Can online success be achieved overnight through SEO? No, definitely not. A lot of business people want to know when they can reap the benefits of their digital marketing efforts and that is understandable. But one must keep in mind that SEO is different from paid media which can potentially take effect as soon as ads are published. Search engine optimization is a different game as it can take time before you can see results. The next big question now is: how long does it take to take effect?
Ideally, SEO should give you results in a span of six to 12 months. When we say results, it means significant increase in traffic, leads, visibility, and ranking. This increase does not always translate to the realization of your dream online success, but anyone who is using SEO should expect to see some business growth within this span of time.
As social media management company Philippines would always explain, there are many factors to look into to measure the real success of a business online. And these factors can even vary from one business to another, with respect to their targets and goals. There are also different key performance indicators (KPI) to assess whether the campaign has started making a difference or not.
Six to 12 months is to be seen as the average span; there is no exact figure that applies to all types of websites and all SEO approaches. Search visibility and high rank on the SERPs is earned when you use the right strategy and when you constantly optimize your site for both human users and the search engine.
To give you a better picture of how long does it take SEO to give results, it is wise to look first into the factors affecting it. Here they are:
Website history
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Website history
New
Newdomains typically take longer to show results compared to an older website, which could have established authority and earned backlinks already. If your domain is brand new and you have decided to use SEO, you can expect results within nine to 12 months.
Take note, however, that just because your domain has been established for years, it does not necessarily follow that you can expect faster SEO results. This is especially true when the website has been penalized in the past or has been affected by an algorithm update. Same is true when the site has had SEO work that is prohibited by the Google’s webmaster guidelines.
Competition
Aside from the website’s history, competition is another factor that may affect how fast SEO can show results. It is way faster when you are in the low competition niches compared to high competition. Local and narrower search queries can be targeted if you wish quicker results. When done correctly, your SEO campaign can give you good news in just three to six months.
Content
Content is one of Google’s top three ranking factors. This simply means it favors websites that offers good quality and original content that is relevant to the queries of the online users. So if you think your website has poor quality and incomplete content, you cannot expect a good spot on the SERPs. It takes a long time to optimize a website when it has poor or even average content. This is the reason most SEO campaigns also pay attention to content creation.
When we say valuable content, it means content that is designed to suit your visitors’ intent and to carefully position your website or brand as an authority in your own respective niche. It has to be strategically mapped out so you can provide fresh information, relevant updates, and keyword-rich posts that will help you rank faster and higher.
Backlinks
Backlinks are another ranking factor to look into. These links serve as a measure of authority and popularity in the online world. When you earn quality backlinks, you can significantly drive your rankings higher.
The thing about backlinks is it can be hard to earn them. It takes time and, more importantly, consistent and high quality content to be able to gain backlinks.
Summary
Again, SEO takes time to give you the results that you have been wanting to get. There are so many factors that can affect your journey to online success such as website history and competition in your niche, as well as the strategies you implement along the way including content creation and link building.
With some help from a reputable digital marketing agency, things will be much easier. Just make sure to monitor your SEO campaign and look at it as an ongoing process rather than a one-time project with a specific goals and timeframe.
