How Long Does SEO Take?

Whenever somebody asks me how long search engine optimization takes, I counter by asking them, "How long does marketing take?"

My point is that SEO is never finished, just like marketing and public relations are never finished. This is the first thing I want my clients to grasp — SEO is a long-term strategy that needs to be a permanent part of how you operate online.

It's my duty to inform you that there's no such thing as "SEO in a hurry." If you're in a situation where your success depends on immediate search engine visibility, you've already failed by putting yourself into that situation to begin with. If you need search engine visibility in a hurry, you should be looking at pay-per-click, not SEO.

Now that I've got my important disclaimer out of the way, let's talk about the long-term nature of search engine optimization. I've even come up with an acronym for you — the 3 P's of SEO.

The Three P's of Real Search Engine Optimization

Patience - When practicing SEO, you need to pack your patience. It's a common misconception that a website should pop up in search engine results immediately after its creation. Nothing could be further from the truth. A search engine first has to find and index your website (add it to the database), and that's only the first step to ranking well.

Depending on how competitive your market and search phrases are, it can take weeks, months or even years to rank well in the big search engines. And that's assuming you're doing things properly from an SEO standpoint. New websites, in particular, have a long road ahead of them. That's because Google and other search engines reward older websites with higher ranking.

I don't tell you this to discourage you, but to set your expectations within the realm of reality. Earning "Page 1" position for your key phrases takes time and patience. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying to you, and I'd be happy to debate the point with them!

Persistence - Search engine optimization is a marathon, not a battle. It's not a single act, but a long series of interrelated actions. But that doesn't mean you should abandon hope. On the contrary, gaining first-page position in a major search engine can do amazing things for your company, your business model and your bottom line. It's a worthwhile venture, so you have to stick with it (or pay somebody to stick with it on your behalf).

Progress - The web is constantly evolving, so the way we practice search engine optimization must evolve as well. I personally do about two hours of reading a day to stay up on the latest web technologies, how my clients might use them to their advantage, etc. To progress over time, you have to keep learning over time. Commit yourself to perpetual progress, and you'll commit yourself to success.

Results Vary Based on Many Factors

It's also difficult to say how long SEO takes because every scenario is different. I've worked on older websites that only needed minor adjustments to get onto Page 1 of Google. On the other hand, I've worked brand new websites in competitive markets that won't see Page 1 results for six months, 12 months, or a couple years.

That's why I tell people not to rely too heavily on search engine placement, and to use many other marketing channels both online and off.

How to Choose a SEO Search Engine Optimization Company

If you're scouting for a SEO company to perform ethical, effective SEO Search Engine Optimization Services for your website, then don't be afraid to ask questions and request to see client testimonials/references.

Here are some of the questions we believe you should ask before hiring a SEO company:

• Find out how long the SEO Company has been in business.
• Does the SEO firm or its principals have marketing experience background?
• Do they have long-term satisfied clients? Make sure they prove it with client testimonials and references.
• Do they have detailed case studies to show you with verifiable results of search engine positions they've achieved for clients?
• Will they perform an analysis of your competition's websites to understand why the other sites rank highly?
• What will the SEO company base their keyword recommendations on? Keyword research is a necessity to determine relevant, targeted keywords in order for a SEO campaign to succeed.
• What are realistic traffic expectations for your site? Obscure keyword phrases may bring top ten or #1 ranking positions but if only a trickle of people search for the term each month, it likely won't result in increased sales.
• Does the SEO differentiate between "traffic" and "qualified" traffic? Bulk unqualified traffic arriving at your site for irrelevant keywords is unlikely to convert to a sale or new customer. Does the SEO firm understand what it takes to create a sales conversion?
• Does the SEO Company adhere to search engine's posted best practises and a strict no-spam policy to avoid your website being penalized, possibly indefinitely, by search engines?
• What methods will the SEO Company use to increase traffic? Will they make changes to your existing web page coding or will they just be adding or revising Meta tags? Will they be performing search engine optimization copywriting and editing to add relevant keywords to your visible page text? Will they be adding new pages, or possibly redesigning your navigation to make it more search engine friendly?
• How many pages will they be optimizing in your website?
• How much, if any, of their strategy relies on pay-per-click advertising and how much will that cost? Remember, pay-per-click is like leasing vs. buying a car. When you stop paying, the traffic discontinues. We sometimes recommend pay-per-click advertising for specific marketing strategies, but not for ongoing search engine visibility. Pay-per-click is not a long-term solution unless you have deep pockets. Obtaining "free" search engine positions in natural search engines, such as Google, is the preferred - and longer-term - route to traffic.
• If the SEO Company is offering high ranking guarantees - how is that possible when no-one can control or influence the search sites? Beware of SEO's that claim to guarantee rankings, or that claim a "special relationship" with Google, or that claim to have a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google."
• How will your web site traffic be monitored and measured? What type of reports will you get and how often will you receive them?
• How will your overall Return On Investment (ROI) be measured?

Do due diligence - there are many fly-by-night SEO Search Engine Optimization companies who make outrageous claims with unsubstantiated results and present no client list or testimonials to back up their claims.