could take years! However, it may be possible to see results in a few months for narrower, lower competition keywords.
So, to see SEO success, you need to consider how your competitors became as visible as they are now and how they maintain their credibility. You have to make room for others’ aggressive strategies on your own.
3. Your Resources
While you can’t control a website’s history or competition, you can control the resources allocated toward an SEO strategy. This is important because the more resources you dedicate to SEO, the quicker you’ll see results. It’s that simple!
However, the most valuable resource to any business is time. The amount of time you dedicate to the SEO of your website is directly related to the results you’ll see.
4. Inbound and Outbound Links
The more links you have to your website, the better, but it’s not just about the numbers. The quality of the links matters since a few high-quality links from relevant websites will significantly impact your results more than a truckload of irrelevant links. As high-quality links are more challenging to earn, your competitors won’t necessarily be able to replicate your success.
Also, try to link to your own pages within your content. For example, if you’re a garage door company writing about the best garage doors to choose from, link to your product pages where you mention these doors.
Keep in mind that if you’re using methods that don’t meet Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and you have a sudden increase in the number of links that trigger a manual review, you could face a penalty. The speed at which your earn links should grow stably.
5. Content
Your website’s content will also greatly determine how quickly you see results. Quality content matters!
Also, if you have new content, don’t wait to publish it. The sooner you put it out there, the sooner it will positively impact your ranking. Waiting to publish content might prolong your SEO success. Remember that consistent posting is critical rather than in chaotic surges. If you add new content to your website regularly, you can help speed up your SEO efforts. Users are encouraged to return to your site more often, which signals positive user experiences to Google.
Did you know that deleting content may also speed up your SEO results? The key lies in determining which content to keep, which to improve, and which to delete. Keep creating original, helpful content that solves your audience’s problems and improves continually.
So, How Long Does SEO Take to Work?
How long does SEO take? The short answer is between four to twelve months. The longer answer has to do with all the factors that tie into your SEO strategy. If you target low-competition keywords, you can start to see results within four to six months, while a brand new domain should expect to see results within nine to twelve months rather than six to twelve.
Is SEO Worth The Effort?
So, should you invest in SEO? The answer is a resounding yes! You should see the results over time if you work at it consistently. In today’s world, you can’t afford to avoid optimising your website. Your competitors are already doing it, so why wait?
Overwhelmed? Call in The Pros!
As Perth’s top SEO agency, we can help. Contact us today, and let’s start tackling your SEO together.
