Patience (with Search Engine Optimization) is a Virtue

When I first talk to potential customers about search engine optimization (SEO), I see them get really excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities. At some point, they ask how quickly it will be before they get a lot more organic search engine traffic. This is the part that can be difficult because although I get caught up in their excitement too, I have to be realistic and tell them that there is no quick solution. I say that it can take 3-5 months to start seeing results and as you can see from the customer example below, you also need to be prepared to potentially deal with some ups-and-downs along the ride:

Inevitably, the excitement wanes a bit, but as I explain how it all works, I can see that they understand why it can take that long and appreciate the value that the process provides.

You could set up Google AdWords campaigns and pay to rank higher through pay-per-click ads, but that won’t drive organic search engine traffic. And, you don’t have to pay every time someone clicks on your ad, which is a big benefit to small to mid-sized businesses.

I was recently asked by Marccx Media to be part of an online panel to discuss my thoughts on content, digital marketing, and SEO. I’ve summarized my responses to the questions and also added additional thoughts below, and you can read the full article.

Planning Your SEO Strategy

To see higher search engine traffic, it’s really all about planning and having patience with your SEO strategy. There are many different components of the SEO process, including the technical health of your website, content marketing, social media marketing and more. How you fit all these pieces together and where your focus should be depends on your business and the audience you’re trying to reach. When we sit down with new customers initially, we talk through and document many things like who their customers are, what social media channels their customers use, etc. From there, we build an SEO strategy with the components that make sense for our customers. We also analyze the data that we get from tools like Google Search Console and share that data with our customers to make future business decisions.

High-Quality Content Makes a Difference

Although it hasn’t been confirmed, it seems that Google has recently released a major update to their algorithm, which is called Fred. This update appears to favor websites with high-quality content and few, if any, ads. This is fantastic news for consumers and the businesses that have put the effort into a high-quality content marketing strategy.

Content marketing is all about generating high-quality content, which can take many forms, and sharing that content in order to acquire and keep customers. If you don’t have the internal resources to develop content, whether it’s a lack of resources or time, you can hire contract writers. In fact, this is how we work with our customers. For example, we’ve been working with one of our customers for several years on their SEO strategy, and they just recently had a huge surge in organic search engine traffic after Fred was released. The content marketing strategy is a big part of SEO, and it’s because of our persistence and dedication to the process that it has paid off so well.

Conclusion

Patience is a virtue. Be patient with your SEO plan because it honestly just takes the time to prove to Google that your website is worth it. If you need additional help with your SEO plan or content marketing strategy, I invite you to learn more about our SEO packages and our in-person and online SEO training courses.