How Long Does SEO Take?

So, you are thinking of investing in SEO for your business, but you want to get a better grasp of what it is and how long it takes to achieve your goals. SEO is a great investment, but it takes a while to see results. There is no “one” answer for every business because it depends on a lot of factors. Rise Local will help you get a clearer picture of what success looks like, the time frame, and the factors that influence the length of time it takes to see your SEO strategy take off. 

A Quick Definition of SEO

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic from search engines. This is an organic way of ranking in search engine results pages. It targets unpaid traffic, rather than direct paid traffic. Search engines, like Google, want to show the best results for any given search query, so it takes time to rank. Your content has to earn top search visibility, which is accomplished when it’s engaging, informative, and relevant.

What to Look for in SEO Success 

An SEO strategy is usually made up of two parts. It’s common to put together campaign goals and key performance indicators. A goal is the end outcome of what you want to achieve. The key performance indicators are the metrics that demonstrate the progress towards your goals. Both of these parts measure your SEO success and the results from your efforts.

The goal must be measurable and realistic. A goal can be as is: to achieve an increase in revenue by 10% over 12 months. Key performance indicators include visibility, impressions, rankings, and growth in organic traffic. Now, let’s go over the time frame SEO usually needs to do its thing.

Time Frame for SEO

There is no set time frame for every business. However, you should expect to see results from SEO within 6 to 12 months. When we say results, we mean a measurable increase in traffic and associated leads or conversions. You may not meet your goal within this time frame, but you should be able to see some progress within these months. SEO is a long term investment, and it takes time to build credibility. Here are two factors that influence the time frame:

Website’s History

If your website is established and has some authority, building your credibility is a lot quicker than new companies and/or websites. Your established website might have some backlinks already in place, whereas your new domain is fresh to the market. Therefore, expect a 9 to 12 months time frame for new websites. 

Competition

Depending on how hot the market is, it may take longer to rank higher than your competitors. In low competition niches, results can be far quicker. 

Rise Local SEO 

If you are thinking about investing in SEO, Rise Local is here for you! We are one of the leading digital marketing and SEO companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. If you would like to learn more about our SEO strategies or how we can improve your overall digital marketing techniques, get in touch with us today.