Investing time, effort, and money into your SEO strategy can make you impatient to see the results. However, you should know that a successful SEO is the product of multiple factors. Each of these takes some time to show some effect, which often makes it difficult for website owners to predict the path of their success. However, the results are worth the wait. For that reason, we’ve decided to break it down for you – how long does it take for SEO efforts to payout, and what are the actors that can make it faster? Let’s find out!
The meaning of the question – how long does it take for SEO efforts to payout?
The first step of answering the question is getting into the meaning of it. The reason we want to discuss it is the change that happened in the SEO world. Previously, the focus of a successful SEO strategy was the generic set of keywords and the highest-ranking score. However, due to the huge competition, the situation has changed. Nowadays, keywords have become more natural and organic, as people use more voice searches than typing. This lead to a shift in keyword research and SEO focus. Therefore, if you’re asking about when your website will reach number one in search results – you need to change your focus. Even though ranking is important, you should focus more on how successfully your SEO strategy generates sales and brings more new customers.
The expected time to see results
Well, you should know that the answer to this question varies from website to website. However, when asked how long does it take for SEO efforts to payout, most of the website owners answered – from four to six months. This is a general expected time, with the most common SEO scenarios. But, we should go through the main factors that affect these numbers, to help you see what would the results be in the case of your business.
The main factors that affect SEO success
To determine what would be the pace of your SEO growth and success, you need to take multiple factors into account. We present some of the main points that can either speed up or slow down your website’s growth.
Google’s love towards your website
Once you implement all the important SEO steps to success, you are impatient to see results as soon as possible. However, it can happen that Google can prevent your website from growing for various reasons. One of them is trust. According to Google’s TrustRank, your website can climb lower or higher in the search results. To get a great score, Google needs to get acknowledgments from other online locations – building backlinks is a great way to endorse this. Getting trustworthy references in this way will help your website earn a better reputation and more trust from Google and new customers.
Shortcuts
Taking shortcuts in order to speed up the growing process is the thing that will end up hurting your website in the long run. Staying away from the black hat techniques and shortcuts that can earn you negative points with Google. Think about your success in the long run, and expect long-term results and effects.
The website’s age
The time you started building your website can determine how fast good SEO practices can show effects. In general, older websites tend to have earned more trust from Google over time. That’s why new websites feel discouraged when building their website’s reputation. However, it’s possible to come a long way with your SEO even without a lot of experience. Choosing the right keywords, creating high-quality content and a successful backlink building strategy will help you reach the goal much faster.
Penalties
Some of the factors that can slow down the progress of your SEO are surely Google penalties, errors, hosting issues, and other challenges. The number of these errors directly affects the way Google sees your website and lets it grow in the search results. That’s why you should do a thorough check-up of your website, and correct any 404 errors it might contain. These small fixes will be eventually recognized by Google, and speed up the growth process. Even though this doesn’t happen overnight, you can expect Google to recognize these changes in a couple of weeks.
Website’s design
The way your website is designed is one of the underestimated factors in SEO progress. Furthermore, you need to pay attention to your URL structure, as well as the CMS system. All of these can negatively affect your ranking, the customer experience, and finally leads and sales. One of the first steps of optimizing your website is going mobile-friendly. Most of the searches happen through mobile phones, which is why making your website mobile-friendly is an essential step in reaching the best results quickly. Furthermore, choosing the right CMS will ensure your website is well-received by search engines, so don’t forget to complete this step, too.
Keywords
As we mentioned, the way you do keyword research has changed, as the searches have evolved and became more natural-looking. To make your keyword choice much more efficient, be sure to look up your competitors – the successful ones. Analyzing their content and keyword options will lead you to more efficient options for your website. You can do that manually, but also use tools that give you the whole analysis after just typing a competitor’s URL.
Think long-term
Finally, never forget to think long-term. When you ask the question ‘How long does it take for SEO efforts to payout?’ be sure to check the areas where you can improve the website first. Only by covering the problematic areas you can expect the results soon and see your website growing in all the ways possible.